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Kirkland hockey star nabs McGill top honour
Vanessa Davidson named top female athlete of the year
John Meagher
The Gazette
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Davidson (right) wins honour for second year in a row.
The awards keep piling up for Vanessa Davidson.
For the second year in a row, the 23-year-old hockey star from Kirkland has been named McGill University’s female athlete of the year.
The high-scoring junior forward received the Gladys Bean Trophy as the female student-athlete at the 31st annual McGill intercollegiate sports awards gala held Thursday.
The trophy is awarded to the female student-athlete who brings the most credit to the university through their athletic achievement.
The gifted 5-foot-8 centre was selected as conference MVP after tying for the Quebec league scoring title with 14 goals and 29 points in 18 games.
In 42 games overall, she posted 29-39-68 point totals, earning All-Canadian honours and helping the Martlets win their first-ever CIS national championship.
The Lakeshore hockey product was also named MVP of the women’s hockey team. Accompanying that award is a $1,500 bursary, provided by the Enterprise Rent-a-Car company.
While Davidson is honoured to be the fourth woman to capture the Bean trophy in consecutive years, she said is most proud of the fact her team celebrated a national championship last month.
“It’s an honour to win this award, but I care most about what we accomplished (as a team) this season,” Davidson said.
“It’s like the cherry on the ice cream. It feels great to be recognized by my school. Overall, it’s been an incredible year.”
Has becoming the first McGill women’s team to capture a national title sunk in yet?
“Yes, I think we had some fun the week after nationals,” Davidson said. “Now that we’ve settled back at school, we realize we accomplished the goal that we set out to do this year. And it feels great.”
“We should have a lot of experience. Hopefully, with a few new girls coming in, it should be a good year for us.”
Davidson will keep active in the off-season by playing 3-on-3 hockey and doing some power-skating as well.
For now, though, the physical education student is focused on her studies.