KINGSTON, Ont. (March 27, 2013) - Riley Filion (Alexandria, Ont.) of the women's soccer team and Jackson Dakin (Courtenay, B.C.) of the men's volleyball team were named the top student-athletes for the 2012-13 season at the 77th annual Colour Awards Varsity Team athletic banquet Wednesday night at the Ambassador Hotel.

Filion, this year's PHE '55 Alumnae Award winner, has one of the most storied careers in Queen's varsity history with two CIS Championship gold's, one CIS silver, one OUA Championship, two OUA silver's and one OUA bronze.

The fourth year nursing student was named an All-Canadian once, is a three-time CIS Championship All-Star, three-time OUA East first-team All-Star, winner of the OUA East MVP in 2011 and OUA East Rookie of the Year in her first season. She also scored the Championship winning goal in extra time in 2010 to give the Gaels their first National title since 1988.

Her accomplishments off the field are equally as impressive as those on it. A three-time Academic All-Canadian, and University Council on Athletics and Recreation chair as the varsity athlete representative she sets a tremendous example for her teammates as a leader off the pitch along with on it.

Dakin was awarded the Jenkins Trophy as the top male senior student-athlete. A four-time Academic All-Canadian, in 2012-13 he was selected as an OUA first-team All-Star and was named the OUA Men's Volleyball Dale Iwanoczko Sportsman of the year nominee.  He has been a part of two OUA Championship teams and has competed at to the CIS Championships twice. 

During his career at Queen's, Dakin has amassed 325 digs, over 100 blocks, 94 kills and over 2000 assists, while leading the offense to the program's highest finish ever.   He is always trying to help others be better, and sets an example of how things should be done in every aspect of his life as a leader for the Gaels.  

Dakin has been a member of the volleyball team for the past five seasons as a setter, having graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, he is currently working on his masters In engineering chemistry.

With a number of standout performances by individual athletes in 2012-13, the Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY) honour was awarded to two athletes, Morgan McHaffie (Guelph, Ont.) of Women's Hockey and Liam Underwood (Toronto) of Men's Rugby.

After an outstanding 2011-12 season as the OUA MVP and top scorer, McHaffie continued her dominance this season as she was named a second-team All-Canadian and first-team OUA All-Star. The fourth-year physical and health education student finished third in the OUA in scoring with 33 points, tied for eighth in goals with 12, and tied for first in power play assists with 10. McHaffie led the Gaels to a program record 20-4-2 season to finish third in the OUA.

Predominantly a centre, Morgan tied for the scoring lead in the OUA playoffs with 11 points despite missing game one of the Gaels first round series against Windsor and captured her second OUA Championship title in three seasons after the Gaels swept the Western Mustangs in the Championship series.

As a member of the 2012 OUA Championship Men's Rugby Team, Underwood has competed at many levels in the last 12 months. In addition to being a Gael, he competed in club rugby at Balmy Beach, won a National Championship with the Ontario Blues, trained with the 15 aside National Team and was selected as a member of Canada's 7s national team. An additional milestone was his participation in the Americas Rugby Championship as a member of Canada 'A'.

In the playoffs for the Gaels, Underwood helped guide the team back to the Championship game where the third-year fly-half scored one try, made three conversions and added a penalty goal as he accounted for 14 of the Gaels' 29 points and was named Man of the Match in the 29-18 victory over Western.

The Alfie Pierce Trophy recipients for top male and female rookie of the year were Nadia Popov (Newmarket, Ont.) from Women's Rugby and Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) from Men's Basketball.

The OUA Women's Rugby Rookie of the Year, Popov tied for third in OUA scoring with 52 points and also scored an additional 14 points in the OUA playoffs and 12 points at the CIS championship. Nadia has been selected by her peers as a captain for the upcoming season and has been named to the Canada U20 long list and will travel to South Africa for the Nations Cup tournament this summer.

Sukhpreet, this year's OUA East Rookie of the Year, also earned a place on the East All-Rookie team for his fantastic season. The team's starting point guard from the first game of the season, the Toronto native averaged 29 minutes, 12.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. He finished the season ranked sixth in the OUA in both total assists with 75 and free throws made with 68.  Sukhpreet has been a major factor in his teams' resurgence this season. 

The Jim Tait Trophy, is presented annually to the top performing Varsity Team. The award was presented Wednesday night to the CIS silver medal Women's Soccer team.

After winning back-to-back National titles the team took an OUA bronze after rookie, Laura Callendar scored the winning penalty kick against McMaster to send the team to the CIS Championships once again for the fourth straight year.

At the CIS tournament after beating Dalhousie in their opening match 2-0, the Gaels drew their OUA rivals from Ottawa who had eliminated them from the OUA Championship game and beaten them every time that season. The Gaels beat the Gee-Gees 4-1 to advance to the Championship game for the third consecutive season.

The Championship game against Trinity Western, remained scoreless through extra time, forcing the Gaels to go to penalty kicks for the third time in the playoffs to decide the national title.  This time, the Gaels were narrowly beaten, resulting in a CIS silver medal.

In addition to their success on the field, the Women's Soccer team excels off the field as well. They have 14 academic All-Canadians, captain Riley Filion is the chair of UCAR, Chantal McFetridge serves on the executive of the Varsity Leadership Council and over 40% of the Student Athletic Academic Mentors staff positions are held by Women's Soccer players.

New this season the Varsity Support Service Awards were presented to recognize the individuals who have demonstrated dedication and leadership while making a significant contribution to the success of the Queen's Varsity Sport Program in Athletic Therapy (Hal Dunlop Shield), Athlete Services, Home Events and Strength and Conditioning. This year's winners were Geoff Johnston, Alex Pianosi, Tracy Wong and Doug Davidson respectively.

On Tuesday, Queen's Athletics and Recreation honoured its top athletes in the Varsity Club stream. Alex Cross (Ottawa) of Synchro and Francois Beaucage-Gauvreau (Montreal) of Men's Fencing, claimed the top senior student-athlete awards while Men's Fencing earned Varsity Club of the Year.  Julie Anne-Staehli (Lucknow, Ont.) of Track and Field and Mo Hamour (Courtice, Ont.) from Men's Squash claimed rookie of the year awards.

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY TEAM AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2012-13
Jenkins Trophy: Jackson Dakin (Volleyball)
PHE '55 Alumnae Award: Riley Filion (Soccer)
Outstanding Performance of the Year (OPY): Morgan McHaffie (Hockey) and Liam Underwood (Rugby)
Jim Tait Trophy: Women's Soccer
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Sukhpreet Singh
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Nadia Popov
Support Services Awards: Geoff Johnston (Athletic Therapy), Alex Pianosi (Athlete Services), Tracy Wong (Home Events) and Doug Davidson (Strength and Conditioning)

QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS & RECREATION VARSITY CLUB AWARD RECIPIENTS FOR 2012-13
Marion Ross Trophy: Alex Cross (Synchro)
Jack Jarvis Trophy:  Francois Beaucage-Gauvreau (Men's Fencing)
Award of Merit Trophy: Men's Fencing
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Female): Julie-Anne Staehli (Track & Field)
Alfie Pierce Trophy (Male): Mo Hamour (Squash)