The University of Victoria Department of Athletics and Recreation celebrated varsity student-athlete academic excellence during its 19th annual Vikes Honour Roll luncheon on November 22nd in the Sngequ House. Boasting a perfect 9.0 grade point average, second-year men's rugby player Alex Gamage claimed the prestigious Provost Award for academic excellence, while an incredible 106 Vikes student-athletes earned a spot on the honour roll.

The event recognizes student-athletes who achieve a minimum of a 6.6 GPA (80%) while training and competing at the highest level of sport. Thanks to the generous support of the University of Victoria, the 2022-23 group of recipients receive $500 to support their accomplishments. All student-athletes who compete on teams recognized by U SPORTS also received an Academic All-Canadian certificate signed by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada.

Since 2007, 1315 student-athletes have been acknowledged for achieving the 80 per cent or higher milestone and many have achieved the standard multiple times. In 2007-08, the inaugural group honoured had just 44 recipients, which has risen dramatically each year up to 106 in 2022. The increase is a testament to the bar that the Vikes continue to set for being top students and athletes.

The Provost Award, given out to the student with the highest overall GPA, receives a further $500 athletic financial award for a total of $1,000 in support and is honoured again at the end of the year at the Celebration of Champions banquet in April.

Provost Award Recipient
 

Alex Gamage, second year, Faculty of Science

Alex Gamage is a standout member of the men's rugby team. As this year's recipient of the Provost Award for Academic Achievement, Gamage has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to excellence both on and off the rugby field achieving a remarkable 9.0 GPA. Gamage's ability to balance the demands of rigorous academic pursuits with the physical and mental challenges of rugby exemplifies his well-rounded and disciplined approach to life as a student-athlete.
 
Men's rugby coach Scott Manning describes Gamage as "a leader within the team. He can seamlessly switch between different positions on the field, depending on what the team needs. What is more impressive is how Alex is able to balance all the demands of varsity level rugby, the social life of being a university student, and the demanding academic schedule of a biochemistry major. We as a program are lucky that we have a few years left to benefit from the contributions on and off the field from Alex Gamage."

For a full history of Vikes Honour Roll recipients by year click here.
 
2022-23 HONOUR ROLL RECIPIENTS

ENGINEERING
Katherine Bentley, field hockey
Zoe Crookshank, women's rowing
Maggie Hemphill, women's rowing
Will Adams, men's soccer
Alexander Moody, men's soccer
Norman Anderson, men's swimming
Alice Gentleman, women's swimming
Mackenzie Warrington, women's swimming
Anton Kuipers, men's track
Kieran Schmidtke, men's track
Samara Cockburn, women's track

FINE ARTS
Alexandra Edwards, women's rowing
Alexie Pusch, women's rugby
Elena Stalwick , women's rugby
Sophie Tarrant , women's swimming

HUMAN AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Elizabeth Degrazio, women's rowing
Holly Peterson , women's rowing
Trinity Kettyls, women's soccer
Emma Skalik, women's soccer
Mariah Fulton, women's swimming

HUMANITIES
Lockhart MacGregor, men's rugby
Tucker Nadeau, men's rugby
Katarina Elsner,  women's rugby
Andrew Edwards, men's swimming

SCIENCE
Meike Boerstra, women's basketball
Nora Struchtrup, women's field hockey
Lana Rummel,  women's golf
Mackenzie Scott, women's golf
Helen Ross, women's rowing
Abby Simpson,  women's rowing
Alex Gamage,  men's rugby
Liam Mitchell, men's rugby
Shaye Ogurek , women's rugby
Manchand Virk,  men's soccer
Evan Wills,  men's soccer
Heather Del Pero, women's soccer
Emma Dewit, women's soccer
Kiera Howaniec, women's soccer
Isabel Lambert, women's soccer
Clara Hudacin, women's swimming
Kate MacLean, women's swimming
Hailey Abbott, women's track
Bridget Mateyko, women's track
Sofie Ohrling, women's track
Sophie Berghmans, women's rowing

SOCIAL SCIENCES
Ethan Boag, men's basketball
Kate Johnson, women's basketball
Anni Kleinschmidt, women's field hockey
Connor Attridge, men's rowing
Jesse Harold, men's rowing
Sam Ross, men's rowing
Sai Sai Faubert, women's rowing
Kaliya Javra, women's rowing
Ella Stemler, women's rowing
Andrew Easson, men's rugby
Karl Hare, men's rugby
Ella O'Regan, women's rugby
Morgan Warner, women's rugby
Andrew Gibbs, men's soccer
Ruby Nicholas , women's soccer
Jayden Bilous, men's swimming
Jack Savage, men's swimming
Ayiana Gagne, women's swimming
Georgia Romstead, women's swimming
Jaxon Kuchar, men's track
Gabriel Van Hezewijk, men's track
Christina Peet Williams, women's track

EDUCATION
Trent Monkman, men's basketball
Jaden Touchie, men's basketball
Sierra Reisig, women's basketball
Julia Boraston, women's field hockey
Cara Butler, women's field hockey
Judy Cristante, women's field hockey
Jaden Dawson, women's field hockey
Brooke Furtado, women's field hockey
Libby Hogg, women's field hockey
Anna Mollenhauer, women's field hockey
Melanie Robertson, women's field hockey
Stefanie Sajko , women's field hockey
Robin Conlan, men's golf
Aiden Craig-Steele, men's golf
Steven Randall, men's rowing
Danica Ariano, women's rowing
Teghan Byrne, women's rowing
Nicole Cusack, women's rowing
Tess Mackay-Pettyjohn, women's rowing
Katherine Olson, women's rowing
Abby Speirs, women's rowing
Rhys Patterson, men's rugby
Austin Pinnell, men's rugby
George Piper Arroliga, men's rugby
Kira Peary, women's rugby
Maelle Reed, women's rugby
Maggie Mackinnon, women's rugby
Tannis McKay, women's soccer
Kara Skirzyk, women's soccer
Cameron Laturnus, men's swimming
Lauren Crisp, women's swimming
Benjamin Seshadri, men's track
Jennifer Erickson, women's track
Caitlin Mann, women's track
 
BUSINESS
Dominick Olivieri, men's basketball
Madeline Mittelsteadt, women's field hockey
Dylan Norrey, men's golf
Georgia Ginther, women's track