The University of Manitoba has announced that nine members of the 2010-11 Bison basketball programs achieved CIS Academic All-Canadian status over the past season by maintaining a minimum grade point average of 3.5 (80%) or better in their field of study at the University of Manitoba. Those who reached this level academically include...At the completion of the 2010-2011 season, 86 of the 296 University of Manitoba student-athletes qualified for CIS Academic All-Canadian status After having over 70 student-athletes achieving this honour the past three years, this is the first time more than 80 have accomplished this feat.
The total of 86 Bison Sport student-athletes earning CIS Academic All-Canadian represents over 29% of all Bison Sport student-athletes (296). The overall percentage of Bison student-athletes named as CIS Academic All-Canadians has been at 20% or higher over the last seven consecutive years.
Some major academic Bison highlights include: University of Manitoba Bisons women’s hockey athlete Chelsea Braun and well as track and field athletes Meaghan Woo and Barrett Hildebrandt finishing their Bisons careers by achieving Academic All-Canadian status in each of their five years of eligibility. There are also three Bison athletes getting the award for the fourth time, including men’s basketball’s Eric Garcia, Jesse Skelton from men’s golf, and Jaime Lacoste from women’s soccer. While Garcia is finished his five years of eligibility, Skelton and Lacoste have a chance to join Braun, Woo and Hildebrandt next season.
“We are very proud of our Bison student athletes, and extremely pleased to have 86 Bisons achieve CIS Academic All-Canadian status,” said Athletic Director Coleen Dufresne. “We also want to thank all the coaches and staff who work as part of our Bison and Student Advising team in assisting our Bison student athletes in achieving their academic goals.”
Selected highlights from the 2010-11 CIS Academic All-Canadian Bison list
- Bison female athletes account for 55% (47 of 86) of this year’s list, highlighted by women’s soccer with a record nine of 21 players (42.9%), while men’s basketball produced the highest percentage of male athletes with five of 13 (38.5%).
- 11 Bisons earned Academic All-Canadian status while studying at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
- The track and field teams had the highest number of Academic All-Canadians, with 31 of 96 athletes, with golf following in second with 10.
- Seven of the Bison teams had at least four or more Academic All-Canadians.
- There were 24 Bison student-athletes who earned a 4.0 or higher mark (an A - 90%), while the average GPA for all 296 Bisons was 3.02 (3.00=B).
2010-11 University of Manitoba Bisons CIS Academic All-Canadians:
Women’s Basketball
- Robyn Eyer
- Sheree Carmon-Galdamez
- Allison Balasko
- Samantha Pyke
Men’s Basketball
- Nicholas Miller
- Eric Garcia
- Amir Ali
- Ian Dickey
- Marko Milosevic