It was a night of celebration for the Redeemer Royals Saturday as Redeemer University College held it's 23 Annual Athletic Awards Ceremony and Dinner.
In front of a packed banquet hall at the Courtyard Marriott in Hamilton, all those in attendance were informed that Men's Volleyball star Ryan Talsma had won the OCAA Male Athlete of the Year award. This is the second time in school history that a Redeemer Royal was named with the OCAA's top award. Not since Anita Kralt won it back in 2000-2001 has the award returned to Redeemer.
Ryan Talsma capped off a remarkable season winning the award. Just a few of his accomplishments this year include: Two time OCAA Athlete of the week, 1st Team League All-Star, OCAA Championship Tournament All-Star, OCAA Bronze Medalist, OCAA Volleyball Player of the Year, Redeemer Royals Men's Volleyball MVP, Redeemer Royals Male Athlete of the Year, CCAA All-Canadian, and now the OCAA Male Athlete of the Year. "Ryan has done everything you could ask of an athlete in his four years here," said Redeemer Athletic Director Dave Mantel.
On Saturday night, Ryan was also named the Redeemer Royals Athlete of the Year. The Female Athlete of the Year Award was given to soccer sensation Phoebe Mitton. Mitton led the Royals in scoring in each of the last three years. She finished her career with 15 goals, good enough for 2nd all-time for the Redeemer Royals. Phoebe is a former OCAA Rookie of the Year, League All-Star, Academic All-Canadian, was a two-time MVP of the Royal's outdoor soccer team and was named this years MVP for Indoor Soccer. "When you watch Phoebe play," Mantel said, "she immediately stands out from the rest of the players. She has incredible speed and runs with great pace. She opens up the rest of the field for all of the other players because teams have to focus on her and giver her a lot of room."
The awards ceremony also included the induction of Eric Builthuis into the Royal Road to Victory Hall of Fame. Builthuis was a basketball star when he attended Redeemer. His playing career as a Royal spanned from 2001-2004. While at Redeemer, Eric was a 2-time Royal Athlete of the Year, 3-time OCAA All-Star, 3-time OCAA All-Star game representative, 2-time West Region top scorer, he was the league top scorer in 2003-2004, and still holds the highest career points per game average at a remarkable 21 points.
Rookie of the Year honors and MVP awards were handed out to all varsity sports as well. Below is a list of all the awards handed out:
Athletes of the Year
Ryan Talsma and Phoebe Mitton
Scholar Athletes of the Year
Brad Douwes and Kendall Straatsma
CCAA All-Canadian
Ryan Talsma
CCAA Academic All-Canadians
Brad Douwes and Kristi VanDuyvendyk
Men's Volleyball Rookie of the Year and MVP
Aaron Tolkamp and Ryan Talsma
Women's Volleyball Rookie of the Year and MVP
Lindsay Klingenberg and Helena Stronks
Women's Outdoor Soccer Rookie of the Year and MVP
April Passchier and Kendall Straatsma
Women's Indoor Soccer Rookie of the Year and MVP
Leesha DeWeerd and Phoebe Mitton
Men's Outdoor Soccer Rookie of the Year and MVP
Ben Reid and Darren Hoogendoorn
Men's Indoor Soccer Rookie of the Year and MVP
Axel Hiemstra and Taylor Prins
Women's Basketball Rookie of the Year and MVP
Hannah Van de Kamp and Kristy Aloe
Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year and MVP
Scott McIntosh and Jordan DeWeger
Cross Country Rookie of the Year and MVP
Annie Stollery and Alex VanGeest
Badminton Rookie of the Year and MVP
Krista Hoftyzer and Randall Brus
Hockey Rookie of the Year and MVP
Hayden Regeling and Jeremy Stevens
Royal Road to Victory Hall of Fame Inductee
Eric Builthuis (Men's Basketball)
OCAA Soccer All-Millenium Awards
Terry Talsma and Tracy Van Dijk
Coaches Staff of the Year
Wayne Harris and Nathan Siebenga (Men's Volleyball)
Intramural Player of the Year
Lennard VanOord
Active Lifestyle Award
Paul Thorlakson