OSHAWA, ON – Emily Cooper, Cole Cote and O'Shane Taylor-Douglas were named the Durham College athletes of the year on Wednesday night in an awards-filled evening celebrating hundreds of athletes, coaches, trainers and staff to end the 2023-24 varsity season.

Cooper marks the second consecutive year that the female athlete of the year award winner comes from a member of the women's rugby team. Cooper helped lead her team to a perfect 14-0 regular season en route to a second straight gold medal finish. In the process, she earned player of the year, scoring champion, league all-star and championship all-star honours in OCAA women's rugby sevens. Scoring 29 tries and 145 points placed her first in the league in both categories. In the classroom, Cooper earned an OCAA All-Academic Award and OCAA Academic & Athletic Excellence Award.

Cote rewrote the OCAA record books in his first season at Durham College. With 37 RBI's on the season, he surpassed the previous OCAA single season RBI's record of 31. He also passed the single season hits record of 30, recording 34 for the fall season. Cote came only two runs short of the single season runs record. Winning a bronze medal with the Lords, Cote finished the season with a batting average of .567 with 30 runs, 37 RBI's, five doubles, three triples and three home runs. He made appearances on the mound in three separate games, conceding only one hit and striking out six. As a result, Cote was named OCAA men's baseball player of the year, a first team all-star, and a championship all-star.
 
Taylor-Douglas helped lead the men's basketball team to their first OCAA medal since 2015, earning a bronze medal on home court. He was one of the most dominant players on one of the most dominant teams in the country, leading the OCAA in assists with 139 (23 more than the next highest player) and placed second in steals with 60. Per game, he averaged 15.4 points, 7.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game. Taylor-Douglas earned east division player of the year honours, as well as east division best defensive player of the year, a first team all-star, championship all-star and CCAA All-Canadian award.

Chelsea Oke, a multi-sport athlete, took home female freshman of the year honours following a season which saw her earn a spot on the all-rookie team in both women's softball and volleyball. Zach Rivers earned male freshman of the year after an incredible season in men's baseball that included leading the league in runs and placing second in hits, as well as stolen bases.

Megan Bent and Liam Spafford, both from the rugby teams, were recognized for their leadership on and off the pitch this season with the "Bonnie Ginter-Brown" Leadership Award.

Following an undefeated gold medal winning season, the women's rugby team was named the team of the year for the second consecutive year.

52nd DURHAM COLLEGE ATHLETIC BANQUET AWARD WINNERS
 
"Margaret Greenley" Overall Female Athlete of the Year Award
Emily Cooper - Women's Rugby
 
"William Avery Memorial" Overall Male Athlete of the Year Award
Cole Cote - Men's Baseball & O'Shane Taylor-Douglas - Men's Basketball
 
Female Freshman Athlete of the Year
Chelsea Oke - Women's Softball & Volleyball
 
"David Stewart" Male Freshman Athlete of the Year
Zach Rivers - Men's Baseball
 
"Bonnie Ginter-Brown" Leadership Award
Megan Bent - Women's Rugby & Liam Spafford - Men's Rugby
 
Team of the Year
Women's Rugby
 
#DC4DC Award
Women's Softball
 
SPECIAL AWARDS
 
Five-Year Award
Emily Glendinning - Women's Softball & Basketball
Robbie Eliadis - Men's Rugby
Liam Spafford - Men's Rugby
Reese Watkins - Men's Rugby

Four-Year Award
Jessica Ferreira - Women's Soccer
Kaleigh MacIntyre - Women's Softball
Sydney Redick - Women's Softball
Devon Parson - Men's Rugby

Athletic Therapy Student Trainer of the Year
Bryanna Greig
 
Strength & Conditioning Commitment Award
Sierra Persaud - Women's Rugby & Ben Rocheleau - Men's Volleyball

Strength & Conditioning Coach of the Year
Andrew Morris
 
"Ken Babcock" Athletic Director's Award of Excellence
Chloe Hercia - Women's Soccer
Troy Hewitt - Game Day Staff
 
NuStadia Recreation Award
Reese Watkins - Men's Rugby
Camryn Wood - Women's Rugby & Basketball

TEAM-BY-TEAM AWARDS
 
Men's Baseball
"Boom Baker" MVP: Cole Cote
"Bob Johnston" Rookie of the Year: Zach Rivers
"Sam Dempster" Leadership Award: Jackson Painter
Top Pitcher: Nick King
 
Women's Softball
"Richard Snowden" MVP: Grace Hearns
Rookie of the Year: Chelsea Oke
"Jim Nemish" Leadership Award: Sydney Redick
Top Pitcher: Emily Glendinning

Golf
"Gerry Pettit" Men's MVP: Quin Doherty
"Ryan Hughes" Rookie of the Year: Aiden Pater
"Tyler Martin" Leadership Award: Julian Hrywnak
 
Women's Soccer
"Vaso Vujanovic" MVP: Sage Thomas-Roberts
"Gail Reid" Rookie of the Year: Erin Michalicka
"Gord Oliver" Leadership Award: Jessica Ferreira
 
Men's Soccer
"Vaso Vujanovic" MVP: Garrett Werner
"Mario Bombino" Rookie of the Year: John Moncada
"Gord Oliver" Leadership Award: Deandre Branch
 
Indoor Soccer
Women's MVP: Kayla Edelhofer
Men's MVP: Deandre Branch
 
Women's Rugby
MVP: Emily Cooper
Rookie of the Year: Camryn Wood
Leadership Award: Maya Austin
 
Men's Rugby
MVP: Liam Spafford
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Neveu
Leadership Award: Reese Watkins
 
Women's Basketball
"Bonnie Slaughter" MVP: Emma Bergen
"Lindsay Panchan" Rookie of the Year: Camryn Wood
Leadership Award: Emily Glendinning
 
Men's Basketball
"Ted Harrison" MVP: O'Shane Taylor-Douglas
"Anthony Batchelor" Rookie of the Year: Jasean Elliott
"Ernie Rainbow" Leadership Award: Mark Stoop
 
Women's Volleyball
"Stan Marchut" MVP: Amanda Larsen
"Carol Cruwys-Hart" Rookie of the Year: Chelsea Oke
Leadership Award: Brooke Young
 
Men's Volleyball
"Laurence Bishop" MVP: Tyler Jegen
"David Dobson" Rookie of the Year: Will Doucet
Leadership Award: William Egan
 
Esports
APEX Legends MVP: Dameon Shaw
Call of Duty MVP: Nathan Largey
CS2 MVP: Nicholas Pineda
League of Legends MVP: Alex Luo
Rocket League MVP: Daniel Bholla
Super Smash Brothers Ultimate MVP: Mitchell Peltenburg
Valorant MVP: Moosa Syed
Valorant Academy MVP: Morgan Matlock
Leadership Award: Nicholas Pineda