Evangeline’s athletes of the year
MacDonald shows off-court leadership while Gallant repeats as male winner
It was a special day for Isabelle MacDonald and Luc Gallant.
The two 16-year-old Grade 11 students were introduced as Evangeline School’s senior athletes of the year recently.
“It was exciting and overwhelming,” admitted MacDonald. “I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea it would be me.” It marked the second year in a row Gallant has been named male athlete of the year.
“I was honoured because it (repeat winners) doesn’t happen too often,” said Gallant.
MacDonald
MacDonald not only provided on-court leadership for the Coyotes, but if not for her efforts Evangeline School would not have had a senior girls’ volleyball team.
“Our year actually began with no volleyball team, but this individual was instrumental in getting a team in place, a coach secured, players recruited and led our team to a top-four finish in the senior A league,” explained Evangeline School athletic director Jason Arsenault.
MacDonald offered: “There was always soccer at the school, and I changed to this school in Grade 10. I played volleyball all my life and I wanted to bring it to this school, and it didn’t have volleyball for several years, and the interest for soccer was slowly going down.
They didn’t have enough for a soccer team, so I just put it out there that we should play volleyball. Most of the team never played.”
The daughter of Gerard and Monette MacDonald of Summerside also recruited her father to coach the team. However, the inexperienced squad provided some notable highlights.
“We thought we would not win any games, but made it to provincials,” said a proud MacDonald, who noted that with only eight players team members had to learn to play different positions.
“They are all good athletes, and this made it easy for them to develop those skills,” added MacDonald, who plans to become an esthetician following high school. Arsenault also praised MacDonald’s leadership skills.
“She’s a ferocious competitor on the court, and she puts a lot
of responsibility on her shoulders,” he added.
Gallant
Gallant represented Evangeline School in cross-country and track and field running events during the 2016-17 P.E.I. School Athletic Association (PEISAA) season.
“There were ups and downs, but I’m proud of my year,” said Gallant, who won a bronze medal in cross-country in the fall and another bronze in the 1,500 metres at the recent provincial track and field championships at UPEI.
“His time in the 1,500 metres was four minutes 28.13 seconds (4:28:13).
“He’s got positive thinking mastered, and has the ability to remain calm in stressful situations,” said Arsenault, who also described Gallant as “passionate when it comes to athletics” and “a perfectionist when it comes to his training.” When asked what attracted him to competing in races, Gallant answered, “The pain of it and the challenges of racing.” With one year of high school remaining, Gallant has already set some goals for next season.
“I want to try and win provincials, and get universities looking at me,” said the son of
Dennis and Odette Gallant of Mont-Carmel. Gallant, who added he plans to study kinesiology following high school, also hopes to compete in both cross-country and indoor track
at the university level.
“His work ethic is excellent, he’s reliable and always finishes what he starts,” said Arsenault. “He’s not afraid to work on his weaknesses, and he sees defeat
as an opportunity to better himself.”