Athletics awards season is underway and 24 Ryerson Rams athletes from basketball, hockey and volleyball picked up U SPORTS and Ontario University Athletics (OUA) honours all throughout this week.
Leading the way for the national U SPORTS awards for Ryerson is men’s basketball fifth-year guard Adika Peter-McNeilly, who was selected as a First-Team All-Canadian — an honour that shows he is considered one of the top five players in the country. He is the first Rams men’s basketball player to have that honour.
On the women’s side, third-year forward Sofia Paska is considered a top 10 player nationally after being named a U SPORTS Second-Team All-Canadian. She is the second player in team history to be named an All-Canadian, after former Rams star Keneca Pingue-Giles was selected to the first-team last year.
The Rams also did well at the OUA level. Men’s hockey forward Aaron Armstrong, along with his teammates, forward Michael Fine and defenceman Alex Basso, were all named OUA First-Team All-Stars while two Rams rookies, Matt Mistele and Josh Sterk, were selected to the All-Rookie Team.
Veronica Livingston leads the way for women’s volleyball as Livingston, Theanna Vernon and Julie Longman are all First-Team All-Stars. Lauren Veltman and Cailin Wark were named to the All-Rookie team.
In men’s volleyball, Lucas Coleman, Uchenna Ofoha and Adam Anagnostopoulos were selected as First-Team and Taylor Jordan was named to the All-Rookie Team.
In women’s basketball, senior guard Nicole DiDomenico picked up the Joy Bellinger Award, which is presented to the student-athlete who excels in athletics, academics and community service. Paska and fifth-year senior guard Kellie Ring were named First-Team All-Stars. Forwards Bronwyn Williams and Emma Fraser both made the All-Rookie team.
Men’s basketball saw Peter-McNeilly and senior guard Ammanuel Diressa named First-Team All-Stars while forward Keevon Small was named to the All-Rookie team.