Dalyce Emmerson receives the Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy for female athlete of the year.

On April 4, University of Saskatchewan athletes gathered for the annual Huskie Salute banquet where Dalyce Emmerson and Derek Hulak received awards for female and male athletes of the year.

Receiving the E. Kent Phillips Trophy, Hulak finished his fourth and final year as a forward for the Huskies men’s hockey team. He is currently in Texas competing for a roster spot with the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars.

Although Hulak’s hockey career is now moving beyond the Huskies’ bench, he said that his experience with the team will remain invaluable.

“As for male athlete of the year, I also think that is more of a team award than anything. Personal success comes from team success,” Hulak wrote in an email to the Sheaf.

The men’s hockey team had a standout performance at the University Cup, making it to the championship game. Along the way Hulak scored a tiebreaking goal in the final minutes of game two and registered another two goals and one assist in the game three. The Huskies’ only goal in the gold medal final was also made by Hulak.

Looking back at the year, Hulak said making the Canadian Interuniversity Sports championships was his greatest accomplishment and he owes it to the team.

“For me all the individual awards are nice and I’m sure I’ll appreciate them someday,” Hulak wrote. “But there is no better feeling than winning as a team and I was so proud of the boys for working as hard as we did to make it to the finals.”

The Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy went to Emmerson, who will be returning for another season with the women’s basketball team as a forward.

Knowing she was up against some tough competition for the award, Emmerson said she was shocked when she heard that she had won the award, but credits the team for helping her claim the trophy.

“Our team had so much success throughout the year and I was a decent contributor in all of the games that I played in. I think that gave me push in the right direction and then the fact that we finished fourth in the country; just because there are so many teams and our league is so competitive that it kind of set me apart from the other nominees,” Emmerson said.

Emmerson said she is proud of how the team and her managed the year despite a couple of rough injuries. Throughout the season Emmerson played with a bad foot injury that gradually worsened from November right until the end of nationals while two other team members tore their ACLs.

Breaking a team record for most rebounds in one game with a total of 26 against the University of Calgary Dinos was Emmerson’s favorite accomplishment of the year.

Next year’s season looks promising to Emmerson, who said the combination of hard summer training and strong recruits will have the women’s basketball team better than ever come the fall.

“I’m super excited for next year,” Emmerson said. “I think next year is going to be a very, very good and strong year for our team.”

Women’s hockey forward Kaitlin Willoughby received the Patricia Lawson Trophy for Female Rookie of the Year. She was also named Rookie of the Year both in the Canada West division and for the CIS. With 10 goals and 15 assists, she came fourth in scoring for the conference with 25 points. Overall in the CIS, Willoughby was 19th in scoring and was the top rookie.

Kendall McFaull, defencemen for the men’s hockey team took home the Howard Nixon Trophy for the Male Rookie of the Year. McFaull had a big year with Huskies as being a key player, registering one goal and seven assists. He was also the recipient of this year’s CIS PotashCorp University Cup tournament all-star award.

The Valerie Grisberger Trophy for an upper-year female all-around athlete was handed down to Riley Humbert, a basketball guard. Holding a CIS silver medal, the two-time Canada West champion is  looked up to on and off the court as she has juggled a full schedule of volunteering and team training while managing to complete her fourth year of kinesiology. She has worked with Recess Guardians and Autism Services.

Men’s hockey captain Brennan Bosch received the Rusty MacDonald Cup for the upper-year male all-around athlete was also regarded for this hard work both as a player and a student. Bosch has received the Huskie First Team All-Academic award and the CIS Academic All-Canadian three times. On the ice, Bosch is looked to outside regulation time where he scored three times to pus hthe Huskies through playoff games.

The Coach of the Year award was given to women’s hockey coach Steve Kook. This is the third time in Kook’s nine-year career that he has received this award. The women’s team had a great year winning the Canada West title for the first time and going on to win bronze in the CIS championships.

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Photo: Katherine Fedoroff/Photo Editor