THUNDER BAY – Kevin Tree is going out on top.
The cross-country star on Saturday captured his record-breaking third straight Lakehead University male athlete of the year award, capping a stellar five-year career that saw him earn a silver medal at nationals in 2015 and a berth on the Canadian national team.
Basketball’s Greg Carter won back-to-back awards in 2012 and 2013.
Tree, who plans to continue his running career with an eye to a possible Olympic berth in 2020, said no matter how many times he’s heard his name called as LU’s athlete of the year, it’s still a little surprising each and every time.
It never gets old, he said.
“I’m really happy about it. It’s just awesome to be able to do that with my team and it’s a great way to close out my five years here,” Tree said after collecting his trophy at the school’s annual athletics awards ceremony held at the Bora Laskin Law Centre.
Tree said he had an inkling he was in the running for the award.
And why not, his final season in the blue and gold was nothing short of spectacular.
He took silver at the OUA cross-country championships, was a first-team OUA all-star, just missed the podium with a fourth-place result at the CIS cross country running championships and was a first-team all-Canadian.
Still, there was a little doubt.
“I was kind of hurt at the end of the cross country season, so I didn’t run an indoor season this year. I guess I had half of a season,” Tree said. “I was surprised, for sure.”
Skier Jenn Jackson captured the female athlete of the year award, following in the footsteps of Alysson Marshall, who took the honours a year ago.
Jackson, who took a couple of years of to focus on her burgeoning national Nordic skiing career, was a an OUA all-star and represented Canada on the global stage at the world juniors, while leading the Thunderwolves to a second-place finish at the OUA championships.
Like Tree, she wasn’t really expecting to hear her name called.
“We spend most of our winter away, competing for cross country skiing. We don’t get to, like the other teams do, get to compete here in front of home crowds,” she said. “Just to come back and reunite with the rest of the community and be honoured as athlete of the year is pretty tremendous.”
Three-point specialist Nikki Ylagan of the women’s basketball team took the female rookie-of-the-year honours.
A member of the OUA all-rookie team, Ylagan took the fourth most three-point attempts in the OUA and finished third on the Thunderwolves, averaging 10.3 points per game.
“I’m very grateful and humbled about it,” Ylagan said, adding she too had no idea her name would be called or that she was even up for the award.
Thunder Bay’s own Marco Palermo took the male rookie-of-the-year award, after a season that saw him named wrestling’s U Sports male rookie-of-the-year after winning national gold.
“It means a lot for me, not only for Lakehead, but for my hometown. Being born and raised in Thunder Bay, it was great to represent my hometown,” he said. “I actually started off losing some matches in the beginning of the year … But in the end I pulled through and was able to get the win.
Basketball Katelyn Zen took home the Hank Akervall Award, while fellow graduating senior Alex Robichaud of the men’s team won the Argus Award.
