PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - St. Lawrence College's Samantha Gourdier (Amherstview) is the 2016 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Rugby Player of the Year. She received the award following the OCAA Women's Rugby Championship presented by belairdirect in Peterborough, Ont.

Gourdier was tied for the league lead in scoring this season and is an OCAA All-Star. There wasn't a regular season match Gourdier competed in where she didn't score at least one try.

Algonquin's Bailey Meraw (Belleville) is the OCAA Rookie of the Year. Meraw scored three tries in five matches for Algonquin.

Fleming's Shannon Burton is the OCAA Coach of the Year. Fleming went undefeated during the regular season to win its third-straight regular season championship.

Fleming's Alize Spalding-Lawrence (Hamilton) is the OCAA co-Scoring Champion along with Gourdier. Spalding-Lawrence scored eight tries in four matches this season. On account of Loyalist withdrawing from the OCAA women's rugby midway through the regular season, only statistics accumulated in matches involving the remaining three teams (Algonquin, Fleming and St. Lawrence-Kingston) counted towards the individual scoring championship.

Each team nominates two OCAA All-Stars. This year's OCAA All-Stars include Algonquin's Daniella Ellis (Ottawa) and Maureen Foran (Ottawa); Fleming's Rachael Shantz (Cavan) and Amber Teasdale (Norwood); and St. Lawrence-Kingston's Gourdier and Victoria McOuatt (Kingston).

2016 OCAA WOMEN'S RUGBY AWARDS

OCAA Women's Rugby Player of the Year
Samantha Gourdier, St. Lawrence-Kingston

OCAA Women's Rugby Rookie of the Year
Bailey Meraw, Algonquin

OCAA Women's Rugby Coach of the Year
Shannon Burton, Fleming

OCAA Women's Rugby League Scoring Champions
Samantha Gourdier, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Alize Spalding-Lawrence, Fleming

OCAA Women's Rugby League All-Stars
Daniella Ellis, Algonquin
Maureen Foran, Algonquin
Rachael Shantz, Fleming
Amber Teasdale, Fleming
Samantha Gourdier, St. Lawrence-Kingston
Victoria McOuatt, St. Lawrence-Kingston

- OCAA -

ABOUT ONTARIO COLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is the recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student-athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 29 members sponsoring 12 varsity sports.

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Josh Bell-Webster
Marketing and Communications
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
Tel: 416-426-7041
Fax: 416-426-7308
E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com