WESMEN HONOUR TOP PERFORMERS

JoAnne Wells and Stephen Ens named University of Winnipeg Athletes of the Year

Winnipeg, March 25 – The University of Winnipeg is pleased to announce basketball star JoAnne Wells and volleyball stand-out Stephen Ens are the University of Winnipeg Athletes of the Year for 2003-04. It is the second consecutive season both players have received the honour.

JoAnne Wells continues to shine as one of top Canadian Interuniversity Sport Women’s basketball players in the country. The fourth year guard, hailing from Bedford Nova Scotia, was a First Team All-Canadian selection in 2003-04, her second consecutive nod as one of the top players in the country. The Arts student, with an Administration Studies and Physical Activity and Sports Studies double major, was the second leading scorer in the CIS this season, averaging 19.4 points a game. She was also fourth in Canada in field goal percentage at 56.5% and eighth in free throw shooting at 85.7%. Wells’ 2003-04 resume also includes a First Team Canada West Conference All-star, all-star selections in the Pepsi Invitational and Converse Shoot-out tournaments and an all-star in the CIS Women’s Basketball Championship, hosted by the University of Winnipeg, where she helped her team to a bronze medal.

“JoAnne is one of the main reasons we have been successful over the last three seasons,” says Wesmen coach Tanya McKay.

After establishing himself as one of the top Men’s volleyball players in the Canada West Conference in 2002-03, Stephen Ens turned it up a notch this season. Ens was named a Second Team All-Canadian and First Team Canada West Conference All-star for his outstanding play in 2003-04. The fifth year Arts student with a geography major, propelled the Wesmen to a playoff berth in the competitive Canada West Conference and helped make Winnipeg a permanent fixture in the CIS Top Ten all season. Ens led the Wesmen in a variety of statistical categories and was sixth in Canada West with 3.3 kills per set and fourth in the conference with 4.03 points per set. The Westgate Collegiate graduate was also one of the top servers in the CIS, nailing 37 aces, fourth best in the country

Stephen is very versatile – he was one of our top defensive players, our best server and was always a huge threat offensively,” says Wesmen coach Larry McKay. “He was a very important part of the Wesmen program over the five seasons he was here.”