The Memorial University Sea-Hawks honoured the accomplishments of its student-athletes on social media last week. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was no banquet this year, in what would have been the 60th Annual Athletic Awards. Instead the recipients were celebrated online for their successes in the 2019-20 season.
This year's Butler Trophy (Sea-Hawks Athletes of the Year) winners were Haille Nickerson (Women's Basketball) & Jade Roberts (Women's Cross Country), and Cole Long (Men's Basketball).
This was quite the season for both Haille Nickerson and Jade Roberts. Nickerson was named a first team AUS all-star, a second team U SPORTS All-Canadian, she led the country in scoring (24.6 PPG), and broke the Sea-Hawks single season scoring record. Roberts returned to the cross country team for the first time since 2017 and what a return it was. She won the 2019 AUS Cross Country Championship at UNB, while also qualifying for the U SPORTS National Championships.
Cole Long returned home after spending the last three years playing for the Detroit Mercy in NCAA D1. His return was a welcome addition to the Sea-Hawks lineup, as he quickly proved to be one of the top players in the league. Long was the team leader in points, rebounds, FT%, steals & blocks. He tied for 1st in AUS scoring (20.6 PPG), while averaging 9.6 RPG (4th in AUS). Cole earned Sea-Hawks AOW on 5 separate occasions, while also winning 2 preseason MVP awards.
The Most Valuable Players for each sport were announced, as well. They were as follows:
- Women's Track and Field: Shae LeDevehat
- Men's Track and Field: Ben Krilow
- Jubilee Cup (Men's Cross Country): Levi Moulton
- Jubilee Cup (Women's Cross Country): Jade Roberts
- John Drinkwater (Swimming): Thomas Chafe
- Alan Ross (Men's Soccer): Michael O'Brien
- Alan Ross (Women's Soccer): Sydney Walsh
- Volleyball (Women's): Katie Wagar
- Edward P. Browne (Men's Basketball): Cole Long
- Edward P. Browne (Women's Basketball): Haille Nickerson