HIGH ACHIEVERS: Rugby’s Aurora Bowie, swimming’s Hugo Lemesle honoured as Gee-Gees’ Athletes of the Year

By Martin Cleary

Soccer-player-turned-rugby-player Aurora Bowie graduated from Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham, ON, in 2019 and enrolled at the University of Ottawa.

It proved to be the absolute right decision for the Stouffville, ON, resident both academically and athletically.

And for each of the past six years, that feeling of being doubly linked to the largest English-French bilingual university in the world has become stronger and stronger each year.

“It has been the best decision I have ever made,” Bowie said in a phone interview this week. “I’ve said it many times and I’ll say it again, these have been the best six years of my life.

“I’ve grown to be confident and have made so many friends in a great community. I’ve grown in skills as an athlete. I’m proud of the person I’ve become.”

Bowie, who is completing the first year of her Master’s program in arts and education, not only is an exceptional student – a five-time U Sports Academic All-Canadian – but also is an awarding-winning athlete on the Gee-Gees women’s rugby team.

During the recent University of Ottawa athletic awards ceremony, Bowie was named the women’s varsity teams Athlete of the Year for the first time in her career. She also was selected the women’s rugby team MVP.

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“It was really awesome,” Bowie added about being selected the Athlete of the Year over finalists Audrey Odigie (volleyball), Cassandra Provost (soccer) and Natsuki Szczokin (basketball).

“After dedicating the past six years to this team, it is a real good accomplishment to cap it (athletic eligibility) off. I’m grateful. I owe this to the team.”

Bowie, who was named the President’s Award winner in 2024 for her academic and athletic achievements, had an extra year at uOttawa because the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 RSEQ women’s rugby season.

In her final year of eligibility last fall, Bowie had a bittersweet season.

For a team perspective, Bowie, who played centre and kicker, played a significant role in helping the Gee-Gees win the RSEQ conference regular-season pennant, reach the playoff final and qualify for her fourth U Sports national championship tournament. She has three national medals – silver in 2021 and bronze in 2022 and 2019.

But Bowie was scratched for the RSEQ championship game loss to Université Laval and all three national championship tournament games (one win and two losses for fourth place) because she broke a bone in her right hand in the conference semifinal win over the Carleton University Ravens.

Despite being sad and disappointed by her late season-ending injury, Bowie provided vocal and strategical support for her teammates from the sidelines.

During the six-game RSEQ regular season, Bowie was the conference leading scorer with 88 points from two tries, a school-record 36 converts and two penalties. Her point total is the second best in team history for a single season, which lifted her into third place overall in the program for career regular-season points at 154.

Bowie’s overall play rewarded her with a berth on the RSEQ first all-star team and the U Sports first All-Canadian team. She also was selected the RSEQ and U Sports women’s rugby Player of the Year.

After earning her B.A. in psychology with a minor in biology, Bowie is pursuing her Master’s degree. She also is exploring options for her future development as an elite rugby player.

Meanwhile, swimmer Hugo Lemesle was named the Gee-Gees varsity teams men’s Athlete of the Year. The other finalists were Charles Asselin (football), Jacques-Melaine Guemeta (basketball) and Peter Stratis (hockey).

At the U Sports swimming national championships, Lemesle, a fourth-year finance student, captured two gold and one silver medals in the three individual breaststroke finals. He repeated as gold medallist in the 50- and 200-metre breaststroke events and also earned silver in the 100-metre final.

At the RSEQ championships, he celebrated five medals – gold in the 50- and 100-metre breaststrokes, a silver in the 4×50-metre freestyle relay, a bronze in the 4×100-metre medley relay and a silver in the team standings.

Jessica Gyemfi (track and field) and Jamie Armstrong (rugby) were the respective varsity Garnet women’s and men’s teams Athletes of the Year.

Gyemfi broke the Gee-Gees’ women’s shot put record three times with a season-best 13.85 metres, won the OUA championship silver medal and the U Sports bronze medal.

Armstrong, who recently played for Canada at an international sevens tournament, was named the Canadian University Men’s Rugby Back of the Year and a first-team All-Canadian. The RSEQ conference MVP concluded his Gee-Gees career with a home national championships where the team placed seventh.

The varsity Grey teams Athletes of the Year were Amy Savoie (ringette) and Martin Gallant (ultimate).

The Gee-Gees won the gold medal at the women’s ringette provincials and a silver medal at nationals in large part to Savoie’s leadership and defensive ability. She counted the game-winning goal to put Ottawa into the national semifinals. The Gee-Gees also had a tournament record of three gold and one silver medals.

Regarded as the best player in the Canadian university ultimate circuit, Gallant was a first-time all-region all-star in 2024. His skill and teamwork helped the Gee-Gees win three tournaments, including the national university championships.

The President’s Award also was presented to athletes in three different categories and went to: Jenna Matsukubo (soccer) and Alex Strople (swimming), varsity teams; Willow Cherewaty (rowing) and Ben Holahan (rugby), Garnet teams; and Clara Goulet (ultimate) and Eric Dissanayake (volleyball), Grey teams.

The six Rookie of the Year awards in three different divisions went to: Naomi Morin (hockey) and Owen Kenney (basketball), varsity teams; Finlay Cuza (nordic skiing) and Ben Davis (rugby), Garnet teams; and Eva Milinkovic (water polo) and Julien Belair (lacrosse), Grey teams.