York University Lions football player Jesse Amankwaa was named the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) rookie of the year at the major awards and Yates Cup press conference on Thursday morning (Nov. 12) in Burlington, Ont.
 
Amankwaa, a first-year running back from Etobicoke, Ont., is the first York football player to be named the conference's rookie of the year since fellow running back Jeff Johnson received the honour in 1996. He is the fifth player in program history to be named the OUA's top rookie, joining Andre Batson (1993), Peter Floro (1991) and Tino Iacono (1981).
 
Also honoured on Thursday was associate head coach Tom Norwell, who was named the OUA's volunteer coach of the year.
 
Amankwaa appeared in all eight games for the Lions this season and finished second in the OUA in rushes with 137, while his 689 yards placed him sixth in the conference. Only former OUA MVP Dillon Campbell ran the ball more often this season than Amankwaa did in his rookie year.  The 6-foot-0, 216-pound running back averaged 86.1 yards per game and finished inside the top 10 with four TDs.
 
"Jesse has been a tremendous addition to our football team at York," said head coach Warren Craney. "He came into training camp in great shape and with a detailed knowledge of our playbook, and it was evident to us early on that he was capable of handling the starting tailback duties as a rookie. We handed him the reigns in Week 4 and he quickly showed the rest of the league how special we already knew he was. I'm so happy we get to have Jesse in our backfield for the next four years."
 
Amankwaa announced his arrival into the league in Week 4 against the Waterloo Warriors. He made the most of his first career start at tailback, putting up 131 yards on 24 rushes and scoring the first two touchdowns of his career. The health and society student-athlete saved his best game for last with a season-high 31 rushes for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns in a near-upset of No. 10 Queen`s.
 
The former Michael Power/St. Joseph C.S.S. product joins some exclusive running back company as OUA rookie of the year, a group that includes the conference's all-time leading in rusher in Windsor`s  Daryl Stephenson and current Indianapolis Colt Tyler Varga. 
 
Norwell came to York in 2010 when Craney was hired as the head coach and has been a tremendously valuable asset to the coaching staff. What makes his contributions to the program most impressive is that he works south of the border in Tennessee.
 
Each week during the season, he flies into Toronto from the "Volunteer State" on Thursdays in time for that night's practice, and then stays to coach the game on the weekend and help with corrections on Sunday before flying back to Tennessee for another week of full-time work.  Norwell also plans his summer vacation around Lions training camp so he can be in attendance to work with the linebacking corps.
 
Amankwaa will now be the OUA nominee for the Peter Gorman Trophy as Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) rookie of the year, while Norwell is in the running to claim Football Canada's Gino Fracas Award. Both winners of those awards will be announced as part of Vanier Cup Week at the end of the month.
 
OUA Major Award Winners
Most Valuable Player – Will Finch, Western
President's Trophy (top stand-up defensive player) – John Rush, Guelph
J.P. Metras Trophy (lineman of the year) – Kwaku Boateng, Laurier
Norm Marshall Award (rookie of the year) – Jesse Amankwaa, York  
Russ Jackson Award – Curtis Carmichael, Queen's
Coach of the Year – Greg Marshall, Western
Volunteer Coach of the Year – Tom Norwell, York