Calgary quarterback Erik Glavic and British Columbia volleyball player Liz Cordonier were named Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes of the year at the BLG Awards on Monday.
Glavic, from Pickering, Ont., and Cordonier, from Vancouver, each received a $10,000 scholarship towards post-graduate studies from the law firm Borden, Ladner and Gervais, which sponsors the awards.
Glavic became the first player in CIS history to win the Hec Crighton Trophy - awarded to the country's top football player - with two different teams. The fourth-year social sciences student won the trophy with the Dinos in 2009 and also with Saint Mary's in 2007.
Last fall, the 24-year-old quarterback led the Dinos to their first Vanier Cup appearance since 1995, losing 33-31 to Queen's at PEPS Stadium in Laval, Que.
"The highlight of my season was probably going in the Vanier Cup and participating in the national championship," Glavic said. "There were about 20,000 people there. Even though we didn't win, it was an overall great experience for me.
"At the time, it was very difficult. A lot of the guys took it pretty hard, but when you look at our season, we can pull away a lot of positives."
Glavic was chosen for the Doug Mitchell Trophy, named for the co-chair of the BLG Awards, ahead of New Brunswick hockey player Hunter Tremblay, McGill hockey player Francis Verreault-Paul and Western Ontario quarterback Michael Faulds.
Cordonier, a six-foot-one outside hitter, was instrumental in the Thunderbirds' perfect 27-0 record versus CIS opponents. The 23-year-old geography student was named MVP of the national championship en route to the title in her fifth and final year of university volleyball.
"My season highlight was our grand finale, our national final," Cordonier said. "It's very difficult to maintain a perfect record and we managed to do that, which was the first time in history.
"When we got to that last game, everyone knew how hard we'd worked up until that point. We just relaxed and played volleyball and it was probably one of the funnest games I've ever played."
The other female nominees for the Jim Thompson Trophy, named in memory of the late president of TSN, were Cape Breton basketball player Kelsey Hodgson, Montreal soccer player Veronique Maranda and Wilfrid Laurier hockey goalie Liz Knox.
The awards ceremony will be broadcast May 16 on TSN (11 a.m. ET).
Last year's winners were UBC swimmer Annamay Pierce and Alberta volleyball player Joel Schmuland. Previous winners include McMaster running back Jesse Lumdsen, who plays for the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos, and McGill hockey goaltender Kim St. Pierre, who won her third Olympic gold medal in February with Canada's women's team.
Glavic, six-foot-six and 230 pounds, threw for 2,186 yards and 14 touchdowns while setting a single-season Dinos record with a 67.5 completion percentage. Calgary's 7-1 regular season record was the team's best since 1988.
The pivot has a year of eligibility left in university football. If pro prospects don't arise in either the CFL or in Europe, where his two older brothers play football, Glavic is ready to attempt a return trip to the Vanier Cup with the Dinos next season.
"That's definitely the main goal, to get back to the Vanier Cup," he said. "That's not an easy road. We're in one of the toughest conferences out west.
"If you look too far ahead at the Vanier Cup, you can get caught slipping and not even make it there."
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats put Glavic on their negotiation list after a CFL evaluation camp in Toronto last month. The CFL has traditionally preferred American college quarterbacks over Canadians because of their game experience and intense coaching.
Glavic is encouraged, however, that Queen's quarterback Danny Branagan signed with the Toronto Argonauts as a free agent last month.
"It's great to see he got a chance," Glavic said. "Whether that door opens up for me or not, we'll have to see how it goes."
Cordonier, whose four siblings either play or have played volleyball at UBC, ranked third in the Canada West conference with 3.37 kills per set, was eighth in overall hitting percentage (.281) and also had 24 service aces.
She's on Canada's national beach volleyball team and will play on the World Tour this summer. Cordonier also plans to put that scholarship to use in the future.
"I still haven't really decided what I like better, beach or indoor," she said. "I'd really like to go to law school when I'm done playing and do environmental law."
Each of Canada's 52 CIS universities nominate a male and female athlete of the year. The Canadian Athletic Foundation, a board of 22 members from five different cities, selects the finalists and winners.