Fifth year Wesmen men’s volleyball star Ben Schellenberg has been named the Canada West male nominee for the prestigious BLG Award.
WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg – in conjunction with Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and Canadian Interuniversity Sport – is pleased to announce that fifth year Wesmen men’s volleyball star Ben Schellenberg has been named the Canada West male nominee for the prestigious BLG Award. The BLG Awards honor the top male and female CIS Athletes of the Year and will be handed out in a gala event at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary on Monday, April 28.
Schellenberg, a six-foot-six opposite/middle hitter from Westgate Collegiate, helped the Wesmen win a silver medal at the CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship in Laval, Quebec earlier in March. At the Nationals, Schellenberg was named to the CIS Men’s Volleyball Championship All-Star Team.
After a highly successful regular season in which the Wesmen compiled a 14-4 record, the personal honors poured in for the fifth-year team captain. Schellenberg was named the CIS Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year and a First-Team All-Canadian. At the conference level Schellenberg was named the Canada West Men’s Volleyball Most Valuable Player and earned a spot on the Canada West First All-Star Team.
Schellenberg was among the Canada West conference leaders in numerous categories this season, placing fourth in kills (238), third in points (290), seventh in hitting percentage (.347) and ninth in digs (119). Ben was named the Lea Marc Printing University of Winnipeg Male Athlete of the Month two times this past season (November 2007 and February 2008). Ben, a soon to be five-time Academic All Canadian, was named as the University of Winnipeg’s Male Athlete of the Year last month.
“Being named a nominee for the BLG award is a honor for me, my teammates, my coaches and for my friends and family, who all contributed to the successes experienced by me and my team,” said Schellenberg.
The male finalists for CIS athlete-of-the-year honors along with Schellenberg are University of New Brunswick hockey player Rob Hennigar of Jordan, Ont., Bishop’s University football player Jamall Lee of Port Coquitlam, B.C., Carleton University basketball player Aaron Doornekamp of Odessa, Ont.
The 2008 nominees for the Jim Thompson Trophy presented to the female BLG Award recipient are Memorial University of Newfoundland basketball player Katherine Quackenbush of Halifax, Université de Montréal volleyball player Laetitia Tchoualack of Paris, France, McMaster University basketball player Lindsay DeGroot of Thedford, Ont., and Simon Fraser University basketball player Lani Gibbons of Salmon Arm, B.C.
The BLG Awards
The BLG Awards were established in 1993 to recognize the top male and female athletes from universities affiliated with Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
The BLG Awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship and leadership. Each of 51 CIS schools selects one male and one female athlete of the year. From these nominees, one male and one female athlete are chosen within each of the four regional associations: Atlantic, Canada West, Ontario, and Quebec. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have competed in a CIS sport for a minimum of two years, and cannot be a previous recipient of a BLG Award.
Nominees receive a commemorative gold ring, and winners are presented with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian University graduate school. Winners are selected by the Canadian Athletic Foundation, a not-for-profit Board established for the purpose of administering the BLG Awards and protecting the integrity of the selection process. The CAF Board of Trustees consists of 23 members from seven Canadian cities representing 19 major corporations from across the country who are committed to ensuring that Canadian University athletes receive the recognition they deserve.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Sheldon Appelle, Sports Information Coordinator, University of Winnipeg
P: 204.786.9823, C: 204.795.0720, E: s.appelle@uwinnipeg.ca, W: www.wesmen.ca
