OSHAWA, Ont. – Jessica Broad (Courtice, Ont.) of the women's volleyball team, Lindsay Panchan (Ajax, Ont.) of the women's basketball team and Craig Conroy (Bowmanville, Ont.) of the men's golf team were named the Durham College athletes of the year at the 46^th Annual Athletic Banquet Thursday night at the General W. Sikorski Polish Hall in Oshawa.
 
Broad, an event management student, continued to be a leader on and off the court for the women's volleyball team in her third season as a Lord. She finished the season second in the province with 267 points, fourth with 3.8 points per set, sixth in the province with 2.76 kills per set and ninth overall with 43 service aces. She led the Lords in all four categories and over her three-year career at Durham finishes as the leader in kills with 538 and second overall with 710 points.
 
Panchan, a second-year sport management student, became the first women's basketball player in program history to be named a CCAA All-Canadian in back-to-back seasons. She finished the year as the OCAA scoring champion with 24.6 points per game and first in the province with 12.5 rebounds per game. Both totals were good enough for second in the nation. Not only did she reach these feats at the provincial and national level, but Panchan also broke Durham's single game scoring record with 41 points again the Algonquin Thunder on Nov. 20.
 
Panchan is the first female student-athlete to win back-to-back athlete of the year awards since hall of famer Erin Smith won three-straight from 2003-2005.
 
Other female MVPs included softball player Justine Pike (Whitby, Ont.), soccer player Kayla Hellam (Oshawa, Ont.) and indoor soccer MVP Sarah Balzia (Brooklin, Ont.).
 
Conroy, a marketing major, led the Lords to their second straight appearance at the CCAA golf championship, finishing in fourth place in the team competition at the OCAA championship. The Lords veteran had the best individual finish for the Lords at provincials, tied for fifth, the best finish at the championship since 2012. At the national championship in Chilliwack, B.C., he was the top Durham College golfer, finishing tied for 15^th overall at three-over par.
 
Other male MVPs included baseball's Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont.), soccer's Austin MacDonell (Ajax, Ont.), basketball's Darian Rowe (Maple, Ont.), volleyball's Matt McGirr (Brampton, Ont.) and indoor soccer MVP Jonathan Codrington (Courtice, Ont.).
 
Rebecca Ropp (Milverton, Ont.) of the softball team and Jake Legros (Whitby, Ont.) of the baseball team were named the freshmen athletes of the year, while Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont.) of the baseball team and Kristen Curtis (Frankford, Ont.) of the women's volleyball team received the "Bonnie Ginter-Brown" Leadership Award.
 
For the first time since 2011, Durham College won an OCAA championship during the 2015-16 season, with the women's softball program capturing their 17^th gold medal at Durham Field in October. For their successful year they were named the team of the year.
 
 
46^th DURHAM COLLEGE ATHLETIC BANQUET AWARD WINNERS
 
Overall Male Athlete of the Year *William Avery Memorial Award
Craig Conroy – Men's Golf (Bowmanville, Ont. – Marketing)
 
Overall Female Athletes of the Year
Jessica Broad – Women's Volleyball (Courtice Ont., - Event Management)
 
Lindsay Panchan – Women's Basketball (Ajax, Ont. – Sport Management)
 
Male Freshman Athlete of the Year
Jake Legros (Whitby, Ont. – Mechanical Engineering)
 
Female Freshman Athlete of the Year
Rebecca Ropp (Milverton, Ont. – Early Childhood Education)
 
Male "Bonnie Ginter-Brown" Leadership Award
Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont. – Graphic Design)
 
Female "Bonnie Ginter-Brown" Leadership Award
Kristen Curtis (Frankford, Ont. – Advanced Law Enforcement and Investigations)
 
Team of the Year
Women's Softball
 
 
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
 
Four-Year Award
Craig Conroy – Men's Golf (Bowmanville, Ont. – Marketing)
Dan Sukovski – Men's Soccer (Whitby, Ont. – Sport Management)
Kayla Marshall – Women's Basketball (Ottawa, Ont. – Recreation and Leisure)
Brittany Walters – Women's Basketball (Oshawa, Ont. – Paramedics)
Christoff Pierre – Men's Basketball (Brampton, Ont. – Advanced Law)
Mike Harper – Men's Volleyball (Oakville, Ont. – Sport Management)
 
Five-Year Award
Duncan Mitchell – Men's Soccer (Oshawa, Ont. – Sport Management)
 
Athletic Therapy Student Trainer of the Year
Emily Miller – Men's Soccer and Women's Volleyball 
 
TEAM-BY-TEAM AWARDS
 
Baseball
Leadership – Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont. – Graphic Design)
Rookie of the Year – Jake Legros (Whitby, Ont. – Mechanical Engineering)
Lionel "Boom Baker" MVP – Jack Lang (Pickering, Ont. – Graphic Design)
Top Pitcher - Brodie Harkness (Bowmanville, Ont. – General Arts)
 
Softball
Leadership – Cassidy Gallant (Bowmanville, Ont. – Police Foundations)
Rookie of the Year – Rebecca Ropp (Milverton, Ont. – Early Childhood Education)
MVP – Justine Pike (Whitby, Ont. – Protection and Security)
Top Pitcher – Caitlyn Omelanchuk (Whitby, Ont. – Police Foundations)
 
Golf
Leadership – Craig Conroy (Bowmanville, Ont. – Marketing)
Rookie of the Year – Colin Jex (Port Hope, Ont. – Mechanical Engineering)
MVP – Craig Conroy (Bowmanville, Ont. – Marketing)
 
Women's Soccer
"Gord Oliver" Leadership – Mackenzie Neal (Bolton, Ont. – Recreation and Leisure)
Rookie of the Year – Laura Walker (Whitby, Ont. – Sport Management)
MVP – Kayla Hellam (Oshawa, Ont. – Recreation and Leisure)
 
Men's Soccer
"Gord Oliver" Leadership – Tevin Noel-Peterson (Whitby, Ont. – Business – Accounting Administration)
Rookie of the Year – Matthew Morris (Ajax, Ont. – Sport Management)
"Vaso Vujanovic" MVP – Austin MacDonell (Ajax, Ont. – HVAC)
 
Indoor Soccer
Women's MVP – Sarah Balzia (Brooklin, Ont. – Office Administration - Medical)
Men's MVP – Jonathan Codrington (Courtice, Ont. – Construction Carpentry)
 
Women's Basketball
Leadership – Kayla Marshall (Ottawa, Ont. – Recreation and Leisure Services)
Rookie of the Year – Maddie Dender (Ajax, Ont. – Special Events)
"Bonnie Slaughter" MVP – Lindsay Panchan (Ajax, Ont. – Sport Management)
 
Men's Basketball
Leadership – Aaron Hayles (Pickering, Ont. – Marketing)
Rookie of the Year – Rashaun Bennett (Scarborough, Ont. – PSI)
MVP – Darian Rowe (Maple, Ont. – Public Relations)
 
Women's Volleyball
Leadership – Kristen Curtis (Frankford, Ont. – Advanced Law Enforcement and Investigations)
Rookie of the Year – Megan Romain (Ajax, Ont. – Digital Photography)
"Stan Marchut" MVP – Jessica Broad (Courtice, Ont. – Event Management)
 
Men's Volleyball
Leadership – Erik Janssen (Hampton, Ont. – Biomedical Engineering Technology)
Rookie of the Year – Andrew Watson (Uxbridge, Ont. – Food and Farming)
MVP – Matt McGirr (Brampton, Ont. – Mechanical Engineering)