Basketball Standouts Lafond and Ngala Named Athletes of the Year

The Laurentian Voyageurs gave out their annual awards on Wednesday evening. Basketball players Émilie Lafond and Nginyu Ngala were named the Female and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively. Point guard, Cadence Pecore, was named the Female Rookie of the Year, while another point guard, Philippe Fandio and soccer defender, Olly Sankar, were named the Male Rookies of the Year.  Head coach of the men's basketball team, Brandon Edwards, was named the Voyageurs' Coach of the Year while graduating runner, Keon Wallingford, was honoured with the Voyageur Award.

Lafond, a fourth year Health Promotion student from Hanmer, ON, was dominant for the Voyageurs in the throughout the season. Playing over 32 minutes per game, the fourth most usage in the league, Lafond scored a second-best 156 field goals, made the fourth most free throws, with 95, all leading to third highest scoring in the league with 407 points, 18.5 per game.  On the defensive end, Lafond grabbed 150 defensive rebounds, which was second in the league, had 28 blocks, good for eighth, and consistently shut down her opponents. Her outstanding contributions earned her the second all-star recognition of her university career when she was named to the OUA Second Team after being named to the All-Rookie Team in 2021-22.

Ngala, a fourth year MBA student from Montreal, QC, led the Voyageurs this season.  The only player to start all 22 games, Ngala had a team-high 327 points on the back of 60 made three-pointers, the second most in the OUA. A transfer from Dalhousie, Ngala orchestrated the offence, dishing out 69 assists on the year while grabbing 101 rebounds in a season that saw the team win their first playoff game in five seasons.  Ngala was recognized for his steady, consistent play with an OUA Third Team all-star.

Cadence Pecore, a Sport and Phys Ed major from Porcupine, ON, started every game for the Voyageurs this year and finished second on the team, behind Lafond, in a number of statistical categories.  Running the point as a freshman, Pecore tallied 261 points on the strength of 40 made three-pointers while grabbing 96 rebounds and dishing out 49 assists.  For her efforts, Pecore was named to the OUA's All-Rookie team.

Philippe Fandio, a Sociologie major from Marseille, FRA, was recognized as a member of the OUA All-Rookie Team this season, playing in 20 of the Voyageurs 22 regular season games. Throughout his rookie season, Fandio averaged 7.0 points per game, while dishing out a team-high 73 assists and swiping a team-high 29 steals, forming a dynamic back-court duo with Ngala.

Olly Sankar, a Sports Administration student from Vaughan, ON, played almost every minute of the 10 games he appeared in this season, anchoring the back line of a Voyageurs squad who made it back to the post season for the first time since 2018.  Sankar consistently put a blanket on the opposition's best players, including holding the league MVP off the score sheet for the only time all year.

The Voyageur Award is a prestigious award presented to a graduating student-athlete(s) who has excelled in the classroom, made outstanding contributions to their sport, made outstanding contributions to the community, and have been an ambassador of Voyageur Athletics throughout their university career.  This year, Keon Wallingford was the recipient of the Award.

Wallingford has been a front-runner for the cross country and track teams throughout his university career.  After a stellar rookie season in 2019, he qualified to represent Canada at the Pan-Am U20 Cross Country Championships.  Over his career, he ran at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championships twice and consistently led the team at the OUA Track & Field Championships with multiple top 10 finishes.  This year he also broke the school's 50 year-old record in the 3,000 metres, twice.  Off the trails and the track, the four time Academic All-Canadian volunteers on a weekly basis at the Blue Door Soup Kitchen and has worked with youth track and field programs in both Sudbury and North Bay.

Following the leadership that led the men's basketball team to a seven-win increase to finish with an 11-11 record and their first playoff win since the 2019-20 season, second year bench boss, Brandon Edwards, was awarded the Voyageurs' Coach of the Year award. Under his guidance, the men's team added an OUA All-Star and an OUA All-Rookie, for the second consecutive year, to their ranks.

Team awards were also announced on Wednesday. Here are the recipients for the Pride and Tradition Award from the various teams.

Baseball: Ryan Lacasse

Men's Basketball: Pierre Mukandila

Women's Basketball: Aneisha Rismond

Men's Cross-Country Running: Keon Wallingford

Women's Cross-Country Running: Angela Mozzon

Men's Curling: Olivier Bonin-Ducharme

Women's Curling: Dayna Wahl

Men's Golf: Alex Fowke

Women's Golf: Vanessa Paterson

Men's Indoor Track: Keon Wallingford

Women's Indoor Track: Alissa Diavolitsis

Men's Nordic Skiing: Cormac Adams

Women's Nordic Skiing: Margot West

Men's Soccer: Daniel Alexa

Women's Soccer: Hunter Jones 

With the awards in the books, the 2024-25 Laurentian varsity season comes to an end. Congratulations to this year's award recipients.