WATERLOO, Ont. – Waterloo women's volleyball standout player Laura Klein (Kitchener/) and men's golfer and hockey stars Garrett Rank (Elmira/) and Chris Ray (Kelowna/) took home the athletes of the year prizes on Friday evening at the 52^nd annual Waterloo Athletics Banquet.  Klein capped off a tremendous Warrior career while Rank and Ray completed their fifth year of eligibility in style with several outstanding accolades to their name.  

Klein was awarded the Marsden Trophy as Warrior female athlete of the year after a dominating season on the court as part of the women's volleyball team. 

The fine arts student finished second in Ontario and seventh in the country with 3.34 kills per set.  Klein also tallied 3.9 points per set which placed her third in the province and 10^th in Canada while collecting 197 kills, the third most of OUA athletes. Klein was just as impressive on the defensive side of the ball with 196 digs and 3.32 digs per set. 

Klein was once an OUA rookie of the year and was a true leader on and off the court for Waterloo this season.  She proved to her coaching staff and teammates what it means to be a Warrior battling each and every game she wore the black and gold. 

Rank was presented as the co-winner of the Totzke Trophy putting together yet another incredible season on the links.  He captured his second straight Len Shore Trophy as the OUA men's individual gold medal winner; in doing so Rank led the Warriors to their first OUA Championship gold medal since 2006.

Rank also collected gold medals at the Laurier/Waterloo and Guelph Invitational tournaments while finishing second at the Western Invitational and third at the Toronto Invitational.  He was named an OUA first-team all-star for the second straight season and has earned an all-star four of his five seasons.

Adding to his already long list of accomplishments, Rank asserted himself as one of the top male amateur golfers in 2011 and was rewarded with a spot on Team Canada's National Squad.

The honours economics student won the Toronto Star Amateur in July and also earned medalist honours at a U.S. Men's Amateur qualifier. Rank had a number of other solid outings, including runner-up at the Canadian University/College Championship; a fifth place finish at the Ontario Men's Amateur Championship; a third at the Glencoe Invitational and a sixth at the Porter Cup. Rank also reached the round-of-64 at the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.

Rank moved up more than 500 spots on the R&A's World Amateur Golf Ranking during a 10-week span during the summer of 2011.

Ray of the men's hockey team was awarded the co-winner of the Totzke Trophy capping off an illustrious career at Waterloo. 

The Kelowna, B.C. native tallied 31 points in 27 games this season and was named an OUA west first-team all-star for the fourth straight season.  Ray was also named the OUA west most sportsmanlike player for the second straight season, always playing with heart and determination, exactly what it means to be a Waterloo student-athlete. 

This season Ray moved up the ranks in all-time Waterloo scoring finishing his career second all-time in points with 157 and third all-time in assists with 98 in 125 games played wearing the black and gold. 

Ray has also been honoured at the National level as a two time CIS second-team all-Canadian and won a bronze medal as part of team Canada as an assistant captain at the 2011 World Universiade Games.  

Prior to joining the Warriors Ray had already established himself as a perennial Canadian hockey player winning the Memorial Cup as part of the Kelowna Rockets in 2004.  As part of the Rockets, Chris played 309 games tallying a total of 154 points.  Ray's presence on and off the ice will be thoroughly missed by the Warriors next season.

Other hardware handed out included the second annual Warrior Shield of Excellence award recognizing outstanding accomplishments by a graduating student-athlete in their sport, academics and community service.  Dustin Zender (Kitchener) of the football program was the lone recipient of the award for his stellar career as a Warrior. 

Zender showed a great deal of resilience and determination playing for the Warriors this season and was named an OUA first-team all-star and CIS second-team all-Canadian for his efforts.  Zender was also a second-team all-star in 2009.

The fifth year wide receiver from Kitchener led the country in receptions with 63 catches in eight games, which tied the all-time OUA record for most receptions in a single season.  Dustin accumulated 761 yards on those 63 catches with an average of 95 yards per game while collecting four touchdown passes.  Dustin's 13 catches against McMaster was his single game high where he collected 162 receiving yards including a long 56 yard strike while adding a touchdown.

Thanks to a career year in his final year of eligibility, Zender moved into third all-time in Waterloo football receiving yards with 1,781 in 34 games played. 

The Imprint Coach of the Year award was collected by Shaun Reagan, head coach of the women's hockey program.  In his first year as the bench boss, Reagan was named the OUA coach of the year.

With just four wins and finishing out of the playoff picture by 20 points a year ago, Reagan entered the season with a new plan and was able to get his players to buy into a new system and right the ship.

The Warriors won ten games this season and finished tied for the final playoff spot, but came out on the losing end of the tiebreaker.  The first year coach has also shown his commitment to recruiting, already confirming several strong recruits across the province for the 2012-13 season.   The future looks bright with Reagan behind the bench in Waterloo.

The Federation of Students rookies of the year went to Rebecca Bouwhuis (Orillia/) of the women's hockey team and Erich Woolley (New Dundee/) of the men's volleyball team.

The rookie netminder from Orillia logged the second most minutes among OUA goalies, finished second in saves with 584, tied for third with nine wins, third with a 1.95 goals against average, and second with a 0.933 save percentage. Bouwhuis, the first women's hockey player ever to earn OUA rookie of the year, was also named an OUA first-team all-star, second team all-Canadian and member of both the OUA and CIS all-rookie team's. 

Woolley is the third straight men's volleyball player to earn the FEDS male rookie of the year award.  The rookie libero had an incredible season with the Warriors earning the starting position only a few games into the season with his remarkable defensive skills.  The New Dundee native finished 10^th in the country and second in Ontario with 2.71 digs per set.  Woolley tallied 130 digs in just 48 sets played and was a major factor in Waterloo's OUA final four berth this season. 

The Rotary Athletics Community Citizen Award was presented to Leslie Gray who competed on both the cross-country and track teams throughout her Warrior career.  The award is given to a student-athlete who combines athletic excellence, academic achievement, while giving back to the community. 

Gray has been an integral leader as part of her varsity teams as well as a key organizer for many departmental initiatives.  She has helped run charity events such as trick or eat and the annual Waterloo Warriors think pink weekend as well as the cross-country fundraising run. 

Gray has also been actively involved with the Education Credit Union Team-Up program at Waterloo which brings varsity athletes to speak to elementary schools about making the right choices and keys to success.  Additionally, Gray was an integral part of a transition stage for the new cross-country head coach Kevin Shields, helping with many of the administrative tasks throughout the season.  Finally Gray has been an outstanding leader as a member on the Interuniversity Council helping to enhance varsity athletics at Waterloo and was a key leader of the newly created peer to peer mentoring program this past year. 

The J.O. Hemphill and Director's awards were won by Ben Norris (Waterloo/) and Ali Barras (Waterloo).  The awards are presented annually in recognition of students who provide an outstanding administrative contribution to interuniversity athletics.

Norris, who has played varsity baseball the past five seasons, has been a leader on and off the baseball diamond as two year captain of the program and an integral part of several department initiatives.  Norris is an executive member of the Interuniversity Council and is always lending a hand to help with Waterloo athletics events such as the campus rec open house, the Team-Up program, Varsity Olympics and the OUA Outdoor Classic Fan Bus. 

Norris also helped to organize the Baseball Alumni game this past season and regularly organizes team events for the players including a fundraising initiative for their new ball caps this season. 

Barras, a member of the cheerleading team is also a go-to organizer when it comes to athletics at Waterloo.  She has helped organize several fan buses including the fan bus to the OUA outdoor hockey game and was a tremendous leader throughout Waterloo's fourth annual Think Pink Campaign.

Barras is currently an executive member of the Interuniversity Council and has brought forward many ideas about promoting athletics to the student body while chairing most of the meetings.  Additionally, Barras has been the lead organizer for the Athletics Banquet after party and has been a Team-Up speaker for several years talking to elementary aged kids about the six keys to success. 

The Brian Farrance award presented to student therapists who have demonstrated excellence, commitment and dedication throughout his/her service to varsity athletics was collected by Bradley McClure.

McClure has worked with the women's volleyball team for the past three years and has been present for and treated many traumatic injuries.  He has applied to continue his studies as a graduate student at uWaterloo.

The 52^nd annual Athletics Banquet was a roaring success with a strong contingent of student-athletes on hand to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2011-12 Waterloo Warriors.