VANCOUVER - UBC fifth-year centre midfielder Christine De Pape is the Canadian Interuniversity Sport women’s field hockey player of the year.
De Pape of Burlington, Ont. claims her second CIS major award after being named rookie of the year in 2001 as a member of the Manitoba Bisons.
Other CIS major award winners announced on Wednesday night during the All-Canadian Awards Celebration held at the Holiday Inn Vancouver Centre were Toronto’s Malinda Hapuarachchi of Ottawa, who received the Gail Wilson Award as the greatest all-around athlete, York’s Effie Petrou of Oakville, Ont., presented with the Joyce Slipp award as the nation’s top rookie, and Alberta’s Carla Somerville of Calgary, who became the first coach in history to claim back-to-back Marina Van Der Merwe Awards as CIS coach of the year.
De Pape, a First Team All-Canadian and a CIS championship All-Star in 2005, made the transition from defence to central midfield this season and was a key factor of UBC’s play on both sides of the ball as the Thunderbirds captured their second straight Canada West title.
The human kinetics major played the best hockey of her career following a summer stint with the senior national team, which toured Scotland, Wales and France. De Pape helped organize the team at the back, while serving as a catalyst for the offence and chipping in with four goals herself.
De Pape is only the second Thunderbird in history to claim the Liz Hoffman Award after Stephanie Jameson in 2004.
“Christine is instrumental in making UBC perhaps the hardest working team in the country because of her work ethic, leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence,” said ‘Birds head coach Hash Kanjee. “She’s playing great hockey at this stage of her career, and her recent appointment to the national team is recognition of her skill and tireless attitude.”
Hapuarachchi, a fifth-year defender and team captain, was named OUA player of the year for the second straight season as she led the Varsity Blues to an undefeated campaign and a third consecutive conference championship. Named to the first All-Canadian team for the second year in a row, the physical education and health student anchored a Blues defensive unit that allowed only five goals in 14 regular season games.
Hapuarachchi, an Academic All-Canadian who has represented Ontario at the Canada Games in 2001 and has been on the Ontario senior team since 2002, has made significant contributions to building the game of field hockey in the greater community as she organises and delivers skills clinics in Toronto-area high school, and has coordinated the U of T intramural field hockey league since 2003.
Petrou, 18, was a starter with the Lions all season and made an immediate impact at both the midfield and forward positions, leading York to a silver-medal finish at the OUA championship, and being named to the OUA first All-Star team and to the second CIS squad. The kinesiology and health sciences major was a highly-touted recruit out of high school after winning gold with the under-18 Ontario team at this summer’s national championship in British Columbia.
Petrou, who is also a member of Ontario’s under-21 team, is the third Lion to receive the Joyce Slipp Award after Becky Price in 1995 and Kathy Bester in 1992.
“Effie always brings a smile to York practices and games along with her great team work and speed,” said Lions head coach Deb Fullerton. “She also contributes her time developing young players as a volunteer coach with her club team here in Toronto.”
Somerville won the Marina Van Der Merwe Award for the first time a year ago, a few days before leading the Pandas to their first-ever McCrae Cup as CIS champions. This season, the fifth-year head coach led the U of A to a 3-4-2 regular-season record and a bronze-medal finish in the highly competitive Canada West, en route to her third straight conference Coach of the Year award.
A former senior national team member who competed at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, Somerville played five seasons with Alberta, claiming three CIS bronze medals and three CIS all-Canadian selections in addition to being named co-winner of the Liz Hoffman Award in 1996.
“To receive a second consecutive CIS Coach of the Year award is a great sign of respect for Carla from the CIS coaches association,” said Alberta Associate Athletic Director, Katie Spriggs. “This is a great way to kick off the CIS championship weekend for Alberta.”
The All-Canadian teams were also announced on Wednesday.
Among nine players joining De Pape and Hapuarachchi on the first CIS squad are Victoria midfielder / defender Ali Lee, named CIS Player of the Year in 2005, UBC defender Jessica Denys, last year’s national championship MVP, and York forward Lauren Conforzi, who led all OUA scorers this season with 22 goals.
The 2006 CIS women’s field hockey championship, hosted by the UBC, gets under way on Thursday with four round-robin match-ups beginning at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time when No. 1-ranked UBC faces off against No. 2 Toronto. The championship final is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.