Kyle Quinlan, Shanice Marcelle named top CIS athletes of the year at BLG Awards

TORONTO – Quarterback Kyle Quinlan and volleyball star Shanice Marcelle have been named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes of the year at the BLG Awards.

Quinlan won the Hec Crighton Award as CIS football player of the year after leading the McMaster Marauders to an 8-0 regular season record and an appearance in the Vanier Cup where they lost 37-14 to Laval in November.

The six-foot-three, 210-pound native of South Woodslee, Ont., led the country with 19 touchdown passes and just two interceptions, while ranking second in passing yards per game with 307.1 and a 68.9 completion percentage.

Quinlan, 24, signed a three-year contract with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes in December.

Marcelle, a Victoria native, won the women’s honour following a dominant season with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds that ended in the team’s fifth consecutive championship title.

The six-foot outside hitter finished fourth in the Canada West conference with 3.33 kills and 4.16 points per set, sixth in hitting percentage at .302 and seventh in service aces at 0.46, while also contributing defensively with 166 digs.

Quinlan and Marcelle were each presented with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to a Canadian university graduate school during a ceremony at the John W.H. Bassett Theatre.