Drazen Glisic
Fourth-year forward Drazen Glisic was named an OUA Second Team All-Star after the Varsity Blues finished second in the OUA East division. Glisic played 20 games, with an average of 31.9 minutes per game.
According to Glisic, his “best game was probably against Laurentian in the second half,” a game where he scored a career-high 22 points.”
Glisic said he gets most excited in the lead up to games against the Ottawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens.
“Carleton’s obviously the best team in the country,” Glisic said, and considers “finishing second through the year” behind it to be an achievement.
Glisic will be returning for his fifth season as a Blue next year. He played 16 games first season on the team in 2007-08 and has played all 22 games for the last three seasons.
“I’m very excited for next season. We only lost one player, a key player, but we’re looking forward to it,” he said.
Ranking third on the team with an average of 13 points per game this season, Glisic’s career-high 17 rebounds came against Brock on November 20 2009 and career-high five against Laurentian on February 13 2009.— Murad Hemmadi
Sarah Boyle
Varsity Blues high jumper Sarah Boyle earned her fourth national title in five years at this year’s CIS Track and Field Championships. The Scarborough, Ontario native won her third consecutive CIS title with a jump of 1.80 m.
The CIS title won her a place on the all-Canadian Track and Field team.
Boyle won her third consecutive OUA title with a jump of 1.74 m. She has won the OUA title four times.
Boyle also won her second consecutive bronze medal at the Canadian Track and Field Championships, with a personal best of 1.81 m. At the Kane Invitational in Ithaca, New York in February, Boyle jumped 1.70 m and finished second.
At the 2011 Hal Brown at the University of Toronto’s Athletic Centre Field House, Boyle won with a CIS-leading 1.78m jump.—MH
Erin McNeely
Fifth-year guard Erin McNeely finished off her career as a Varsity Blue with a bang, tallying 13 points and seven rebounds in the 2011 CIS women’s basketball consolation final against the Laurier Golden Hawks.
The Blues, who went into the competition ranked fifth in the country, ended their 2010–2011 campaign in sixth place.
McNeely attributes the Blues’ successful season to their ability to work as a team.
“We all just came together and people just stepped up and did what they needed to do,” McNeely said.
In her final year with the Blues, McNeely ranked third on the team in scoring with an average of 10.0 points per game. On February 12, she recorded a season-high 19 points against the Ottawa Gee-Gees to match the career-high she set when she played 39 minutes against the Laurentian Voyageurs on February 13, 2010.
“Statistically, I think I was better this year,” McNeely said, but was quick to point out,“If you surround yourself with great players then they elevate you. We had a lot of really good talent.”
McNeely’s other career-high stats amassed in 2010–2011 season include: eight rebounds against Ottawa on January 7, six assists against the Windsor Lancers on November 27 2010, eight field goals and six three-point attempts against the York Lions on January 14, and five three throws and six free throw attempts against Laurier on November 27 2010.— Roberta Bell
Kaelan Watson
For field hockey player Kaelan Watson, this past year turned out far differently than anticipated. Having played well in her first two years on the team, she expected to be named captain at the beginning of this season, but according to coach John De Souza, she hadn’t earned the honours yet.
From then on, Watson “took more of a leadership role and realized that it wasn’t [her] performance that made [her] worthy of being a captain, it was how [she] could contribute to the team.”
This year, she received her first team OUA All-Star, first team CIS All-Canadian, and was named MVP of the CIS tournament.
Watson credits her accomplishments to her teammates.
“It’s a team sport and I wouldn’t have gotten any of these awards if I didn’t have my team pushing me to be better and making me look better than I actually am,” she said.
Aside from her personal accomplishments, Watson’s season highlight was going undefeated in the CIS tournament.
“It was truly an experience I will never forget because we won the title as a team,” she said.
Watson was selected to play on the Women’s National Field Hockey Team and was supposed to move to Vancouver to play with them. Having proved herself, Watson was named captain for the upcoming season but chose to remain a Varsity Blue.
“In my mind there was almost no question of where I would rather be. The Varsity Blues are my life right now,” she said.
Watson could not be happier with her decision to stay in Toronto and has been named captain for the upcoming season.— Elizabeth Laratta
Hugo Lopez
Fourth-year defensive back Hugo Lopez was a vital asset to this year’s Blues football team after transferring from Waterloo in the offseason. In eight games, Lopez had 22 tackles, one interception, and most notably, was invited to the 2011 CFL Evaluation Camp in Toronto from March 4–6.
Being a tough self-critic, he expected more of himself.
“There are many things I could have improved, one of them being locating the ball in the air sooner as a defensive back, which could have resulted in more interceptions,” said Lopez.
Despite finding the year academically tough, being a commuter and dual athlete (he also competes in Track and Field) Lopez’s year at U of T was much better than he expected.
“The experience and the people I met along with teammates and coaches were great and made my U of T experience a memorable one,” he said.
The highlight of his season came after defeating then no. 2 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Come June, Lopez will more than likely be playing for a CFL team and will be finishing his degree in the winter term during the CFL offseason.— EL
Alan Chung
In just his second year with the Varsity Blues, Alan Chung led the men’s water polo team to a third consecutive OUA title.
It was the team’s six title in the past seven years.
Chung, who scored 25 goals in just four games during the championship, was named not only a Tournament All-Star, but the Tournament MVP as well.
In the final against the Western Mustangs, Chung lifted the Blues to a 17–11 victory with six goals, including the game-winner.
Against the McMaster Marauders in the semi-final, Chung tallied seven goals, four of them in the first quarter to pave the way to a 15–5 win.
Chung also netted the game-winner in each of Toronto’s tournament victories over the York Lions and the Queen’s Gaels.
An OUA Second Team All-Star in 2009, Chung came into this season ranked third in the league with 31 goals in 10 games.— RB
