Photos of OUA and CIS Queen's Golden Gaels award winners. Of course, the biggest award of all is the 2009 Vanier Cup - all other individual honours pale in comparison.
All photos are Copyright (c) Jeff Chan 2000-2010, but may be used for personal non-commercial use, and by Queen's University, the CIS and its member conferences, and by the Vanier Cup, so long as photo credits are shown or the photos are otherwise attributed to Jeff Chan. All other rights are reserved.
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2009-2010 QUEEN'S COLOUR AWARDS
A new major award for the 2009-10 season was unveiled by Athletics & Recreation recognizing the outstanding performance of the year. The inaugural recipient of the award was Yates Cup and Vanier Cup MVP Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont.
The Gaels quarterback guided the football team to a 7-1 regular season record, eventually capturing the Yates Cup and Vanier Cup championships. On top of those incredible honours, Brannagan became the first OUA quarterback to throw for 10,000 yards in a career, was named the OUA Athlete of the Week four times, the CIS Offensive Player of the Week six times and was nominated for the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s top male athlete for 2009. To cap it all off, he became the first CIS quarterback since former Gael Tom Denison (Beamsville, Ont.) to sign a professional contract, signing with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in March.
The accolades for the football team continued as Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont., was honoured with the Jim Tait Memorial Award, presented to the outstanding male athlete in a team sport. Valberg enjoyed a tremendous five-year career, highlighted by his performance over the past two years. The two-time CIS All-Canadian led the nation in receiving yards in each of the last two seasons and finishes his career second on the Gaels all-time receiving yards list. This season, he capped off his career with a Yates Cup and Vanier Cup championship, recording two touchdowns for the Gaels in the national title game win against the Calgary Dinos.
Hilary Felice was honoured with the Hal Dunlop trophy which is given annually to a student trainer who has made significant contribution to Athletic Therapy at Queen’s.
Also unveiled at the annual awards banquet was the top moment of the 2009-10 season. The football team’s run to the Vanier Cup championship was voted by the fans as the top moment from an original list of 35.
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MARCH 27, 2010 FOOTBALL BANQUET AWARDS
Brannagan named MVP as Queen's Football hands out annual team awards
Jamie Howieson - Queen's Sports Information
Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont., collected Queen's Football Club's most valuable player award for the 2009-10 season at the team's annual award banquet held Saturday evening in Kingston, Ont.
Brannagan had an outstanding final season in a Queen`s uniform, leading the Gaels to their first Vanier Cup Championship since 1992 earning Vanier Cup MVP and Yates Cup MVP honours along the way. He was arguably the best quarterback in the country completing 62.1 % of his passes throwing for 2,580 yards and 15 touchdowns, He became the first person in OUA history to break the 10,000-yard passing barrier finishing second all-time on the CIS career passing list. Following his tremendous season, the fifth-year Gael continued to make headlines being nominated for the Lou Marsh Award as Canada`s top Male Athlete of the Year and recently signed a professional contract with the CFL`s Toronto Argonauts.
Queen`s Football also awarded Brannagan the Hal McCarney Trophy as the team`s most dedicated player.
Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont. picked up two awards including the Defensive Player of the Year (Lou Bruce Trophy) and the Special Team Player of the Year (Bob Howes Trophy). Allin was remarkable for the Gaels all-season long ranking fifth in the nation with five interceptions and five break-ups. As the Gaels special team spark plug, he tallied 1,094 all-purpose yards on the punt-return and kick-return recording four special teams touchdowns in the regular season. In the Mitchell Bowl, Allin returned a 120-yard missed field goal attempt which helped Queen`s topple the No. 1 ranked Laval Rouge et Or 33-30. He was honoured by the CIS as a two time All-Canadian for his efforts at defense and special teams.
Offensive Player of the Year honours went to All-Canadian wide-receiver Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont. Valberg was the CIS`s top reciever finishing with 55 receptions, 913-yards and four touchdowns. To cap his season he recorded two touchdown catches in the national championship game.
The Orrin Carson Memorial Trophy which is awarded to both the Offensive and Defensive Lineman of the Year went to Matt O`Donnell of Kingston, on the offensive line while Shomari Williams of Brampton, Ont, claimed the defensive line award. Williams had 32.0 tackles in 2009 to go along with four sacks. He finished the year ranked as the No. 4th ranked prospect by the CFL`s Scouting Bureau.
John Miniaci of Toronto. was named the team`s Rookie of the Year. In just his first season with the Gaels the first year player earned a starting position on the defensive line playing in seven games and all four playoff contests. He recorded 19.5 tackles and one pass-breakup in the regular season.
The Gaels Most Improved Player (Justin Schweig Trophy) was given to linebacker Frank Pankewich of Thunder Bay, Ont. In the regular season, Pankewich tallied 16 taclkes three sacks and one fumble recovery. He also played a significant role in the Gaels playoff run forcing a fumble in the Yates Cup against Western and intercepting a pass in the Mitchell Bowl against Laval.
Defensive end Osie Ukwuoma of Mississauga, Ont. claimed the Bill Miklas Trophy for Academics, Athletics and Citizenship
Former Queen`s quarterback Tim Pendergast was awarded the Ber Bream Memorial Award. The award recognizes the Kingston area's top High School football coach as determined by the Queen`s Football Club. Pendergast, a member of the 1992 Vanier Cup Champion Gaels, led the Holy Cross Crusaders to their first Kingston Area Secondary School Athletic Association (KASSAA) championship in the school`s 23-year history.
The annual banquet marks the official close to the Gaels 2009 Vanier Cup Championship season and preparation for the 2010-11 season is already underway. This year’s season kicks off on Labour Day Monday (Sept 6) with Gaels traveling to Waterloo, Ont. to take on the Waterloo Warriors. Five days later on Sept. 11 Queen`s will kick off its home schedule against the Windsor Lancers.
Season tickets for Queen’s Football are available for purchase by calling 613.533.2500.
QUEEN'S FOOTBALL 2009 AWARD WINNERS
Most Valuable Player (Johnny Evans Trophy): Danny Brannagan
Offensive Lineman of the Year (Orrin Carson): Matt O'Donnell
Defensive Lineman of the Year (Orrin Carson): Shomari WIlliams
Special Teams Player of the Year (Bob Howes Trophy): Jimmy Allin
Offensive Player of the Year (Doug Hargreaves Trophy): Scott Valberg
Defensive Player of the Year (Lou Bruce Trophy): Jimmy Allin
Rookie of the Year (Royal Todd): John Miniachi
Academic & Athletics (Bill Miklas Trophy): Osie Ukwuoma
Most Dedicated (Hal McCarney Trophy): Danny Brannagan
Most Improved (Justin Schwieg Trophy): Frank Pankawich
HS Coach of the Year (Berk Brean Trophy): Tim Pendergast - Holy Cross ('92 Vanier Cup Quarterback for Gaels)
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VANIER CUP AWARDS
Gaels receive national honours
Kingston Whig Standard
Days after edging the Calgary Dinos in a riveting Vanier Cup final, the Queen's Golden Gaels topped the Dinos again.
Three members of the national champion Gaels swept the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football players of the week. Quarterback Dan Brannagan, linebacker Chris Smith and kicker Danny Village beat out a trio of nominees from the losing Calgarians, capturing top offensive, defensive and special-teams kudos, respectively.
Brannagan, who garnered most valuable player laurels in the title tilt, passed for 286 yards and three majors and helped orchestrate the biggest second-half comeback in the 45-year history of the final. Queen's which trailed 25-7 at halftime, emerged 33-31 victors before 18,000-plus fans in Quebec City.
Smith, named top defensive player in the game, recorded 4.5 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Village averaged 38.7 on nine punts despite gusting winds at PEPS Stadium. He also kicked a key 12-yard field goal during the second-half comeback.
The Vanier Cup attracted more television viewers than ever before. Some 706,000 fans watched the game on TSN and Radio- Canada, with that number climbing over the one million mark during the game's final 30 minutes.
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CIS AWARDS
CIS football: 10 All-Canadians to face off in Desjardins Vanier Cup
Ten all-Canadians will take the field on Saturday when the No. 2-ranked Calgary Dinos and No. 4 Queen’s Gaels battle for CIS football supremacy.
The all-Canadian teams were announced Thursday night at the Quebec City Convention Centre with the Vanier Cup-bound Dinos and Gaels claiming six and four selections, respectively.
All four Queen’s all-Canadians earned a spot on the first team, including inside receiver Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont., and tackle Matthew O’Donnell, also of Kingston, on offence, and defensive end Osie Ukwuoma of Mississauga, Ont., and cornerback Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont., on the other side of the ball.
Valberg led the nation with 913 receiving yards and finished second with 55 catches in his fifth and final campaign as a Gael. O’Donnell, standing a towering 6-foot-11, was the cornerstone of an offensive line that helped Mitchell Bowl champion Queen’s rank second in the country in passing with 348 yards a game and fifth in scoring with 34 points per contest.
Ukwuoma was a major reason the Gaels allowed an OUA-low 98 rushing yards a game, while Allin led the conference with five interceptions.
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OUA AWARDS
Linebacker T.J. Leeper (London, Ont.) of the Queen’s Gaels is OUA’s nominee for the Russ Jackson Award, presented annually by CIS to the player who best exemplifies the attributes of academic achievement, football skill and citizenship. Over the past five seasons Leeper has distinguished himself as one of the most intelligent players to ever play at Queen’s. A four-year starter at linebacker, Leeper is a perennial academic all-Canadian who has earned a reputation for being a physical tackler who is always in the right position. In 2009 he led the OUA’s top-ranked defence with 40 tackles (32 solo, 16 assisted), five tackles for loss and one fumble recovery.
While completing his degree in life sciences, Leeper has been a committed community volunteer. Among his many endeavours, Leeper has served as a peer tutor both at Queen’s and with several local high schools. He volunteers with the Kingston General Hospital working with terminally ill patients, and is a regular visitor to the children’s ward. In addition, he has also been a leading force in Queen’s Football Reading Heroes, a community outreach program where members of the football team maintain a significant presence in local elementary schools in an effort to inspire grade school children to improve their literacy. Upon completion of his degree, Leeper intends on entering medical school. He is the third Queen’s player to be a nominee for the Russ Jackson Award since 2002.
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HAMILTON, Ont. (November 10, 2009) – After finishing first in the OUA during the regular season and advancing to their first Yates Cup appearance since 2002, the No. 4 Queen’s Gaels had 10 players named as OUA all-stars as announced by the OUA this afternoon.
Quarterback Danny Brannagan of Burlington, Ont., who went head-to-head with Western’s Michael Faulds in one of the greatest quarterback duels in OUA history, headlines the list of Gaels all-stars. [In the final ballotting, Brannagan narrowly lost out to Faulds as the OUA MVP and Hec Crighton nominee, and as a result was named as the Second-Team All-Canadian Quarterback.]
Brannagan surpassed the all-time OUA passing yards record of 9,974 on Oct. 11 in a 43-21 victory over the Waterloo Warriors, a mark originally set by former McMaster Marauders great Ben Chapdelaine in 2001. In their head-to-head meeting on Oct. 17, both Brannagan and Faulds became the first two quarterbacks in OUA history to surpass 10,000 passing yards. Brannagan’s Gaels edged Faulds’ Mustangs 27-26 in a game that secured Queen’s first place in the OUA standings.
Jimmy Allin of Belleville, Ont., also highlights the list for Queen’s as he was named an all-star at two different positions. Allin was named a first team all-star at the cornerback position and a second team all-star as a kick returner. Allin finished second in the OUA in both interceptions (5) and punt return yards (592). It is the second year in a row that Allin has been named an all-star at multiple positions.
Osie Ukwuoma of Mississauga, Ont., was named a first team all-star as a defensive end for the third straight season. He finished the season with 17 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
Scott Valberg of Kingston, Ont., earned his second-straight first team all-star award as he lead the CIS in receiving yards with 913 and receiving yards per game with 114.1.
Two Gaels were named first team all-stars for the first time in their career. Matthew O’Donnell of Kingston, Ont., received the honour as an offensive tackle while Stephen Laporte of Ottawa, Ont. received the honour as a rush/cover.
As for the second team all-stars, Daniel Bederman of Toronto, Ont., and Vince De Civita of Gormley, Ont., were named as centre and offensive guards respectively. For both players, it is their third all-star award overall as they have both been named first team and second team all-stars previously.
Dan Village of Abbotsford, B.C., is another multiple all-star as he was named at the place kicker position for the second straight year. Village was good on 12 of 13 field goal attempts this season to rank him first all-time in Queen’s team history.
Rounding out the Gaels second team all-stars is David Rooney of Kingston, Ont. For Rooney, it is second-straight year that he has been named at the defensive halfback position. He finished the season second on the team in interceptions with three and third in total tackles with 33.5.
