Carleton University’s Department of Recreation and Athletics recognized the lesser-publicized athletic successes of the fall sports season at a small gathering Jan. 17.
“They don’t get the media visibility that Canadian Interuniversity Sport team sports do, so this is our way of recognizing their incredible accomplishments,” director of recreation and athletics Jennifer Brenning said.
The athletics department recognizes all of the varsity programs at a banquet at the end of March. However, with teams such as the men’s water polo team, who quietly won the Ontario University Athletics Championships in December, March isn’t always the most ideal time to celebrate a successful season.
“What we found in the past is that our teams that win in the fall are teams that by the time the varsity banquet rolls around, they don’t always get their due and what we wanted to do as a department is give them a chance to be recognized,” varsity co-ordinator Anthony Brown said.
The team accomplishments being recognized included the men’s water polo team as well as the women’s golf team, who qualified for the Canadian University/College Championship for the first time in the history of the program.
The banquet also recognized individual efforts such as Matthew Fournier of the rowing team, a gold medallist at the 2013 Canadian University Rowing Championships.
Soccer midfielder Joey Kewin and nordic skiers Kendra Murray and Peter Biesel were also honoured.
Fournier said while it is nice to be recognized by the school, his work is not done as he sets his sights on bigger goals for the 2014 season.
“The world championship team for representing Canada is where I want to be,” Fournier said.
The athletics department also thanked the people working behind the scenes to help Ravens athletes reach their full potential, particularly Ed Ireland.
Brown said Ireland, a long-time supporter of Ravens athletics, is a large donor to the varsity scholarship fund at Carleton University.
He said Ireland can also be seen at almost every Ravens home game, no matter what sport is being played.
The athletes being recognized were not only celebrated at the private event, but were also guests of honour at the women’s and men’s basketball games that night in the Ravens’ Nest.
