Veinot, Christie win league MVP awards
Port Williams native Jayda Veinot is this year's AUS women's basketball MVP.
The fifth-year player for the UNB Reds averaged 21.3 points per game to finish second in the league and third in the country. She also had 7.2 rebounds and four assists per game. Veinot also won the award in 2021-22 as a member of the Acadia Axewomen. She's the first AUS women's basketball player to win the MVP award with two different teams.
Dalhousie Tigers sharpshooter Malcolm Christie was the men's MVP. The thirdyear player finished second in league scoring (22.1 points per game) and set a new league record for three-pointers in a season with 79. The last Dal player to win MVP was Veinot's brother Keevan in 2019-20.
The other major awards in the women's league were: Kaitlyn Ferrier, Dalhousie (rookie of the year); Clara Gascoigne, Saint Mary’s (defensive player of the year); Katie Butts, UNB Reds (student-athlete community service); Avery Walker, St. Francis Xavier (Tracy Macleod award) and Scott Munro, Saint Mary's (coach of the year).
Taking home hardware on the men's side were: Koat Thomas, St. Francis Xavier (rookie of the year); Javordo Mitchell, UNB (defensive player of the year); Mitchell Mersereau, Cape Breton (student-athlete community service) and Jonah Taussig (coach of the year).
Christie and Veinot were also both named first-team all-stars. Joining Veinot on the women's squad were: Elizabeth Iseyemi, Acadia; Alaina Mcmillan, Saint Mary's; Kiyara Letlow, Cape Breton and Alana Short, Memorial.
Dondre Reddick, St. Francis Xavier; Glen Cox, Acadia; Jayrell Diggs, Saint Mary's and Flynn Boardman-raffet, Memorial were the other men's first-teamers.
The women's second-team all-stars were: Courtney Donaldson, Saint Mary's; Lauren Rainford, UPEI; Samantha Russell, Acadia; Ekaterina Karchevskaya, St. Francis Xavier and Lucina Beaumont, Saint Mary's.
The female all-rookie team was: Ferrier, Shannon Neita, St, Francis Xavier; Simona Matic, Dalhousie; Lily Vrugteman, UPEI and Maheva Ngassam, UNB.
The men's second team was: Kamari Scott, UPEI; Shak Pryce, Cape Breton; Marc-denault Gabriel, Saint Mary’s; Norm Burry, UNB and Marcus Barnes, UNB.
Named to the all-rookie team were: Thomas, Spencer Riar, Dalhousie; Tjark Lademacher, Saint Mary's; Aaron Cunningham, Cape Breton and Josh Francis, Memorial.
The AUS championship tournament runs from Friday to Sunday at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.