London, ON – The tradition of celebrating Western sports excellence returned to an in-person format at Alumni Hall on Tuesday afternoon with the 81st Mustangs Awards.

The ceremony recognized all Mustangs teams, including their Bronze W & Graduating Ring recipients and each team's MVP.

The event also serves as a platform to announce the major award winners from the 2021-22 season, the Athletes of the Year, Purple Blanket recipients, the F.W.P. Jones Trophy and Dr. Claude Brown Memorial Trophy winners.

The Mustangs Athlete Of The Year Award is presented annually to a male and female student athlete who have achieved outstanding success representing western at the provincial and/or national level in the current intercollegiate season.
 
This year's recipients were Kate Current from Cross Country and Track & Field and Deionte Knight from Football.

Current is the captain of both teams and had an incredible season, especially on the track & field side of things. She battled through a lower-body injury during the Cross Country season and rehabbed her injury to join the team that finished 2nd at the OUA Championship & U SPORTS Championships in the fall. She then ran right through the competition in the Track season where she won gold and silver in the 3000m & 1500m races respectively at the OUA Championship, she then followed that up with a double gold performance in those same races at the U SPORTS Championships this past weekend. Current in en route to training in New Mexico and was unable to attend the event.

Knight was a force for the Mustangs Football season as he helped lead the defensive effort that concluded with a Vanier Cup Championship for Western. Knight was both the OUA & U SPORTS winner of the J.P. Metras Trophy as Most Outstanding Lineman of the Year awards. Knight led the country with 7.5 sacks on the season and struck fear into the Mustangs opposition all season and is primed to be a marquee selection in the upcoming CFL & NFL Drafts.



The other two major awards, the F.W.P. Jones Trophy & Dr. Claude Brown Trophy, came from the 12 recipients of the Purple Blankets.

Purple blankets are presented to student-athletes, usually in their graduating year. Winners are based on their academic and athletic achievements and must have participated in athletics for a minimum of three years and must have earned a minimum of three first colours.

The Purple Blanket recipients this year are (in random order):
Isaiah Frielink – Cross Country & Track and Field       
Megan Parno - Softball
Daniel Valente Jr. - Football
Joan-Shiao Chen - Swimming
Matthew Oliver - Tennis
Lauren O'Donnell - Soccer
Jackson Bere - Volleyball
Evelyn Zheng - Fencing
Jared Hendrick-Polack – Track & Field
Nicola Cheng - Fencing
Omar Shiddo - Basketball
Brett Ellerman – Football



The 66^th winner of the F.W.P. Jones Trophy is Joan-Shiao Chen of the Swimming team. Chen's work in the pool lends a lot of similarities to her work away from it as she is all-time top 10 in 5 events and led the Mustangs to a podium finish at the OUA Championships. Chen also is an integral part of the Mustangs Athletes Student Council, having been on the council all 5 of her years at Western, serving as president this past year. On top of this she is involved with SAMHI (Student Athlete Mental Health Initiative) & SAMP (Student Athlete Mentorship Program) mentor from 2018-2020. She excels just as heavily in the classroom as a U SPORTS Academic All Canadian 2019-2022.



The 84th winner of the Dr. Claude Brown Trophy is Jackson Bere of the Men's Volleyball team. Bere has been a leader since the moment he joined the Mustangs in 2018. That season he was recognized as one of the top rookies in Canada and has achieved OUA First team All-Star status every year he has played. Bere was 3^rd in solo blocks in the OUA this past season and is currently a member of Canada's National B team and played in the Norceca Championships earning 2nd place.



We are looking forward to showcasing each team during the upcoming Mustangs Season Of Celebration where we showcase a team a day across our Mustangs social media platforms.