Saralyn Stel wins Thérèse Quigley Award-CIS honours fifth year Spartan with outstanding student-athlete award

Saralyn Stel is presented with the Therese Quigley Award by award's namesake

Saralyn Stel wins Thérèse Quigley Award
-CIS honours fifth year Spartan with outstanding student-athlete award

FREDERICTON - Trinity Western University's Saralyn Stel is this year's winner of the Thérèse Quigley Award for excellence in the student-athlete

CIS Awards Release

The Spartans' captain, now in her fifth year, is a two-time academic all-Canadian and former Canada West Rookie of the Year. Stel has always shown community spirit and leadership ability, with such involvement as Coordinator and Developer of the TWU CIS Athlete Mentor Program, being as a Spartan Student Athlete Leadership Team member and acting a Sports Ministry Rep as event and outreach coordinator.

She was helped coordinate the team's tour of China Tour in December, which included fundraising efforts to provide gifts for children's orphanages. Other international efforts were being coordinator with the Action-Africa tour and Action-Honduras tour. For the former, Stel planed and organizes the tour of the AIA men's team for outreach camps and matches in Africa in summer 2008 and with the latter she was the tour/project coordinator and a team member. Again, she planned, coordinated and participated in outreach camps and volleyball matches in Honduras during the summer of 2007.

"Saralyn continues to amaze me with hear ability to do as much she does, while still being an outstanding student and a competitive athlete. Her loving heart and genuine desire to put others ahead of herself give Saralyn the energy to accomplish the numerous goals that she has set for herself. She achieves her life objectives by having an incredible work ethic, by being very organized and by having a willingness to do the extra things that are necessary to take something from being good to being great. Everything that Saralyn does she does with excellence. Saralyn is truly a remarkable individual and I believe she embodies what this award is all about."

In addition to all of her work with her team and on trips to foreign countries Stel also finds time to contribute to those in her local community. She is a Big Sister/Mentor to a 10 year old, is a Kidshine Group Leader at Peace Portal Alliance Church where she mentors a group of kids ages 5-12 and is a head coach of 14-17 year olds in the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club.

Stel, who is completing her BA in Human Kinetics and Business, is once again a CIS Academic All-Canadian candidate and is TWU's all-time leader in kills with 1,040 and third in school history in digs with 862.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2008-02-28
Author: Scott Stewart