Lehtimaki Croisier and Lacroix Named Athletes of the Year
SUDBURY, ON – The Laurentian Voyageurs gave out their annual awards on Tuesday evening. Leading the way were curler, Bella Lehtimaki Croisier, and basketball player, Caillou Lacroix, who were named the Female and Male Athletes of the Year, respectively. Soccer player, Jaiden Santo, was named Male Rookie of the Year while Nordic skier Margot West got the nod on the women's side. Basketball player, Bailey Tabin, was named the winner of the prestigious Voyageur Award while curling coach, Ryan Lafraniere, was named the Voyageurs' Coach of the Year. Long-time curling assistant coach, Jan Pula, was honoured with the Special Voyageur Award.
Lehtimaki Croisier was dominant on the ice all winter long. At the OUA Championship, she guided the women's team to a 3-1 record in the round robin and came through when it mattered most in the playoffs, including doubles with her final stone in each of the quarter and semi-finals, steering the squad to a silver medal. At the U SPORTS Championships, Lehtimaki Croisier had another fantastic week, constantly out-curling her opposition en route to a 6-1 round robin record. Despite a setback in the semi-finals, Lehtimaki Croisier helped the squad bounce back in the bronze medal game, capturing the women's team's third U SPORTS medal over the last five Championships. A testament to her strong play all week long, Lehtimaki Croisier was named the U SPORTS First Team Skip at the end of the Championship.
Lacroix was one of the top basketball players in the OUA this season. In his third season with the Voyageurs, Lacroix's offence took a massive step forward as his role increased. After averaging less than five points and playing less than 17 minutes a game last season, Lacroix saw his minutes more than double and his production increase more than five-fold, jumping up to 21.3 points per game in more than 35 minutes a game. His scoring average was good for third in the OUA this season, as was his total field goals (155), while his total points (426) were fourth best in the league. All three numbers also saw Lacroix rank in the top-10 in the country as his average, total field goals, and total points ranked seventh, fifth, and seventh, respectively.
Jaiden Santo finished tied for third on the men's soccer team in both goals and points in his rookie season. As a forward who started all 12 games this season, Santo found the back of the net three times and assisted on another for the Voyageurs.
Margot West was a key contributor to the OUA-silver medal winning women's Nordic ski team. After turning in a pair of top-20 finishes in the individual races (14th – freestyle, 19th – classic), West teamed up with teammates Hannah Cutler and Maddie Norman to finish 5th in the team relay race. The points that West secured in all three races played a large part in the Voyageurs' return to the OUA Nordic ski podium.
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, Bailey Tabin was the recipient of the Award.
Tabin finished her Voyageurs career agonizingly close to the 1,000-point plateau, ending her five years with 989 points to go along with 707 rebounds and 127 assists. Her career culminated with an OUA All-Star recognition this season; her first all-star honour. A three-time Academic All-Canadian, Tabin has also been a consistent presence in the Laurentian and Sudbury communities, constantly playing a leading role in summer camps, advocacy initiatives, and team events.
The Special Voyageur Award is presented to someone outside of the immediate Voyageurs family who has made an outstanding contribution to Voyageur Athletics. This year the recipient was someone synonymous with the Voyageurs curling programs; Jan Pula.
Pula was instrumental in starting the Voyageur's curling program almost 20 years ago. Beginning with the program in 2005, she coached both the men's and women's teams at the inaugural 2008 CIS Championship, where the women's team brought home a bronze medal. In Laurentian's inaugural OUA season in 2009, Pula coached the women's team to a silver medal finish and CIS bronze medal. Pula continued to coach both teams to consistently strong results and podium finishes before stepping aside in 2012. Pula returned to the Voyageur family as an assistant coach in 2017 and over the last several years, she has been an integral part of our Voyageurs women's team successes as they have claimed an OUA gold, two OUA silver medals, a U SPORTS bronze medal, and two U SPORTS gold medals. Pula's guidance, dedication, and experience has been a major contributing factor to the success of the curling program.
After guiding the women's team to an OUA silver medal and a U SPORTS bronze medal, along with a fourth place finish at U SPORTS for the men, curling coach, Ryan Lafraniere, was awarded the Voyageurs' Coach of the Year award. Under his guidance, the women's team added two first-team and one second-team All-Canadians to their medal haul while the men's squad capped their season with a second-team All-Canadian recognition.
Team awards were also announced on Tuesday. Here are the recipients from the various teams.
Men's Golf
Pride & Tradition Award – Alex Fowke
Women's Golf
Pride & Tradition – Mackenzie Fowke
Men's Nordic Skiing
Pride & Tradition – Augustin Marks de Chabris
Women's Nordic Skiing
Pride & Tradition – Maddie Norman
Women's Cross Country Running
Pride & Tradition – Pascale Gendron
Women's Indoor Track
Pride & Tradition – Kristen Mrozewski
Men's Cross Country Running
Pride & Tradition – Seamus Doherty
Men's Indoor Track
Pride & Tradition – Tristan Routhier
Women's Soccer
Pride & Tradition – Clare Dasek
Men's Soccer
Pride & Tradition – Giancarlo Galluzzo
Men's Basketball
Pride & Tradition – Caillou Lacroix
Women's Basketball
Pride & Tradition – Sydney Tabin
Women's Curling
Pride & Tradition – Julia Deklein
Men's Curling
Pride & Tradition – Nathan Carter
Men's Rowing
Pride & Tradition – Alex Martel
Baseball
Pride & Tradition – Ryan Lacasse
Lacrosse
Pride & Tradition – Michael Holmes
With the awards in the books, the 2022-23 Laurentian varsity season officially comes to a close. Stay tuned to www.luvoyageurs.com for complete off season news and updates.