CIS athletes of the week (#9): UBC’s Pendleton, Saint Mary’s Gigolaj honoured

OTTAWA (CIS) – Robyn Pendleton, a field hockey player from UBC, and Elvir Gigolaj, a soccer player from Saint Mary’s, are the Canadian Interuniversity Sport female and male athletes of the week for the period ending Nov. 6, 2011.

Pendleton, a fourth-year kinesiology student from Victoria, was named MVP of the FHC-CIS championship held in Calgary after she led the second-seeded Thunderbirds to a record 13th McCrae Cup title. The 22-year-old forward scored a team-high four goals in five matches during the tournament, including a pair of game-winners in round-robin play and the insurance marker in a 3-1 gold-medal win over host Calgary on Sunday. Pendleton, who was named CIS player of the year prior to the national championship, had also captured CIS tournament-MVP honours in 2009.

Soccer players Emma Landry of Dalhousie, Véronique Maranda of Montreal and Chantal Marson of Queen’s were also nominated for the women’s award.

Gigolaj, a second-year arts student from London, Ont., tallied five goals in three games at the AUS championship in Sydney, N.S., as sixth-place Saint Mary’s upset three higher-ranked opponents to claim the conference banner and qualify for this week’s CIS tournament in Victoria. The sophomore striker scored an insurance marker in a 4-1 semifinal win over first-place Cape Breton and then was named MVP of the gold-medal final after he exploded for four goals in a 6-0 rout of UPEI. Gigolaj also contributed to the Huskies’ 1-0 quarter-final victory over StFX as he was one five successful Saint Mary’s shooters in the penalty kicks session.

Fellow soccer players Alhassane Fox of Montreal, Paterson Farrell of McMaster and Jay Vetsch of Alberta were the other male nominees.

Female nominees:
AUS: Emma Landry, soccer, Dalhousie
RSEQ: Véronique Maranda, soccer, Montreal
OUA: Chantal Marson, soccer, Queen’s
CWUAA: Robyn Pendleton, field hockey, UBC (recipient)

Male nominees:
AUS: Elvir Gigolaj, soccer, Saint Mary’s (recipient)
RSEQ: Alhassane Fox, soccer, Montreal
OUA: Paterson Farrell, soccer, McMaster
CWUAA: Jay Vetsch, soccer, Alberta

-CIS-