These Warriors put the “student” in student-athlete

On Nov. 14, UW hosted its annual President’s Academic Honour Roll breakfast on campus at Fed Hall. This event occurs every fall semester and is in place to celebrate and honour all student-athletes named to the 2023-2024 President’s Academic Honour Roll. To receive this recognition, student-athletes must maintain an average of 80 per cent or higher while competing on a varsity sports team within the calendar year. All 36 Warriors varsity sports teams were represented at this breakfast, and 444 student-athletes were given this recognition – this number represents 56.13 per cent of the total athlete population. On top of this, 29 of the 36 varsity teams had at least 50 per cent of their members achieve an average of 80 per cent or higher. 

On top of recognizing all student-athletes achieving honour roll status at this breakfast, UW honours the four individuals who received the highest cumulative averages, two men and two women. On the men’s side, Adam Huras a fourth-year mechatronics engineering student, and a member of the cross country and track and field team had the top average with a remarkable 98.2 per cent. Matt Onuska, a second-year health sciences student member of the men’s hockey team, was a close second with an outstanding average of 96.6 per cent. On the women’s side, Katie Sefton a third-year science student and member of the nordic ski team was the top performing student on the women’s side with a 95.5 per cent average, Rebecca Brown, a second-year psychology student and member of the figure skating team, was a close second with a 95 per cent average. 

Not only does the UW recognize student-athletes who achieve great success in the classroom, but U Sports as a whole provides this recognition as well. U Sports Academic All Canadian recognition is given to all student-athletes who maintain an average of 80 per cent or higher while competing in varsity sports and taking a full course load. With the standards of U Sports Academic All Canadian Status and UW President’s Honour Roll being identical, this means that 444 student-athletes from the UW are Academic All Canadians. This naturally begs the question, how does UW stack up against other U Sports schools as far as academic recognition goes? 

When looking at the numbers, the most obvious answer to this question is that UW is simply dominant in this category. Although not every school has posted their numbers outlining the exact amount of student-athletes who earned their recognition, many did. Through looking into this, it seems that the University of Alberta posted the second highest with 194 students. Most schools are somewhere between 100 and 200: Laurier with 174, McMaster with 143, Calgary with 169, Dalhousie with 150 and York with 116. The Warriors knocked it out of the park with the 444 that received this recognition.