Kim Veldman and Logan Reiter were named Female and Male Athletes of the Year as University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Athletics hosted its annual Blue and Gold Banquet recently.

Over 280 athletes, administrators and special guests were in attendance for the supper and awards ceremony with former Pronghorn and Canadian National Women's Rugby team member Ashley MacDonald serving as the guest speaker.

After three seasons with her home province University UPEI, MacDonald transferred to the U of L, and in her two seasons with the Pronghorns she was nothing short of dominant on the rugby pitch. During her time with the Pronghorns, she was a member of two national championship teams, was named a Canada West All-Star and CIS All-Canadian in both seasons as well as being named CIS Championship tournament all-star at both championships.

In addition to her stellar play on the field, MacDonald was also an exceptional student, being named an Academic All-Canadian.

Internationally, MacDonald represented Canada on the U23 National team, FISU sevens team and the Canadian senior national team and was just named to the Canadian team that will face the Americans in the  CanAm series in April.
 
Upon obtaining her bachelor of science in kinesiology, MacDonald returned to UPEI to complete her physiotherapy degree and is currently working at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge.
 
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Kim Veldman was among the league leaders in a number of categories this season.

Fourth-year post Kim Veldman truly put up a season that ranks among the best in the country and cemented herself into the Pronghorn record book for years to come.

Still with eligibility remaining, she broke a 16-year-old school record, while ranking among both the Canada West and CIS leaders in numerous statistical categories.

This season she ranked second in the conference in rebounding and set a new school record for career rebounds. While often facing double and triple teams in the offensive court, she ranked third in the conference in scoring. She narrowly missed being a conference first team all-star but was named to the Canada West's second team.

Her ability to balance her training while maintaining a high GPA in nursing speaks volumes to her commitment to being a well-rounded student-athlete.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

Logan Reiter closed out his Pronghorns' career with another exceptional season.

In his final season donning the blue and gold, team captain Logan Reiter led his team on and off the playing field, leading the team to heights that have not been seen in years.

In addition to being a selfless leader, he was among the conference leaders in points, while also leading his team in assists and thus earned his first conference all-star nod, being named to the Canada West second team.

His positive attitude and refusal to quit helped lead the 'Horns to 13 fourth-quarter comebacks or last-minute victories and resulted in the program's best regular season in 14 years and only the fourth 15-win season in the program's history.

PRESIDENT'S AWARD

For the third-year in a row, a member of the Pronghorns women's hockey team received the prestigious President's Award, which rewards the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the University of Lethbridge. Jasmin Teske achieved a perfect 4.0GPA, while balancing her large commitment to her team, earning the President's Award for the second successive season.

TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD

The Pronghorns women's soccer team received the team Team Academic Award with a combined GPA of 3.10.

TEAM MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS

Men’s Soccer – Scott Slomp
Women’s Soccer – Keagan Moch
Men’s Hockey – Mitch Maxwell
Women’s Hockey – Jenna-Marie Durnin
Men’s Basketball – Logan Reiter
Women’s Basketball – Kim Veldman
Women’s Rugby – Kim Leavitt
Men’s Track – Aaron Hernandez
Women’s Track – Kayla Gallagher
Swim – Ryan Thornley