Top 8 Academic All-Canadians announced for 2021-22 season
U SPORTS proudly announced Tuesday the student-athletes selected as Top 8 Academic All-Canadians for the 2021-22 season.
Shae Demale of Saint Mary’s, Alex Carson of Dalhousie, Jade Downie-Landry of McGill University, Jean-Simon Desgagnés of Laval, Raphaël Garcia of Carleton, Kate Current of Western, and Eric Lutz and Rebecca Smith of Calgary were nominated for their excellence both on and off the field of play.
Among the 4900+ student-athletes who achieved U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian status in 2021-22, one female and one male student-athlete from each of the four U SPORTS conferences were selected to make up the Top 8.
U SPORTS student-athletes achieve Academic All-Canadian status for having maintained an average of 80 per cent or better over the academic year while competing for one – or more – of their university’s varsity teams.
The elite group will be honoured on Thursday by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, at Rideau Hall in the nation’s capital.
The Governor General’s Academic All-Canadian Commendation was founded in 2013 by the Right Honourable David Johnston, former Governor General of Canada, who first honoured Canada’s Top 8 student-athletes.
Profiles of the 2021-22 Top 8 laureates are available below.
ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY SPORT (AUS)
Shae Demale
Hometown: Red Deer, AB
School: Saint Mary’s University
Program: Bachelor of Science
Sport: Hockey
Shae Demale was named the most valuable player in AUS women’s hockey last season, as she led the conference with 25 points (13 goals and 12 assists) in 21 games played. Demale, who is originally from Red Deer, Alberta, was also named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian and was named an AUS First Team All-Star for the third straight season, as the Huskies finished second in their conference.
Demale recently returned from Lake Placid, New York, where she was a member of Team Canada at the 2023 World University Games.
Academically, Ms. Demale registered a perfect 4.30 GPA in both 2020-21 and 2021-22. A biology major, Shae won the Saint Mary’s President’s Award in 2020 for top Academic and Athletic performance and was named to the Dean’s List in 2018-19 and 2020-21. She is a four-time U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian, and four-time Saint Mary’s Academic Achievement Winner (2019-22). She also won the Dr. John C O’.C. Young Award for the highest grade in Chemistry, along with several other awards at Saint Mary’s for her academic standing and community involvement.
In the community, the 22-year-old is a volunteer hockey coach with the Metro West Force girl’s hockey team in Halifax and volunteers in the emergency department at the I-W-K Children’s Hospital.
Alex Carson
Hometown: Lower Sackville, NS
School: Dalhousie University
Program: Recreation Management
Sport: Basketball
Alex Carson is a four-time AUS All-Star and was Dalhousie University’s Male Athlete of the Year last season. He averaged 18.5 points per game during the regular season and was named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian. He has led the Tigers to four conference championships and four trips to the U SPORTS Final 8 during his five seasons, highlighted by a silver medal at the 2020 event, where he was named a championship all-star.
Mr. Carson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Recreation Management last spring. A Dean’s List student, he posted a 4.24 grade point average last season. He won Varsity Athletic Awards in 2017 and 2022, the John C. Pooley Sportsperson Award in 2022, and held several other university scholarships.
Originally from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Mr. Carson is passionate about giving back to the community and is the co-founder, director, and coach of the 4AM Basketball Camp program that funds a scholarship for young basketball players in Nova Scotia. He has also volunteered with the Special Tigers Sports program and has been an assistant coach with the Nova Scotia provincial Under-16 boys basketball team.
For the complete U SPORTS press release, please click here.