UBC Okanagan announced their athletes of the year at their annual athletic banquet on Tuesday, Apr. 9.
Women’s basketball forward Jaeli Ibbetson and men’s golfer Justin Towill won the honours for their incredible seasons.
“I am super thankful and it feels really special to be recognized,” said Ibbetson. “I honestly just need to give a huge shoutout to my team and coaches and everyone else who has supported me because I definitely couldn’t have done it without any of them.
Ibbetson, the Kelowna native, finished in the top four in Canada West in scoring, assists, and rebounds. Her 353 points and 253 rebounds were both program records, while her 79 assists were second-most in team history. She also led the conference with 12 double-doubles and recorded the first triple-double in UBCO women’s basketball history.
In winning the Outstanding Athlete of the Year award, Ibbetson is the ninth women’s basketball player to do so. She also was named the Graduating Athlete of the Year.
Towill is the first athlete at UBCO to win the award for the second straight year since men’s soccer’s Mitch McCaw and women’s cross country’s Veronika Fagan accomplished the feat in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
This season, he won his second consecutive Canada West individual title in October, winning in the third playoff hole. The performance also secured a silver medal for the golf team.
“It’s amazing,” said Towill. “You’re up against so many incredible athletes. Coming into the night, I looked at all the nominees and I had no idea who was going to win. Even to be mentioned and nominated with all of those other guys is definitely an honour and to do it as the last thing I do in this program, in my final season, means the world to me. This place has been everything for me the last four years and it’s really sad leaving but it’s incredible to leave in this way.”
With the awards banquet being hosted at the Coast Capri Hotel, both Ibbetson and Towill also received a $2000 prize courtesy of the hotel.
Women’s golf’s Julia Alexander-Carew and men’s volleyball’s Jack Taylor were named the school’s rookies of the year.
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