University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Athletics hosted its annual Blue and Gold Banquet, Friday, Mar. 30, to honour the outstanding athletes in athletic performance and academic achievement.

Over 260 athletes, administrators, and special guests were in attendance for the supper and awards ceremony, with former Pronghorn Daryl Moore serving as guest speaker.

The Award winners are as follows:

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

In only her second season as a Pronghorn, Crystal Patterson led her team to heights that have never been seen by the program. She built off a solid freshman year to become one of the premier goaltenders in Canada West this and was named a Canada West First Team All-Star for her efforts.

The Calgary native backstopped the Pronghorns women's hockey team to its best season in school history and was in goal for all 14 of her team's wins; second most of any goalie in the conference. She also led the conference in minutes played, saves and shutouts, with six. The six shutouts were the third most in a single season in Canada West history. Patterson was also ranked fourth in goals-against-average with a 2.01 GAA and her 0.928 save percentage was third best in Canada West.

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

In a rarity this year, there are co-male athletes of the year as Jeff Nicol and Ryan Thornley went hand-in-hand this season as they led their team to its best finish at the conference championship in 12 years.

The Horns men's swim team hadn't finished among the top four in the conference team standings since 2000 and both Nicol and Thornley were integral parts of the relay teams that earned valuable team points.

At the conference meet, Nicol led the way with three medals, earning a silver medal in the 200-metre breaststroke and two bronze medals in the 50- and 100-metre breaststroke.

Thornley led the way at the CIS Championships, earning the 'Horns top finish and setting a new school record in the process. Thornley finished sixth in the 50-metre fly and broke an eight-year-old school record.

Both represented the University at the Canadian Olympic trials this past weekend, with Nicol qualifying for the 'A' final in the 200-metre breaststroke, finishing eighth.

Other major award winners included:

PRESIDENT'S AWARD

For the second time in her Pronghorns' career, Megan Bach of the women's hockey program received the President's Award, given to the student athlete with the highest academic standing at the University of Lethbridge. Bach achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA, while balancing her large commitment to the team.

TEAM ACADEMIC AWARD - Presented to the team with the highest academic standing.

The women's swim team received the team Academic award with a combined GPA of 3.16

Team MVPs (as voted by team members)

Men's Soccer – Colin Pattison
Women's Soccer – Sherry Latrace
Men's Hockey – Dustin Moore
Women's Hockey – Crystal Patterson
Men's Basketball – Dominyc Coward
Women's Basketball – Lauren Taal
Men's Track – Kyle Murray
Women's Track – Christina Juert
Women's Rugby – Kayla Moleschi