Women's Rowing | 10/16/2018 11:54:00 PM

MONTREAL -- Eight scholarships were handed out to McGill University student-athletes at the Martlet Foundation's annual general meeting held at the Ritz-Carlton, Tuesday.

Montrealer Dori Yeats, a member of the Martlets rugby team who wrestled for Canada at the Rio Olympics, received $2,000 as one of three 1938 Champions Award recipients, along with Sidonie Chard of Kingston, Ont., who skates for the hockey Martlets, and baseball player Sasha Lagarde of Pierrefonds, Que., who was unable to attend due to a midterm exam.
 
The award is named after the 1938 championship-winning McGill football and hockey teams, who lost eight men during the Second World War. The prize is awarded to recognize students who have demonstrated high academic performance and have shown leadership in the McGill community through a significant contribution to student activities and organizations, including athletics.

Also announced were four recipients of the Dorothy Nichol Award, a $2,000 bursary presented on the basis of academic achievement and contributions to extra-curricular activities in athletics.

The laureates included field hockey player Tania Iskandar of Greenwich, Conn., alpine skier Sarah Mains, volleyball middle blocker Elisabeth Perrault of Laval, Que., and rower Sarah Zhou, a repeat recipient who hails from Mississauga, Ont.,

Finally, Quentin Basiren, a rower who hails from Brockville, Ont., received the T. Palmer-Howard Award, an annual $2,000 prize awarded annually to a student who has demonstrated leadership on an intercollegiate club while maintaining high academic standing.

MORE DETAILED PROFILES FOR EACH RECIPIENT FOLLOWS BELOW:

Yeats, a 25-year-old native of Montreal, is a civil engineering junior who earned Academic All-Canadian status and qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. Last fall, she won a Saputo Bursary for academic prowess from the Quebec Foundation for University Excellence. In the community, she has volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club on the Akwesasne Mohawk reservation.  Yeats recently retired from wrestling after eight years on the national team for Canada, culminating in the Rio Olympics, where she finished fifth in the 69-kilogram weight class.  Despite never having played rugby, she joined the McGill rugby team last fall and has quickly become a key member of this squad. Known primarily for her tackling skills, she has also scored five tries in nine career games.
 
Chard, a past recipient of a Dorothy Nichol scholarship, is a 19-year-old science junior, majoring in kinesiology. She earned a GPA of 3.78 to qualify for both, Academic All-Canadian status and the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. She served as a volunteer with several organizations, including the Motion Ball Marathon of Sport and the ParaTough Club, in support of disabled athletes. She volunteers at the Mackay Centre for disabled children and helps organize a campus-wide food drive for the Sun Youth Organization. A member of the Varsity Council, she was the Martlet Hockey team representative for McGill's annual "Bell Let's Talk" initiative, which raises awareness for mental health. Two years ago, she planned an overseas trip for a group of volunteers to help a women's health centre in the Kilimanjaro region of Africa. The group raised $3,500 which helped purchase an ultrasound machine for the clinic. On the ice, she is a defensive forward with the hockey Martlets, who has played in 77 career games and was part of the 2015-16 McGill team that won silver at the national championship.

Lagarde, team captain of the baseball Redmen, transferred to McGill two years ago after playing college ball in the NCAA. A senior in the faculty of education, he is majoring in teaching English as a second language and made the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. He has helped various teams win a combined total of seven different national championships. Last fall, he guided the Redmen to their fourth national championship and was named as the Tournament MVP and most outstanding hitter. Now in his third and final season as an all-star centrefielder with McGill, he helped the team win their league pennant last week. In a couple of days, the team will head out to the Nationals in Ottawa, where they will compete for a fifth consecutive national Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association banner.

Iskander, a 20-year-old management senior majoring in finance and mathematics, qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. A midfielder on the field hockey team, Iskandar has served as captain for the past two years, a role that also involves management, logistics and fundraising. Her time commitment to the team is about 40 hours per week. In the community, she volunteers with FACE-UP, a local initiative that provides after-school programs and activities for children in downtown Montreal.
 
Mains, 22, serves as captain of the ski team.  A third-year arts student, she is majoring in International Development Studies, with a minor in social entrepreneurship. She qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll and was a recipient of the Neil Baker Award, presented to a skier for combining academic and athletic prowess. Mains also received the Arts Internship Award for her efforts in funding a community-centered social enterprise. On the athletic front, she finished second on the team and ninth in the Quebec league scoring race last year, helping McGill place second of nine teams in the standings. In the community, she has helped bring a very large ski team together by serving as the team's social event coordinator and helped manage team activities, organize fundraising efforts.
 
Perrault, 22, is an alternate captain with the volleyball Martlets. A third-year management junior, majoring in finance and accounting, she qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. At the McGill Athletics gala last April, she won the Uldis Auders Memorial Award, presented to the top sophomore, in any sport, who best combines academic excellence with athletic prowess. In the community, Perrault has served as a student tutor, volunteered with the Varsity Council, and participated at the annual Varsity Gift Wrapping project, which benefits the underprivileged at the Sun Youth Organization. She also took part in numerous bake sale fundraisers for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. On the court, the 5-foot-10 middle blocker helped McGill finish second in the Quebec league last year.

Zhou, 23, transferred to McGill in 2016 after graduating from McMaster with a degree in health sciences. She is a third-year student in medical school who qualified for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. In the water last year, she won bronze at the OUA championships in St. Catharines, Ont. The previous season, Zhou qualified for the Canadian University Rowing Association national championships in Welland, Ont., where she rowed with the lightweight pair. In the community, she has served as captain of the faculty of medicine's volleyball and soccer teams at the Med-Games. She serves as president and founder of the McGill Medical Research Association and is co-president of the Medical Students Society Athletics Organization.

Basiren, 20, is a third-year science student, majoring in anatomy and cell biology. He achieved a 3.72 grade-point average last year to qualify for the Principal's Student-athlete Honour Roll. In the water, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound rower won gold in the heavyweight double at the Brock Invitational regatta last fall. At the OUA championships, he has reached the podium in each of the last two years, winning silver and bronze medals. He qualified for the Canadian University Rowing Association championship in Burnaby, B.C., where he placed seventh overall in the heavyweight eight. For the past two years, he has won gold in the heavyweight double at the Head of the Rideau regatta in Ottawa.