U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year Isaac Heslinga, and U SPORTS gold medal winning wrestler Aleah Nickel were named the 2023/24 UAlberta Athletes of the Year, as Golden Bears & Pandas Athletics announced their major award winners on Thursday night at the Myer Horowitz Theatre.
Nickel is the first ever Pandas Wrestler to win the Bakewell Trophy as Female Athlete of the Year, completing an undefeated season against university opponents. Heslinga utterly dominated for the Bears Volleyball team, leading them to a record-tying 10th U SPORTS title.
Heslinga and Nickel now move forward as Alberta’s nominees for both the Canada West and U SPORTS Athlete of the Year awards.
Pandas Volleyball outside Abby Guezen and Bears hockey forward Alex Thacker were named the Rookies of the Year, while Madison Willan of Pandas Hockey, Melina Ioannides of Pandas Rugby, and Isaiah Springer of Golden Bears Wrestling were honoured with Block A rings.
Long-time curling coach Skip Wilson was given the R.G. Glassford Coaching Award.
2023/24 Golden Bears & Pandas Major Award Winners
Bakewell Trophy
Female Athlete of the Year
Aleah Nickel – Pandas Wrestling
For the first time in University of Alberta history, the Bakewell Trophy recipient is from Pandas Wrestling. Third-year Panda Aleah Nickel completed arguably the most dominant season of any wrestler in program history, finishing 2023/24 with eight gold medals in nine university events. Nickel was also perfect against varsity opponents, going 28-0 against university wrestlers.
Highlighting her season was capturing gold at both the Canada West Championship in Calgary, and U SPORTS Championship in Guelph. The Swift Current, Saskatchewan native also earned the Canada West Female Wrestler of the Year award.
Along with her conference and national gold medals, Nickel won individual titles at the Pronghorns Invitational, Guelph Open, Golden Bear Open, Battle of the Rockies, Huskies Invitational, and Eagle Madness at Life University in Atlanta. Her only silver medal came at the SFU International Open, as she fell to a Canadian Olympian in the final.
Nickel also finished second at the Canadian Olympic Trials at Saville Centre in December, and third at the Canadian Championship.
Wilson Challenge Trophy
Male Athlete of the Year
Isaac Heslinga – Golden Bears Volleyball
Over the last two plus decades, Golden Bears Volleyball players have dominated the Wilson Challenge Trophy, and 2023/24 is no different. After one of the most dominant seasons in Bears program history, third-year outside hitter Isaac Heslinga was named the Male Athlete of the Year.
Heslinga is the 9th Bears Volleyball athlete to win the award since 1997, the most of any sport during that span. In total, Heslinga is the 11th Bears VB player to win the Wilson Challenge Trophy, and second-straight after Jordan Canham earned the honour in 2022/23.
A former Canadian National Junior team member, Heslinga powered the Golden Bears to their 15th Canada West Championship win, and record-tying 10th U SPORTS title. He was named both the conference and national Player of the Year, as well as the U SPORTS Championship MVP.
The Orangeville, Ont. product finished fourth in Canada West with 373 kills and third with 446.5 points, adding 39 aces and 142 digs. His remarkable .380 attack percentage was tops in the conference and second in U SPORTS.
His kill total is the third most ever for a Bear in a single season, while his 4.14 kills per set is the highest by an Alberta athlete since the turn of the century. Only one Bear has ever recorded more than Heslinga’s 446.5 points in a single season.
Female Rookie of the Year
Abby Guezen – Pandas Volleyball
For the 7th time in school history, the top female rookie is from Pandas Volleyball. Abby Guezen made a profound impact in leading the young Alberta Pandas to a Canada West bronze medal and U SPORTS silver medal.
She earned both the Canada West and U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Rookie of the Year honours, finishing her debut season with 184 kills, 122 digs, 27 blocks and 218.0 points. Her 2.97 kills per set ranked 10th in Canada West, and was by far the best by any rookie in 2023-24.
Her 184 kills were third on the Pandas, with her 2.97 kills per set ranking second only to first team All-Star Lauryn Tremblay’s 3.32.
Highlighting her season was an utterly dominant performance in the Pandas U SPORTS semifinal win over Manitoba, in which Guezen tied the Pandas match record with 33 kills on just 64 attempts.
Male Rookie of the Year
Alex Thacker – Golden Bears Hockey
Taking his game to the next level in the most important games, Bears forward Alex Thacker stood out amongst his peers in 2023/24. Finishing fifth on the team in scoring as a first-year player, Thacker becomes the ninth Bears Hockey player to be the UofA Male Rookie of the Year.
The former Lethbridge Hurricane and Victoria Royal, Thacker finished second among all Canada West rookies with 23 points in conference play, earning his spot on the Canada West All-Rookie team. He was second on the Bears in playoff scoring, finishing with three goals and four points in six games, with all three of his goals coming in an upset win over Saskatchewan in the quarter-final, including two goals in Game 3.
In all competition, Thacker finished with 12 goals and 30 points, and was one of only two Bears to play in all 43 of their games.
Dr. R.G. Glassford Award for Coaching
Skip Wilson – Golden Bears & Pandas Curling
Given annually to an assistant coach on one of the Golden Bears or Pandas teams, or a coach in the community that benefits Golden Bears and Pandas, long-time Bears and Pandas curling coach Skip Wilson was the winner of the Dr. R.G. Glassford Coaching Award.
Wilson has spent 14 seasons as a coach with Golden Bears & Pandas Curling. He began his coaching tenure in 2012 as part of their U18 program. His Pandas teams won three consecutive Alberta U18 Championships, and went on to win medals at the Optimist International on each occasion.
However, in addition to their age-group success, his U18 teams also produced numerous future Varsity curlers for U of A.
In 2019/20, he was promoted to be the coach of the Bears Junior team and won the Alberta Junior Men’s Championship that same season. His team then went on to finish fourth at the Canadian Juniors.
He also coached the Bears to a 2022 Alberta Junior Men’s title and a silver medal performance at the Canadian Juniors, followed by a 2023 Canadian Junior Championship.
This season, he coached that same team to gold at the World Junior B Championship, and ended up one win away from the playoffs at the World Juniors themselves.
Block A Rings
Madison Willan – Pandas Hockey
Melina Ioannides – Pandas Rugby
Isaiah Springer– Golden Bears Wrestling
Madison Willan, Melina Ioannides, and Isaiah Springer were each awarded the Block A Ring for their superior demonstration of exceptional contribution to university sport in the areas of athletics, academics, community support, and leadership.
All three have made significant contributions to the University Athletics Board (UAB) during their time as student-athletes, with each having spent time on their Executive Board.
Willan has been among the leaders for Pandas Hockey since being named the Canada West and U SPORTS Rookie of the Year in 2020. She has three times led the Pandas in scoring in her four seasons, and is an Academic All-Canadian from the Faculty of Science.
Ioannides has spent six years with the Pandas Rugby program, twice being named a Rugby 7s conference All-Star. A team captain for the past three seasons, Ioannides is one of the key organizers for the For Girls By Girls program — a free drop-in program to help girls ages 8-17 build confidence and encourage their pursuit in sport and recreation.
A two-time Academic All-Canadian from the Faculty of Education, Springer is also a two-time Canada West Male Wrestler of the Year (2022, 2024). He is a three-time Canada West medalist, two-time U SPORTS medalist, and was named the 2022 Canada West Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner.
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