U of G Rugby Player Nominated for Top National Award
April 19, 2012 - Campus Bulletin
Women’s rugby player Jacey Murphy has been nominated for the prestigious Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) athlete of the year award.
She is only the fourth University of Guelph athlete ever nominated for the honour, officially known as the Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) Awards.
In total, eight Canadian athletes are nominated for the honour — four women and four men.
The winners will be named April 30 during an event in Calgary, to be televised May 26 on TSN.
All nominees receive a commemorative gold ring, and winners receive a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian university graduate school. Winners are selected by the Canadian Athletic Foundation.
“The BLG Awards is the event we look most forward to all year long,” said Marg McGregor, chief executive officer of CIS. “With over 10,000 student-athletes competing in CIS, the BLG Awards highlight eight exceptional individuals, and we are extremely proud of their accomplishments and unrelenting pursuit of excellence.”
Established in 1993 to recognize top athletes from universities affiliated with CIS, the BLG Awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship and leadership.
Each of the 52 CIS schools selects one female and one male athlete of the year. From these nominees, one female and one male athlete are chosen within each of the four regional associations: Atlantic University Sport, Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and the Canada West Universities Athletic Association.
Murphy, a fifth-year B.Sc.(Agr.) student, was the female athlete nominee from the OUA. In March, she was named U of G’s female athlete of the year.
She has been a dominant force on the Gryphon women’s rugby team throughout her career and especially this season en route to the team’s OUA and CIS championships. She was named CIS Player of the Year and received the OUA Most Valuable Player award. She led the OUA conference this season with 12 tries in the five-game regular season and placed third with 60 points.
