A pair of North Okanagan athletes were finalists for the UBC Okanagan Heat’s Top Male Student Athlete Award.
Vernon’s Austin Jones (soccer) and Armstrong’s Mitch Goodwin (basketball) were nominated for the honour, which was won by Cochrane, Alta.’s Brett Uniat, a fifth-year volleyball player.
In his second season with the Heat, Jones played in all fourteen regular-season games, scoring six goals as a starting midfielder. He earned a berth on the PacWest All-Star team and finished seventh in league scoring.
Goodwin, who played junior hoops with the Pleasant Valley Saints before transferring to the Kelowna Owls, exploded onto the Canada West scene in his rookie season. He not only poured in points, but was a hard-nosed defender in head coach Pete Guarasci’s defence-first philosophy.
Nominated for the CIS All-Rookie team, he was also a finalist in for the Canada West Rookie of the Year after leading all Canada West freshmen in scoring with 13.4 points per game.
Uniat had 81 total blocks and 69 block assists to finish sixth in the CIS, while averaging 89 per cent in his engineering classes.
Other Top Male Student Athlete nominees were Salmon Arm’s Cody Bell (golf) and Kelowna’s Colin Wallace (cross country).
The Top Female Student Athlete Award was shared by Jen Woods (golf) and Roz Huber (basketball), both in their fifth and final years and both graduates of Rutland Secondary.
