Twenty-one St. Thomas University Tommies received the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association’s National Scholar Award last month.
These students were recognized for their performances both in athletics and in the classroom last year.
The award is given to student-athletes who achieve high academic standings at their institutions.
The Tommies that won the award for 2015-16 are from seven STU varsity teams: men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, golf, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
Nick Levesque is a fourth-year student from Fredericton who has received the award for three consecutive years.
Last season, he played both soccer and volleyball while maintaining a high academic standing.
Levesque has played volleyball since Grade 11, but soccer was a new game for him last season.
“A couple guys on the team saw me play volleyball and they were like, ‘we need a goalie, we have no one, you can jump, come play,’” he said.
“I still can’t kick a ball to save my life though.”
In his final year, Levesque is continuing with soccer, but he’s also trying something new again by joining the basketball team.
He said leading a busy life is a benefit for him because it forces him to stay motivated.
“It’s a lot of time spent at school, but that’s probably one of the benefits of being a student-athlete,” said Levesque.
“When you’re juggling these things and you’re always busy, staying motivated is less hard than if you were to go home and have free time on your hands.”
Jayme Hunt from Woodstock, N.B., is a two-time recipient of the award and a third-year student majoring in economics with a minor in business and psychology.
She has played basketball for about nine years, and she said it’s a huge accomplishment to be recognized.
“Being a student-athlete is a huge commitment, and I am happy to see that my hard work and dedication is paying off,” said Hunt.
Chelsey Leahy, a fifth-year student from Fredericton that plays on the women’s soccer team, received the award for the first time this year.
Last year, when she was working towards this award, she played soccer, worked a part-time job and was writing a sociology honours thesis.
Leahy has both played soccer and worked part-time during all five of her years at STU.
“It’s about time management,” she said. “So just finding the balance and actually scheduling my
stuff and prioritizing and really taking the time when you don’t have anything sports related to do school work.
“You’re not an athlete-student – you’re a student-athlete.”
When asked what receiving the CCAA National Scholar Award means to them all three athletes, Levesque, Hunt and Leahy, replied with the same phrase: that hard work pays off.
Other Tommies who were National Scholars include Katelynn Carver, Katie Corlett, Laura Fowler and Sara Banks of the women’s basketball squad.
Francis Sirois, Nicholas Jackson and Jimy Beltran from men’s volleyball and Nicholas Brown of the STU golf team were also recognized.
Xavier Ponce of the men’s soccer team earned the award, along with women’s volleyball players Dominique Caravan, Megan MacLeod, Amy Reid, Jennifer Russell and Mija MacDonald.
National Scholars from the Tommies men’s hoops team were Quentin Sock and Mike Chan, while Lauran Haas and Emily Cronkhite got the award for women’s soccer.
