17 student athletes from St. Thomas University were recognized by the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association for their efforts in the classroom for the 2018-19 season, by being named CCAA National Scholars.
The National Scholar award is presented to student athletes who maintain a strong grade point average while competing in the CCAA.
Madison Owens (Fredericton, NB) is entering her 4th year of being a student athlete with the women’s basketball team, and has been a National Scholar each of her first three seasons with the Tommies.
“It’s nice to receive the award because it acknowledges the dedication put in, in other areas of my life,” said Owens. “Student athletes’ lives are usually focused on their sports so being recognized for an award outside of basketball is exciting.”
Christian Christie (Langley, BC) has also been a National Scholar in each of his years with the Tommies men’s volleyball team and admits that the challenges of being a student athlete can be tough at times.
“At times it can be a very challenging to manage school and sports, especially in season, as that’s when you are traveling the most, so you have less time to do work,” said Christie. “It can be stressful around midterms and exams but as long as I manage my time well, I find I still have enough time in the day to get everything done.”
Both Christie and Owens agree that the most important thing about being a student athlete is time management.
“Being a student athlete there’s a lot of sacrifices you have to make,” said Owens. “You have to say no to a lot of stuff, which can be hard at times, but sometimes it’s necessary to be successful off the court. It was definitely hard to navigate at first, but once you get the hang of it, it starts to become easier.”
“For me I just try and make sure I have all my due dates and readings marked down for the semester in my calendar, so I don’t get caught by surprise by anything,” said Christie. “I try and get through a little bit each day, then when I have more time or feel like doing more I try and get ahead if I can.”
With the addition of the 17 award recipients this year the Tommies have now accumulated 289 CCAA National Scholar awards since 2004-05
2018-19
Omer Hassan, Men’s Basketball
George Tzimas, Men’s Soccer
Christian Christie, Men’s Volleyball
Ryan Dickson, Men’s Volleyball
Adam Hamilton, Men’s Volleyball
Nicholas Jackson, Men’s Volleyball
Kiandra MacMullin, Women’s Basketball
Madison Owens, Women’s Basketball
Leila Rashid, Women’s Basketball
Moira Kinney, Women’s Soccer
Melanie Laplante, Women’s Soccer
Katie MacDermaid, Women’s Soccer
Hailee Fleck, Women’s Volleyball
Jenicca Jean, Women’s Volleyball
Lauren MacDonald, Women’s Volleyball
Mija MacDonald, Women’s Volleyball
Veronique McGrath, Women’s Volleyball