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KINGSTON, Ont. (March 28, 2011) – Lisa McLaughlin (Lacrosse) of Whitby, Ont., Liam Twomey and Pat Twomey (Cycling) both of Chelmsford, Mass., were named the top student-athletes for the 2010-11 season at the 75th annual Colour Awards Varsity Club athletic banquet Monday night at the Ambassador Resort and Conference Centre.

McLaughlin was awarded the Marion Ross trophy which is awarded to the top Varsity Club female student-athlete. Prior to this season, the trophy had been awarded to the top female athlete in an individual sport.

The fourth year commerce major has enjoyed an outstanding career with the women's lacrosse club. In her rookie season, she was named an OUA First Team All-Star as well as her club's rookie of the year. She continued to earn accolades throughout her career, including two additional first team all-star nominations as well as the OUA Most Valuable Offensive Player in her second season.

In three of her four years on the team, the Gaels were medalists at the OUA Championships, earning two silver medals and a bronze. She has also acted as a player/coach for the past two seasons.

Identical twin brothers Liam and Pat were named co-winners of the Jack Jarvis trophy, which is awarded to the top Varsity Club male student-athlete. Prior to this year, the trophy was awarded to the top male athlete in an individual sport.

In their first year with the team, the fourth year education majors finished as the top rookies in the Men's 'A' division after helping the team to a first place finish and were named the co-winners of the Cycling team's rookie of the year award.

Since then, both Liam and Pat have taken over the leadership role with the club, coordinating all activities, from rider development to race logistics. During this time, they have also maintained a high standard of performance with the team and have led their fellow riders to two additional championships.

The Award of Merit Trophy, which had previously been awarded to the outstanding female athlete in a team sport, is now being presented annually to the top performing Varsity Club. The award was presented Monday night to the OUA Champion men's fencing team.

After a successful regular season in which the team performed well at their host invitational as well as the RMC invitational, the team entered the OUA Championship looking to knock off the defending champions, the Carleton Ravens. The club went on to win gold medals in four different events, including the epee, the sabre, the epee team relay and the sabre team relay. Along with a bronze medal in the epee, the team was successful in upending Carleton to win their first team championship since 2003-04.

The Alfie Pierce award recipients for the top club rookies of the year were Renee Tse of Markham, Ont., from figure skating and Etienne Moreau of Collingwood, Ont., from cycling. Tse was one of the figure skating team's top performers this season as she won two medals, including a gold in the Senior Silver Singles Freeskate, at the OUA Championships. Moreau helped guide the cycling team to the University Cup championship after being named the champion of the Men's 'A' Division.

Throughout the course of the evening, each Varsity Club also honoured their team award winners as the individual team leaders spoke of their team's successes throughout the year.

Tomorrow evening, Queen's Athletic and Recreation will host the Colour Awards Varsity Team athletic banquet. Among the awards announced on Tuesday will be the Varsity Team rookies of the year, Varsity Team of Year as well as the Outstanding Performance of the Year. Also handed out will be the PHE'55 Alumnae Award and the Jenkins Trophy which are awarded to the top fourth or fifth year student-athletes.


QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY CLUB AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2010-11

Marion Ross Trophy: Lisa McLaughlin (Lacrosse)
Jack Jarvis Trophy: Liam & Pat Twomey (Cycling)
Award of Merit Trophy: Men's Fencing
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Renee Tse (Figure Skating)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Etienne Moreau (Cycling)