290 McGill laureates named to 2023 Principal’s Student-Athlete Honour Roll

Deep Saini, president and vice-chancellor

MONTREAL – The varsity sports program at McGill University continues to be a shining beacon for academic prowess. A total of 290 names – which accounts for 42.7 per cent of the 679 varsity athletes registered in the 2022-23 season – have qualified for a berth on the 2023 Principal’s Student-Athlete Honour Roll.

To qualify, an athlete must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 (out of 4.0), while consuming a year of collegiate eligibility.  This year’s totals include 39 student-athletes with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

Football led all McGill varsity teams with 23 honourees on the list, followed closely by the combined cross-country/track programs with 22 women and 18 men. Rounding out the top 10 sports was women’s soccer (18), men’s lacrosse (16), men’s ice hockey (15), women’s field hockey (15), men’s rugby (15), women’s rowing (15), and men’s badminton (13).

For the first time ever, three sets of siblings made the list, two of them on the men’s hockey team, with Alexandre Blanchard of Pelham, Ont., and his older brother Maxime Blanchard making the grade, in addition to Alexandre Gagnon and younger brother Mathieu Gagnon, from Gatineau, Que. There was also a set of sisters, on the women’s badminton squad, namely Vanessa Rong and Anjolie Rong of Richmond, B.C.

“Our student-athletes have the recipe to achieve at a high athletic level while soaring in their scholastic endeavours. We’re proud of how well they perform in the classroom, in addition to on the playing field,” said Geoffrey Phillips, executive director of Athletics and Recreation at the University. “It’s also a testament to our coaches, who create a culture that places significant importance on academic success. The average GPA of our varsity program for all athletes combined was around 3.31 last year.”

The faculty of Science led the pack with 99 honourees, while Arts produced 79, followed by Engineering (38), Management (38) and Education (11), to round out the Top 5. Medicine was next with nine, the highest ever single-season total from that field. Rounding out the faculties was Arts & Science (8), Continuing Studies (3), Social Work (2), Dentistry (1), Music (1) and Farm Management Technology (1).

The breakdown by origin featured 223 recipients from Canada, including 124 from Quebec, followed by Ontario (52), British Columbia (29), Alberta (11), Nova Scotia (3), Manitoba (2), New Brunswick (1) and Saskatchewan (1).

The next highest-ranking countries were the United States (32), France (15), the United Kingdom (3), China (2), Egypt (2), Spain (2), Switzerland (2), South Africa (1), South Korea (1), Japan (1), Singapore (1), Morocco (1), Syria (1), Uganda (1), Austria (1) and the Cayman Islands (1).

The list includes 148 men and 142 women. There are 249 undergrads, 31 in a master’s program, seven studying for a doctorate (PhD) and three in a certificate/diploma program.

(SEE COMPLETE LIST OF HONOUREES BELOW)

BY THE NUMBERS: 2023 Principal’s Student-athlete Honour Roll

McGill Honourees on 2023 Principal’s Student-athlete Honour Roll (290)

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Info Officer
McGill Athletics & Recreation
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
(514) 983-7012 (cell)