Korissa Williams celebrates her Banner Shield award as Lancer female athlete of the year.Korissa Williams celebrates her Banner Shield award as Lancer female athlete of the year.

Banquet celebrates best of Lancer athletics

There has never been a better time to call yourself a Lancer, athletics director Mike Havey said Wednesday at the Evening of Excellence awards banquet.

“This season has been one of tremendous team and individual achievement,” he said. “We have been witness to spectacular accomplishments on the field of play, in the classroom and in the community by all of our student-athletes.”

Standouts Korissa Williams and Spencer Pommells were multiple winners and walked away with the night’s top prizes as UWindsor Athletes of the Year.

Williams was named Canadian Interuniversity Sport Women’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team all-Canadian after leading the Lancer squad to provincial and national titles, garnering most valuable player honours at the Bronze Baby final eight tournament for the second time in her career.

In regular season play, Williams averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game. With the national championship victory, she and teammate Jocelyn LaRocque became the first women’s basketball players in history to win five CIS titles.

Pommells is the first Lancer ever to claim the Joseph A. Sullivan Trophy as the CIS Men’s Hockey Player of the Year. His league-leading 50 points helped Windsor to a first-place finish in the OUA with a 22-4-1 record and a top-10 ranking nationally for 17 straight weeks. In addition to winning the Sullivan Trophy, he was a first-team All-Canadian and the OUA Men’s Hockey Player of the Year.

Pommells has begun a professional career with the Florida Everblades of the East Coast Hockey League; he submitted a video message of appreciation for his Olympic Shield win.

The DeMarco Awards, presented annually to the female and male students that best combine academic achievement with athletic prowess, went to Hannah Robson of the women’s volleyball team and football quarterback Austin Kennedy.

The head coaches of Windsor’s two national champion teams shared the Gino Fracas Coach of the Year Award: Dennis Fairall of men’s track and field and Chantal Vallée of women’s basketball. Both also earned CIS coach of the year honours in their respective sports.

Find a full list of award winners at goLancers.ca.