The readers voted and The Charlatan listened. A total of 1,279 votes were cast, and the following five athletes have earned this year’s Reader’s Choice awards.
Katelyn Steele
Women’s hockey
580 votes
In her third season with the Ravens, Steele was named an RSEQ Second-Team All-Star.
Steele ranked sixth in U SPORTS with 541 saves as well as the RSEQ’s second-best save percentage at 0.920 per cent, and posted a goals-against average of 3.03.
“She’s the most competitive person that I know, she works her butt off, she really wants to win and she wants to see this program do well,” Ravens teammate Tawnya Guindon said. “All the little details that she does makes her so successful.”
Aaron Woods
Lacrosse
291 votes
This season,Woods was named Carleton’s 2016 Offensive Player of the Year for his team, and recieved an honourable mention for top attack in the All Canada East Division.
“What makes him a great player is work ethic,” Ravens teammate Cameron Breen said in an email. “After each practice some of the guys continue to shoot till the lights are turned off and he’s always one of them. He puts in the work and it shows in games.”
Despite his team ending the season tied for last with Laurier, Woods finished his senior season by moving into third place for most all-time goals (88), seventh for all-time assists (32), and fourth for all-time points (120) with the Ravens.
Kaza Kajami-Keane
Men’s basketball
187 votes
Kajami-Keane helped lead the Ravens to an undefeated regular season as well as their seventh straight National Championship and winning the Capital Hoops Classic.
Kajami-Keane averaged 15.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and led the OUA with 5.2 assists per game in the regular season.
In his final season at Carleton, Kajami-Keane earned his second U SPORTS national championship and was named MVP of the tournament this year.
Bailey Dean
Women’s rugby
186 votes
Dean, a Ravens flanker, led Carleton this season with a team-high 41 total points—along with 15 conversions, one try, one drop goal and one penalty.
“She leads by example, and is one of the team’s leaders and she embodies what it means to be a Raven on and off of the field,” Ravens teammate Briana Fayad said.
Dean’s best game statistically this year came Sept. 11 in a 50-5 win against the McGill Martlets when she posted a line of 15 points—including five conversions and one try.
Catherine Traer
Women’s basketball
179 votes
In her first season at Carleton following three years with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, Traer helped lead the women’s basketball team to their first-ever bronze medal at the U SPORTS women’s basketball Final 8 with a win over the Queen’s Gaels.
“First of all, I think she brings a lot of maturity to the team,” Ravens teammate Stephanie Carr said. “She’s been playing for a while, and also she’s doing her master’s, she’s doing homework all the time [and] sets a good example for all of us.”
“And then on the court, she’s always calm. She knows what she needs to do,” she said.
Over the course of the season, Traer averaged 14.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, two assists and was fifth best in the OUA with 27 blocks.
—With files from Cameron Penney
– Graphics by Christophe Young
