Four of the six Academic All-Canadian nursing student-athletes pictured above with Faculty of Nursing Vice Dean, Olive Yonge.
Combining athletic ability and academic excellence, six Faculty of Nursing student-athletes were honoured at the annual Golden Bears and Pandas Academic All-Canadian breakfast on October 16, 2019.
Faculty of Nursing students Chelsea Dearsley (Pandas Hockey), Quinn Gilmore (Pandas Track & Field), Cara Park (Pandas Rugby), MacKenna Parks (Pandas Soccer), Selena Sturmay (Pandas Curling), and Grace Werner (Pandas Track & Field) joined a record number of University of Alberta student-athletes recognized for the 2018-19 varsity season.
The Golden Bears and Pandas set a new University of Alberta record with 162 Academic All-Canadians, breaking the record of 158 student-athletes from the 2017/18 season.
"I am happy to congratulate all of the recipients and applaud the entire Golden Bears and Pandas program," said Kerry Mummery, Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation. "This is an exemplary program that emphasizes the student in student-athlete and continues to compete-and win-at the highest levels of Canadian University sport."
The University of Alberta is the first school in Canada to reach 3,000 all-time Academic All-Canadians. Following the 2018/19 academic year, the Bears and Pandas have had 3,069 AAC's since 1990.
A total of 170 student-athletes were acknowledged, which includes a record 162 athletes from U SPORTS sanctioned sports, and another eight tennis athletes. The Bears and Pandas AAC numbers have climbed in each of the past six years, going from 123 in 2013/14, to 161 last year.
The breakfast, which is held yearly in Lister Hall, celebrates the student-athletes who earned Academic All-Canadian (AAC) status during the previous season. The criteria to be honoured as an AAC is maintaining an average of 80% or better over the academic year while competing full-time for one of the university's varsity teams.