CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – By all counts it’s been a banner year for Kiera Rigby and now the UPEI Panthers women’s basketball standout can add one of Atlantic University Sport’s (AUS) top awards to her list.
Rigby, a fifth-year senior forward, earned the James Bayer Memorial Scholarship Award on Friday at the UPEI Panthers awards ceremony. The $1,000 prize recognizes an AUS student-athlete for his or her work in academics, athletics, leadership, sportsmanship and citizenship.
The Charlottetown native has it in spades as she’s already won an AUS first team all-star nod, the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award and the U Sports Sylvia Sweeney Community Service Award this year, all while leading UPEI in scoring this season with 18.4 points per game and helping the Panthers reach the AUS final.
“I’m still in shock. I really can’t put it into words. Still can’t believe it. It’s an amazing way to end your five years of eligibility,” Rigby said after the awards presentation. “It means so much that this is as much for all the people who have supported me. I don’t see it as capper to my career, but a foundation for the next stage in my life.”
Rigby wasn’t the only winner though as sprinter Bailey Smith and women’s rugger Alysha Corrigan shared the UPEI female athlete of the year award.
The sophomore Smith won gold in the 60 metres at the AUS track and field championships and was named AUS female track athlete of the year. She finished seventh at U Sports championship.
Corrigan, a mainstay on the women’s rugby pitch, led UPEI in scoring with 40 points and earned AUS all-star and U Sports second team all-Canadian nods along the way.
For Smith, hearing her name was more than a shock.
“I was just expecting it was going to be Kiera and someone,” said the Mount Stewart native. “It’s really awesome we’re both from P.E.I.”
Corrigan was also surprised.
“I was expecting it to be Kiera and anybody else who was going to win,” said Corrigan, who’s from Charlottetown.
Corrigan graduates in the spring and moves on next season after a stellar career, while Smith returns for a third year to continue her assault on the AUS. It’s a beginning-and-end scenario not lost on either.
“It shows that anything is up for grabs,” Corrigan said. “It shows we have so many talented athletes, so many people come from here.”
And Smith agrees.
“For me, it’s (incentive) to get working on next year. The next chapter awaits.”
Hockey’s Ryan MacKinnon won the male athlete of the year award, coaches award and hockey MVP.
“I just have to say it’s an absolute honour,” said MacKinnon, a Summerside native, in a video acceptance speech. “To my coaches and teammates, I can’t thank them enough. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you guys.”
MacKinnon wasn’t at the awards as he playing pro with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.
Female hockey’s Emma Martin won the Gordon and Muriel Bennett Award for a male or female student/athlete who, during four years, best combined athletic achievement and academic excellence.
Need to know
UPEI Panthers athletes of distinction from Friday’s awards ceremony.
Men’s Soccer
Sam Smiley, AUS second team all-star
Women’s Rugby
Alysha Corrigan, AUS all-star, U Sports second team all-Canadian
Sidney Corrigan, AUS Community Service Award
Amy Hickey, AUS all-star
Nikki Triantafillou, AUS all-star
Field Hockey
Hannah Gormley, Atlantic University Field Hockey League all-star
Sarah Sear, Atlantic University Field Hockey League all-star and top scorer
Cross Country
Lee Wesselius, AUS all-star
Track and Field
Bailey Smith, Gold, AUS 60 metres, AUS female track athlete of the year, seventh at U Sports championship
Men’s Hockey
Ryan MacKinnon, AUS first team all-star
Kam Kielly, AUS all-rookie team
Women’s Hockey
Emma Martin, AUS second team all-star
Men’s Basketball
Moshe Wadley, AUS all-rookie team
Men's Rugby
Morgan MacIntyre, Canadian university men's rugby championship all-star
Jonney Rose, Canadian university men's rugby championship all-star
Women’s Basketball
Reese Baxendale, AUS rookie of the year, AUS women's basketball championship all-star
Carolina Del Santo, AUS defensive player of the year
Jenna Mae Ellsworth, AUS second team all-star, AUS women's basketball championship all-star
Jane McLaughlin, AUS Tracey MacLeod Award nominee
Kiera Rigby, AUS first team all-star, AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award, U Sports Sylvia Sweeney Community Service Awar
