The Night of the Dinos is a chance for Dinos athletes to get dressed up and hopefully receive lots of shiny things.
The Dr. Dennis Kadatz men’s athlete of the year award once again went to fourth-year volleyballsaur Graham Vigrass, who won last year. Vigrass was named the CIS men’s volleyball player of the year. He led the men’s volleyball team to a Canada West title and third place finish at nationals. Vigrass beat out the other nominees including swimmer Jason Block, CIS men’s hockey goaltender of the year Dustin Butler, sprinter Sam Effah and linebacker Sam Hurl.
Betting in the women’s athlete of the year category would have been foolhardy as the category was jammed packed with deserving athletes. Swimmer Erica Morningstar won for the second year in a row beating out field hockey midfielder Courtney Campbell, five-time CIS wrestling gold medalist Gen Haley, four-time CIS 300-metre sprint gold medalist Amonn Nelson and CIS women’s hockey player of the year Hailey Wickenheiser.
Morningstar won six gold medals and one silver at the CIS swim championships, was named CIS female swimming athlete of the year and helped the women’s aquasaurs win their third straight national championship.
Women’s hockey forward Jenna Smith and football quarterback Eric Dzwilewski won the Bill Popplewell rookie of the year awards.
Smith led CW rookie scoring with nine goals in 20 games and a plus-14 rating. She was named CW rookie of the year. Fiona Doyle of the swim team and Rachel Machin of the track team were the other female nominees.
Dzwilewski stepped into the football starting lineup after an injury to quarterback Erik Glavic. He recorded a 4-1 record and 894 passing yards. Men’s soccer forward Brett Howard and CW basketball rookie of the year Matt Letkeman were also nominated for the award.
The Calgary Booster Club Scholar-Athlete awards for outstanding performance in the classroom as well as athletics went to women’s hockey forward Shannon Davidson, men’s swimmer Bogdan Knezevic, women’s soccer forward Tessa Miller and men’s hockey forward Brock Nixon.
Davidson graduates this spring with a Bachelor of Arts and plans to attend law school. She was the chair of the Dinos’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and delivered the fifth-year speech at the ceremony.
Miller has been the top Dinos scorer for the past three seasons and finished tied for first in CW. She is in the pedagogy program in the faculty of kinesiology.
Knezevic won CIS silver medals in the 200-metre individual medley and 100-metre backstroke. He has a 3.91 GPA and is taking honours neuroscience.
Nixon was the Dinos’ second leading scorer with 23 points. He is taking kinesiology and hopes to become a high school gym teacher.
The Gauntlet Extra Effort Award, which recognizes athletes who have overcome adversity and injury, was awarded to Aaron Richards of men’s hockey and Kristen Barton of the women’s soccer team.
Barton played the entire 2010 season with a knee injury, which she had surgery to repair during the off-season. She only missed one week of training while recovering from her surgery.
Richards missed the first half of the season as a result of health issues. After returning to the lineup, Richards racked up 12 points in 13 games helping the Dinos to a second place CW finish and their first trip to the University Cup since 2000.
The Margaret Southern Award recognizing females who have contributed to the Dinos went to Dinos football team manager Sandra Wigg and the Dr. Lou Goodwin Award went to Rick Pelletier for his contribution to the swim team.
The Kinemedics Athletic Therapy Awards went to Samara Tocher for her clinical work and Kate Trippier for her on field work with the Dinos football team.