The University of Ottawa 's competitive sports banquet on April 2nd concluded a great week for the Gee-Gees softball program.
Orleans resident Jillian Taylor and Vanessa Homiak were awarded Quest for Gold scholarships from the Provincial Womens Softball Association and the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. These scholarships are awarded to elite athletes who live, study and train in Ontario based on athletic performance. Jill and Vanessa received the scholarship based on their performance in 2008 where both athletes led their respective club teams to medals at the Ontario Provincials and the Jr. Womens National Championship in Summerside Prince Edward Island . Vanessa led the Pickering Heat to a Gold Medal at the Provincials and a Silver Medal at the Canadian Championships. Vanessa was critical to the teams success at the Nationals with 2 game-winning RBI's. Jillian was instrumental in the Orleans Rebels bronze medal performance at the Provincials, and was named the tournaments MVP. These scholarships are worth $8,000 each and are a great incentive for Ontario athletes to train at home.
Sustaining the program's reputation for academic excellence, we maintained our 100% graduation rate and two of our athletes were accepted into teacher's college at the University of Ottawa . Elissa Sivel and Jillian Taylor will don the garnet and grey in 2009 in their last year of eligibility.
Finally, Jillian Taylor was named the Competitive Sports Club Female Athlete of the Year for her 2008 performance. Jill finished the year with 13 wins for the Gee-Gees, leading the team to a silver medal at the Provincial Championships. She set a team records for wins, most strikeouts, lowest ERA (.71) and most stolen bases in a season (11) . Jillian was second in the team in batting average (0.477), hits (31) and runs scored (15). Significant accolades came with this very successful season – Jillian was awarded the team MVP, the Top Pitcher in the league (OIWFA), a Quest for Gold Scholarship and an Ottawa Sports Award for the Top Softball Player in the city.
Jillian joins Gee-Gees Alumni Danna Masters (2003) and Lindsey McLaughlin (2005 , 2006) in winning this prestigious award amongst 17 other competitive sports clubs within the University .
Finally, the team was awarded a Calvary Award as the Top Competitive Club of the Year. http://www.thefulcrum.ca/node/2703
"When looking at the Gee-Gees’ competitive clubs, the women’s fastball team stands out as one of the most successful. The Gee-Gees were among the cream of the crop in the Ontario Intercollegiate Women’s Fastball Association (OIWFA) regular season, collecting an impressive 14-4 record by the season’s end. In the playoffs, the Gees were almost unstoppable, defeating the Laurier Golden Hawks, Queen’s Golden Gaels, and Windsor Lancers in the round-robin portion of the OIWFA championships. Although the team ultimately fell 5-1 to the Western Mustangs in the championship game, this did not marr an otherwise excellent season. The team are perennial medal contenders in OIWFA, and this year has added to their string of success."
The Gee-Gees will de-centralize for the summer as they all chase various athletic goals throughout the summer before re-convening in the fall in their quest for an OIWFA Championship and their first appearance at a University National Championship.
Scott Searle
Head Coach
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