Rams celebrate at 64th annual awards banquet
Courtesy: Sports Information
          Release: 04/13/2012
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TORONTO - Fifth-year guard and multiple all-star Ashley MacDonald highlighted the major award winners at Ryerson's 64th Annual Athletic Awards Celebration, which was held at the Toronto Marriott in the heart of the provincial capital.

Watch the Awards Celebration intro video

Watch the year-end video from the Awards Celebration

Watch "My Girl" - male athlete's lipdub music video

Watch "Can't Help Myself" - female athlete's lipdub music video

The Port Colborne, Ont. native was named the H.H. Kerr Female Athlete of the Year for the second-straight season, topping fellow graduate Andrea Raso (Etobicoke, Ont.) and fencer Joanna Kolbe (Mississauga). MacDonald was named an OUA first-team all-star and finished second in the conference with 18.2 points per game, leading the nation in minutes played per contest while guiding the women to an OUA quarter-final appearance.

Soccer striker Viktor Anastasov received the Ryersonian Male Athlete of the Year award after a stellar sophomore campaign where he notched 12 goals in 14 games, placing him third in the OUA. The Toronto product was integral in the men's soccer team's record-setting regular season, where they picked up a program-high eight wins and 35 goals. Jahmal Jones (Mississauga), who took home the honour last year and hockey forward Greg Payne (Thornhill, Ont.) were also nominated.

MacDonald was also given the prestigious Gold-R Award for making an outstanding athletic contribution, including three all-star nods, to Ryerson Athletics in her five seasons with the Rams. The Gold-R was also presented to Raso, who is the only female all-Canadian in Ryerson's history. The footy phenom was awarded a conference all-star in all five of her seasons with the women's soccer team. Both are two of the most decorated athletes in Ryerson Athletics history.

Volleyball middle blocker Chelsea Briscoe picked up RSU Female Rookie of the Year honours after putting together a solid debut campaign with the Rams. Briscoe was named the OUA rookie of the year, ending the season with 2.92 points per set which ranked her 20th in the league. She garnered a strong .243 hitting percentage, and was the only Rams athlete to be recognized by the CIS in 2012, as she was named to the national all-rookie squad.

Aaron Best (Scarborough, Ont.) took home the Eyeopener Male Rookie of the Year award. It is the second straight season a basketball player has been named Ryerson's best male first-year athlete. Best returned from an injury suffered in the first half of the season to average 12.6 points per game. He then guided Ryerson to its first national championship appearance since 1998-99, dropping a season-best 26 points in an OUA semifinal win over Lakehead. Best topped the team with 17.5 points per game in six playoff matches, leading the men to an OUA silver medal and sixth place at the CIS Final 8.

Radio and television major Carli Yim earned the G.L. Dobson Contribution Award. In addition to her two year stint with the Rising Rams program, the Markham, Ont. product was recently named Ryerson Athletics' Woman of Influence nominee. The fourth-year libero of the women's volleyball team is a tireless advocate for Ryerson's campus and community. She co-hosted two major events at Ryerson as a volunteer in 2011, including the mix-and-mingle at the CACUSS conference and the Dare to Explore Multicultural Show, and spoke on behalf of her peers at the official naming ceremony of the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens. She is a 2012 OVPS Community Leadership Award winner.

Badminton player Parvinder Sachdeva was named the D.H. Craighead Contribution Award winner. One year after founding TEDx RyersonU, Sachdeva (Etobicoke, Ont.) took the event to new heights this past year. In November of 2011, the TEDx RyersonU conference became a platform for university leaders to share their ideas with Ryerson and the rest of the world. The economic science and finance major is the President and Founder of Ryerson Toastmasters, and is also the third-year student representative on the economics department council.

H.H. Kerr Female Athlete of the Year
Ashley MacDonald

Ryersonian Male Athlete of the Year
Viktor Anastasov

RSU Female Rookie of the Year
Chelsea Briscoe

Eyeopener Male Rookie of the Year
Aaron Best

G.L. Dobson Female Contribution Award
Carli Yim

D.H. Craighead Male Contribution Award
Parvinder Sachdeva

Gold ‘R' Recipients
Ashley MacDonald
Andrea Raso

Claude LaJeunesse Award
Jordan Hill

Fifth Year Recognition Award Winners
Kasandra Bracken
Roman Kabanov
Dimitri Karopoulos
Ashley MacDonald
Andrea Raso
Luke Staniscia
Kendra Welham

Fourth Year Recognition Award Winners
Men's Badminton
Kyle Wong Chew Onn
Andy Yip

Women's Badminton
Clare Cheung

Women's Basketball
Angela Tilk

Men's Fencing
Peter Argyropoulos

Men's Hockey
Michael Paolo
Greg Payne
Louie George

Men's Soccer
Vince D'Elia
Ashkan Mahboubi
Adrian Mancini
Markus Molder

Women's Soccer
Elyse Hanec
Kristen Horgan Smith

Men's Volleyball
Luka Milosevic

Women's Volleyball
Haley Wolfenden
Carli Yim

Peffers Award
Bibi Rahaman

Excellence in Leadership Awards
Andrea Robinson
Stephen Kassim

Media Award
Kelsey Wingerak

CIS President's Team Award
Women's Soccer

OUA President's Team Award
Figure Skating

Team MVP's
Badminton: Kyle Wong Chew Onn and Clare Cheung
Women's Basketball: Ashley MacDonald
Men's Basketball: Jahmal Jones
Fencing: Joanna Kolbe and Arseni Tikhomirov
Figure Skating: Lisa Makeeva
Women's Hockey: Kyla Thurston and Lauren McCusker
Men's Hockey: Greg Payne
Women's Soccer: Andrea Raso
Men's Soccer: Dimitri Karopoulos
Women's Volleyball: Carli Yim
Men's Volleyball: Luka Milosevic

Student Athletic Therapy Awards
Women's Soccer and Women's Volleyball: Cailey Bryson
Men's Soccer and Men's Volleyball: Tamara Sagadore
Men's Basketball: Paul Dwyer
Women's Basketball: Kelly Soroko
Men's and Women's Hockey: Mark Hewitt
Men's and Women's Hockey: Michael Modica