The 63rd annual Ottawa Sports Awards were hosted at Algonquin College on Jan. 27. This banquet gives recognition to sporting excellence in the capital, to amateur teams and individuals.
Several Carleton Ravens athletes were in attendance, many of whom were honoured at the event.
Carleton’s 2014-15 men’s basketball team took home the title of Male Team of the Year. This is their fifth consecutive year being nominated and winning the award. The team was chosen after a tremendous season which saw the Ravens win the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title over Windsor, and the Canadian title over Ottawa. The team has 11 Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships in the past 13 years.
There to accept the award on behalf of the team were teammates Mitchell Wood and Gavin Resch, and assistant coach Dean Petridis.
Other teams which were credited for having successful seasons included the Carleton Ravens men’s fencing, men’s nordic skiing, and men’s water polo.
Austin Stanton, a member of the Ravens men’s water polo team, was present to receive the award. This was Stanton’s first time attending the banquet, and he said he felt it was unique the banquet brought different types of athletes together to interact and be recognized on a similar platform.
“It was nice to mix with other athletes,” Stanton said. “A lot of the time you hang with your team and that’s really good, but you don’t often . . . get the opportunity to hang with other varsity athletes, and it was a new experience in that way.”
Individual Carleton athletes also received awards at the banquet.
Philip Scrubb, a recent Carleton graduate and former Ravens basketball player, was recognized for his record-setting career as part of the Carleton basketball team.
Scrubb is a four-time member of the Male Team of the Year, and has been named Ottawa’s top basketball player twice now. He helped lead the Ravens to their fifth consecutive CIS championship last season, and was named CIS Men’s Final Eight MVP.
This past summer, he played for the Canadian senior men’s team at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championships in Mexico City, and participated in the NBA summer leagues with the Memphis Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. Scrubb is currently playing professionally in Finland.
Another Carleton athlete to be recognized was Colin Abbott. Abbott was a key player in helping the Nordic skiing team claim the OUA title for the first time since the 2010-11 season. During the OUA Championships, Abbott won gold in the 6.6 km classic race and 2x 0.6 km free relay with teammate Steffan Lloyd.
Stanton said he felt it was a good opportunity to give the “unknown dynasties” a chance to be recognized on the same scale as the more well-known teams, such as the men’s basketball team.
“They kept every single person, every single team on the same level of appreciation,” he said.
