Thursday, April 4, 2002

Domenico Marcario and Sarah Ali-Khan named athletes of year at 25th annual
McGill sports awards gala

MONTREAL Basketball star Domenico Marcario of St-Leonard, Que., and
distance runner Sarah Ali-Khan of Baie d'Urfe, Que., stole the show at the
25th annual McGill intercollegiate sports awards gala held at the McGill
Sports Centre on April 6. The dynamic duo received the D. Stuart Forbes
and Gladys Bean trophies, respectively, as McGill's male and female athletes
of the year. Both were also named as their respective team MVPs.

Other major award recipients included volleyball players Costa Lambrakis
of St-Laurent, Que., and Elizabeth Jamieson of Halifax, who won the Richard
Pound and Muriel Roscoe trophies, respectively, for proficiency and
leadership in athletics.

Rugby all-star Meghan Stewart of Ste-Adele, Que., received the Uldis
Auders trophy as the top sophomore who best combines academics with
athletics.
Swimmer Nicolas Martin, a butterfly and backstroke specialist from
St-Lambert, Que., who battled back from two intestinal surgeries related
to Crohn¹s disease, received the Mac Teskey award for overcoming adversity
and serving as an inspiration to his teammates.

The Martlet soccer team, which went 18-4-4 overall, won the Quebec league
championship and captured a silver medal at the CIS national
championships, received the Martlet Foundation trophy as varsity team of the
year.
McGill¹s alpine ski team, which won the Quebec conference championship,
garnered the Harry Griffiths trophy as the unfunded club that best
combines good performance with solid administrative proficiency.

Broadcaster Chuck Halliday of The Team 990, won the McGill-Concordia Media
Award for his enthusiastic initiative in producing regular profiles of
university athletes.

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Domenico Marcario, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound guard from St-Leonard, Que.,
became the fifth men¹s basketball player in McGill University history --
and the first in 25 years -- to earn All-Canadian status. He is the first
basketball player since Paul Brousseau in 1990 and only the seventh cager,
to win the Forbes trophy, awarded annually since 1948 to the McGill male
who has brought most credit to the University by reason of his athletic
achievements.

Marcario, a 22-year-old kinesiology junior, was named player of the year
in the Quebec conference, led the league in scoring and was 13th in the
nation, with an average of 18.7 points over 15 regular season games. He was
also
10th among league leaders in three-point shooting (32.1%) and 10th in
free-throw shooting (73.3%). He connected on 109 of 221 field-goal
attempts for a 49.3 shooting percentage. He tied for the Redmen lead in
steals
(37), was second in assists (31) and third in rebounds (51). Aside from
earning
all-conference honours, he was selected to the All-tournament team at the
UNB National Invitational in October and was named Quebec university
athlete of the week in February.

Marcario beat out two other finalists for the Forbes Trophy, including
hockey all-star David Burgess of Crystal City, Man., and football
All-Canadian John Macdonald, a defensive tackle from Simcoe, Ont.

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Sarah Ali-Khan, a 28-year-old graduate student in pharmacology, became the
first McGill athlete to win three consecutive Gladys Bean trophies,
presented annually since 1992 to the McGill female who has brought most
credit to the university by reason of her athletic achievements. The
fourth-year distance runner, who was raised in New Zealand, was voted the
Quebec conference athlete of the year in both track and cross-country and
earned All-Canadian status in both as well.

In six cross-country races, she won three gold medals, two silvers and a
fourth-place finish. She captured the Quebec individual championships and
was second at the CIS Nationals missing a gold medal in the 5k race by one
second.

In track and field, Ali-Khan won 11 gold medals in six meet, including
four at the provincial championships, plus gold and a silver at the CIS
championships in Sherbrooke. She is the all-time CIS medal winner in
McGill track history with 10 career medals at the Nationals. She ran the
fastest
times in the country for both the 600m and 1500m and ran the second
quickest 1000m, setting a number of McGill and Quebec university records.
Over the
season, she won five McGill athlete-of-the-week awards, including three at
the Quebec level.

Ali-Khan edged out an impressive list of four other finalists for the Bean
Award, including CIS soccer player of the year Eva Melamed of Ottawa,
rugby league MVP Jessica Young of Bathurst, N.B., volleyball league MVP
Shauna
Forster of Kamloops, B.C., and alpine ski champion Lise-Marie Acton of
Sault Ste-Marie, Ont.

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Costa Lambrakis, a 6-foot-2, 187-pound libero with the volleyball Redmen,
received the Richard Pound Award, presented since 1992 to a male student
in his final year, for proficiency and leadership in athletics.

The 29-year-old physical education senior, an assistant captain with the
team, sat on six committees, including the McGill Athletics Board, the
Intercollegiate Sports Council and the Student's Athletics Council. He
was actively involved in numerous fundraising events and inaugurated the
annual Ornada Cup game for charity

Lambrakis finished ahead of three other finalists for the Pound Award,
including football player Strachan Hartley, a defensive back from
Vancouver, plus rugby stars Chase Robinson of Stoney Creek, Ont., and Steven

Romanchuk from Penticton, B.C.

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Elizabeth Jamieson, a 22-year-old civil engineering senior on the
volleyball team, was awarded the Dr. Muriel V. Roscoe Award, which has been
presented
since 1949 to a female student in her final year for proficiency and
leadership in athletics at McGill

The 6-foot-1 middle blocker served on the McGill Intercollegiate Sports
Council, was an Academic All-Canadian and qualified for the Principal¹s
student-athlete honour roll.

She edged out two other finalists for the Roscoe Award, including Eva
Melamed, the aforementioned soccer All-Canadian and synchro swimmer
Kristina Buchmann of Baie d¹Urfé, Que.

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Meghan Stewart, a 20-year-old centre on the rugby team, won the Uldis
Auders Memorial Award, presented to the sophomore student who best
demonstrates
both academic and athletic excellence. The trophy is named in memory of
former Redmen quarterback Uldis Auders, who died tragically at 30 years of
age in 1981 during an avalanche in Switzerland.

Majoring in International Business & Accounting, she has achieved a
cumulative grade point average of 3.87, earning Royal Bank Academic
All-Canadian status, in addition to making the Dean¹s Honour List and the
Principal's Student-Athlete Honour Roll. On the playing field, she scored
13 tries in 15 games, was named a conference all-star and was selected to
the
Canadian national team¹s developmental long list.

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Nicolas Martin, a 25-year-old civil engineering senior on the swim team,
received the Mac Teskey Award, presented on special occasions to a student
who has demonstrated courage and morale worthy of honourable mention. This
award is named after a former McGill swimmer who overcame the loss of a
lung to cancer, bounced back to qualify for the CIAU nationals and went on
to
earn his medical degree. It recognizes athletes who, through sport, have
somehow inspired those around them.

Martin had to overcome Crohn¹s disease, an inflammation of the small
intestine, which resulted in two stomach surgeries last year. A former
conference all-star, he took a two-and-a-half-year sabbatical from
competitive swimming after his sophomore year. He underwent stomach
surgery last spring to remove 25 centimetres of his intestine. After
recovering
from that, he made a triumphant return to the pool last fall and competed
in four meets for McGill over the season.

In his first meet back after missing two seasons, he won silver in the
4x100 medley relay and bronze in the 100m butterfly at a Quebec Cup meet, to
qualified for the CIS national championships. But he had to undergo a
second surgical procedure on his stomach in December. He recovered in time
to
swim again at the national championships in Vancouver, where he reached the
consolation finals in the 50m butterfly and came in second.

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The women¹s soccer team won the Martlet Foundation Trophy, presented
annually since 1986 to the McGill intercollegiate team which has brought
most credit to the University by reason of its athletic achievements.

They celebrated their 51st season with one of their best campaigns ever,
with an 18-4-4 overall record, outscoring opponents by a 110-23 margin.
The team boasted the nation's highest scoring offence and the second best
defensive record. In regular season play, they finished first in the
8-team Quebec league with a 12-1-1 record.

They won the Quebec championship game and reached the gold medal final at
the Nationals in Ottawa, where they ended up with a silver medal after a
2-1 loss to Alberta. Their lineup featured six of the top eight spots in the
league scoring race including the top two scorers in the nation. They had
nine conference all-stars, including three All-Canadians. They had the
league MVP, the player of the year in Canada.

The alpine ski team, for the second consecutive year, won the Harry
Griffiths Memorial Trophy, presented to the McGill club, which has
attained high competitive success, combined with outstanding organizational
achievement.

The season, composed of 10 races over five events, was one of the most
successful in McGill skiing history as the Martlets finished first of nine
teams and the Redmen were fourth, finishing second in the combined overall
standings.

They had a membership of 185 students, including 35 highly competitive
racers. They took advantage of a year-round training program and held
various skill clinics for team members throughout the season (in both
skiing and snowboarding). Among their fundraising ventures, they organized
the
annual McGill Ski Sale, which allowed them to operate a budget of about
$80,000.

They had a great season on the slopes, winning the women¹s league
championship, finishing fourth on men¹s side and collectively placing
second of nine teams in the overall standings. The women won 11 medals in 10
races and placed five among the Top 10 finishers in the individual
standings,
including the league¹s individual scoring champion.

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McGILL's 2001-02 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARDS

Monogrammed McGill sweaters and certificates were presented to the
following MVPs from McGill's intercollegiate teams and clubs:

Badminton: Sabrina Lee (Vancouver, BC) and David Lee (Vancouver, BC)

Baseball: Jason Katz (Hampstead, Que.)

Basketball: Cheeka Mitchell (Lachine, Que.) & Frederic Bernard (Laval,
Que.)

Cheerleading: Nicole Kraumanis (Vancouver, BC)

Cross-country: Sarah Ali-Khan (Baie d'Urfe & Brant Carson (Waterloo, Ont.)

Fencing: Jodie Capling (Williams Lake, BC) & Maytham Abbas (Bahrain)

Field Hockey: Justine Sagan (Calgary, Alta.)

Figure Skating: Mona Hoy (Bowmanville, Ont.)

Football: Mike Mahoney (Regina, Sask.)

Hockey: Sophie Acheson (Montreal, Que.) & David Burgess (Crystal City,
Man.)

Lacrosse: Rita Higgins (Saratoga, NY) & Nathan Chapman

Rowing: Sarah Tynan (Canberra, Australia) & Gerald Sheehan (Toronto, Ont.)

Rugby: Jessica Young (Bathurst, NB) & Jonathan Crago (Montreal, Que.)

Sailing: Heather Van Doren and David Barclay (Victoria, BC)

Skiing-Alpine: Lise-Marie Acton (Sault Ste. Marie) & Joachim Hrasky
(Norway)

Skiing-Nordic: Emily Schonberg (Waterbury, Vt) & Martin Saidla (Ottawa,
ON)

Soccer: Eva Melamed (Ottawa, Ont.) & Guy Anaba Anaba (Cameroon)

Squash: Beverly Pankrat & Maxime Descoteaux (Sherbrooke, Que.)

Swimming: Heather Bell (Barrie, Ont.) & David Allard (Dorval, Que.)

Synchro: Kristina Buchmann (Baie d'Urfe, Que.)

Tennis: Cassy Robinson-Cohen (Montreal, Que.) & Jeff Rosenblatt (Montreal)

Track & Field: Sarah Ali-Khan(Baie d'Urfe) & Yohsuke Hayashi (Brossard,
Que)

Ultimate: Kim Albright (Montreal, Que.) & Jean-Pierre Raulot

Volleyball: Shauna Forster (Kelowna) & Jonathan Faucher (Beaconsfield,
Que.)

Wrestling: Cassie Lee (Hawaii, USA) & Caleb Netting (Kelowna, BC)

FOR FURTHER INFOR CONTACT:
Earl Zukerman, McGill Sports Information Officer at (514) 398-7012