Some of Canada's best university athletes are in contention for the 13th annual BLG Awards, honouring the top male and female athletes in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The nominees were announced by sponsor Doug Mitchell, of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) in Calgary recently.
The BLG Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony on Monday, May 2nd, 2005, at 7:30 p.m. (MT) at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary, and will be broadcast on TSN on May 22nd at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The female finalists for the 2005 BLG Awards and CIS athlete-of-the-year-honours are University of Saskatchewan pole vaulter Kelsie Hendry of Saskatoon, Wilfrid Laurier University hockey player Cindy Eadie of Brantford, Ont., McGill University soccer player Danielle Day of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Â鶹´«Ã½ sprinter Adrienne Power of Halifax, the only athlete nominated for a second consecutive year.
The male nominees are University of Alberta volleyball player Nicholas Cundy of Edmonton, McMaster University football player Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ont., UniversitŽ de MontrŽal volleyball player Christian Bernier of Sudbury, Ont., and University of New Brunswick swimmer Daniel Monid of Mississauga, Ont.
The BLG Awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship, leadership ability, and academic excellence. Each of the 50 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 regions: Atlantic, Canada West, Ontario, and Quebec.
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.
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty members, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 19 national championships in 11 different sports.