Five York University Lions student-athletes have been nominated for York's male athlete of the year award. The winner will be announced at the annual varsity banquet on Thursday, March 30.
This award will be given to a male athlete who has exhibited outstanding athletic skill, character and fair play, in his sport of sports and, as a result, contributed to the success of his team.
This year's nominees for the male athlete of the year award are volleyball player
Alex Duncan-Thibault (Scarborough, Ont.), track and field athlete
Nicholas Fyffe (North Vancouver, B.C.), soccer player
Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.), tennis player
Filip Obucina (Toronto) and hockey player
Derek Sheppard (Ajax, Ont.).
Alex Duncan-Thibault – Volleyball
- OUA East player of the year
- OUA East Award of Merit
- U SPORTS first-team all-Canadian
- OUA East first-team all-star
- Led Lions to 1st place in OUA East and quarter-final finish
- 1st in OUA in scoring, kills per set and total blocks
- 3-time York athlete of the week
Nicholas Fyffe – Track & Field
- U SPORTS silver medallist in triple jump
- U SPORTS second-team all-Canadian
- OUA gold medallist in triple jump
- OUA first-team all-star
- York athlete of the week
- Lions finished 5th at OUA championships and 15th at U SPORTS championships
Jonathan Lao – Soccer
- U SPORTS player of the year
- U SPORTS first-team all-Canadian
- OUA West most valuable player
- OUA West first-team all-star
- Scored 4 goals and had 3 assists while playing midfield
- Led Lions to undefeated regular season and 1st place in OUA West
- Won OUA silver medal and finished 6th at U SPORTS championships
- York athlete of the week
Filip Obucina – Tennis
- OUA player of the year
- OUA first-team all-star
- Undefeated in singles while playing out of the top spot
- Led Lions to 4th place finish at OUA championships – Best result since 2012
- Earned York's only point in semifinal loss to eventual champion Western
- York athlete of the week
Derek Sheppard
- OUA West player of the year
- OUA West defenceman of the year
- OUA West first-team all-star
- 1st in OUA scoring by defenceman (32 points in 28 games)
- 8th overall in OUA scoring
- 1st in OUA playoff scoring (10 points in 8 games)
- OUA Queen's Cup champion and U SPORTS quarter-finalist – First title and national berth since 2004
- OUA athlete of the week
- York athlete of the week
Stay tuned to yorkulions.ca over the coming days as more of the major award nominees are announced ahead of the banquet. On Wednesday afternoon the female athlete of the year nominees will be revealed.
