MONTREAL – Claire Vercheval of the Martlets volleyball team headed a list of 10 student-athletes from McGill University to receive an athletic financial award at the Quebec Foundation gala, held Thursday, at the John Molson Room of Molson's Brewery.
 
In all, $434,000 was handed out 81 honourees from the Quebec university and CEGEP levels. Laval led all Quebec universities with 13 bursary recipients, followed by Montreal (12), McGill (10), Concordia (8), Bishop's (4), Sherbrooke (4), UQAM (3) and UQTR (3).
 
Vercheval, a fourth-year power-hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., was named as the most outstanding female athlete of the year in a category for individual sports. She received a bursary from the Banque National for $2,000.

Three McGill freshmen received recruitment bursaries, valued at $10,000 each, including volleyball's Victoria Iannotti, swimmer Daphne Danyluk and soccer's Alexia Remillard.

Rounding out the list of McGillians were football players Chris Kongbo ($3,000; Out of Province Recruitment Bursary), Dimitrios Sinodinos ($2,000; Merit Scholarship) and Benjamin Carre ($1,000; Alouettes Scholarship), along with volleyball's Rowan Fletcher ($2,000; Merit Scholarship), swimmer Clement Secchi ($2,000; Merit Scholarship) and hockey's Jade Downie-Landry ($2,000; Merit Scholarship).

"In 2018, when we revised our college and university recruitment programs in an attempt to prevent an exodus of our best student-athletes, we wanted to make sure we could offer something that was competitive with what was available outside of Quebec," said Patricia Demers, executive director of the Quebec Foundation for Athletic Excellence. "One year later, we're already reaping some of the benefits of our efforts... The new structure we put in place enables us to support their academic and athletic progress for eight years. We believe this will appeal greatly to our in-province student-athletes and that more and more of them will opt for it." 

Among the awards granted by the FAEQ were 20 College Recruitment bursaries worth $3,000 over three years and 32 University Recruitment bursaries worth $10,000 over five years. In addition, two student-athletes from outside Quebec, who chose to pursue their studies at Quebec universities, received bursaries worth $3,000. Another 21 Merit Scholarships, worth $2,000 each, were awarded to 19 student-athletes who, based on their achievements during the 2018-19 season, were finalists in the College and University Bursary Awards Night's seven award categories.

2019-20 FAEQ Recipients of College and University Scholarships
 

Name	Sport	Amount	City	School
College Recruitment
Hans Sarah Bailly	Basketball (F)	3000 $	Montréal (RDP–PAT)	Vanier College
Yannice Biyik Nlend	Basketball (M)	3000 $	Québec (Charlesbourg)	Vanier College
Souleymane Camara	Football	3000 $	Chateauguay	Collège Champlain Lennoxville
Julien Cazajous-Poulot	Football	3000 $	Montréal (Rosemont - La Petite-Patrie)	Collège André-Grasset
Nelson Cilien	Basketball (M)	3000 $	Montréal (Montréal-Nord)	Collège Brébeuf
Aissatou Diop	Basketball (F)	3000 $	Saint-Lambert	Saint-Lambert, Champlain Regional College
Marc-Antoine Durocher	Volleyball (M)	3000 $	Boucherville	Cégep de Sherbrooke
Mohamed Elshal	Football	3000 $	Québec	Campus Notre-Dame-de-Foy
Karina Fortier	Soccer (F)	3000 $	Sherbrooke	Saint-Lambert, Champlain Regional College
Alexis Giguère	Hockey (M)	3000 $	Sainte-Julie	Cégep André-Laurendeau
Laurence Huard	Volleyball (F)	3000 $	Lorraine	Collège Lionel-Groulx
Sami McDuff	Soccer (M)	3000 $	Saint-Amable	Saint-Lambert, Champlain Regional College
Ann-Frédérik Naud	Hockey (F)	3000 $	Saint-Félix-de-Valois	John Abbott College
Yve Nsanzinshuti	Basketball (M)	3000 $	Québec	Saint-Lambert, Champlain Regional College
Cassandra Provost	Soccer (F)	3000 $	Acton Vale	Saint-Lambert, Champlain Regional College
Mégane Quirion	Hockey (F)	3000 $	Saint-Eustache	John Abbott College
Xavier Tremblay	Football	3000 $	Laval	Collège André-Grasset
Thierry Tshibola	Basketball (M)	3000 $	Québec	Vanier College
Brianna Ware	Hockey (F)	3000 $	Pointe-Claire	John Abbott College
Una Zubac	Volleyball (F)	3000 $	Sherbrooke	Cégep de Sherbrooke
Recruitment from outside Quebec
Félix Boucher	Golf (M)	3000 $	Dieppe, Nouveau-Brunswick	Bishop's
Chris Kongbo	Football	3000 $	Surrey, Colombie-Britannique	McGill
University Recruitment
Nahida Baalbaki	Soccer (F)	10 000 $	Montréal (Saint-Laurent)	Montréal
Nathan Beaudin-Bolduc	Swimming (M)	10 000 $	Lévis (Saint-Nicolas)	Laval
Julien Choquette	Wrestling	10 000 $	Saint-Paul-d'Abbotsford	Concordia
Pascal Corbeil	Hockey (M)	10 000 $	Longueuil	Concordia
Daphné Danyluk	Swimming (F)	10 000 $	Riv.des Prairies – Pte. aux Trembles	McGill
Emmy Fecteau	Hockey (F)	10 000 $	Saint-Odilon	Concordia
Nicolas Fortin	Volleyball (M)	10 000 $	Québec (Sainte-Foy)	Laval
Kevin Foster Verdier	Football	10 000 $	Bois-des-Filion	Concordia
Antoine Fréchette	Football	10 000 $	Châteauguay	Sherbrooke
Noémie Gagné	Volleyball (F)	10 000 $	Québec	UQAM
Joannie Garand	Hockey (F)	10 000 $	Otterburn Park	Montréal
Olivier Garneau	Hockey (M)	10 000 $	Québec	UQTR
Audrey Genois	Soccer (F)	10 000 $	Saint-Raymond	Laval
Laurent Grandmangin	Track and field	10 000 $	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke
Victoria Iannotti	Volleyball (F)	10 000 $	Montréal (Saint-Laurent)	McGill
Jonathan Noel Jeune	Basketball (M)	10 000 $	Montréal (Montréal-Nord)	UQAM
Steeve Joseph	Basketball (M)	10 000 $	Montréal (Pierrefonds - Roxboro)	Laval
Jael Kabunda	Basketball (F)	10 000 $	Montréal (Ahuntsic - Cartierville)	Bishop's
Thomas Lafontaine-Giguère	Swimming (M)	10 000 $	Saint-Jérôme	Montréal
Audrey Leduc	Track and field	10 000 $	Gatineau	Laval
Karima Lemire	Soccer (F)	10 000 $	Longueuil	UQAM
Jennifer Louis	Basketball (F)	10 000 $	Montréal (Montréal-Nord)	Bishop's
Jordan Martel	Hockey (M)	10 000 $	Saguenay (Chicoutimi)	UQTR
Tommy Mercier	Football	10 000 $	Sainte-Julie	Montréal
Mathieu Morneau	Badminton	10 000 $	Québec (Val-Bélair)	Laval
Nicholas Thien Quan Nguyen	Badminton	10 000 $	Montréal (Ahuntsic-Cartierville)	Montréal
Anthony Bao Quoc Nguyen	Badminton	10 000 $	Dollard-des-Ormeaux	Montréal
Alexia Rémillard	Soccer (F)	10 000 $	Repentigny	McGill
Kaylyn Smith St-Cyr	Football	10 000 $	Laprairie	Montréal
Rémy-Julien Spattz	Football	10 000 $	Knowlton	Laval
Simon Spénard-Lapierre	Soccer (M)	10 000 $	Laval	Concordia
Alexis Tournier	Volleyball (M)	10 000 $	Gatineau	Montréal
Merit Scholarships
Catherine Beauchemin	Track and field	2000 $	Québec	Laval
Christophe Boivin	Hockey	2000 $	Québec	UQTR
Jessika Boulanger	Hockey	2000 $	Victoriaville	Montréal
Francis Carter (2 bourses)	Wrestling	4000 $	Montréal (Verdun)	Concordia
Émile Chênevert	Football	2000 $	Québec	Laval
Frédérique Cigna	Swimming	2000 $	Montréal (Ahuntsic - Cartierville)	Montréal
Maude Croteau-Vaillancourt	Track and field	2000 $	Saint-Hyacinthe	Sherbrooke
Jean-Simon Desgagnés	Track and field	2000 $	Québec	Laval
Jade Downie-Landry	Hockey	2000 $	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu	McGill
Rowan Fletcher	Volleyball	2000 $	Montréal-Ouest	McGill
Camille Garnier	Badminton	2000 $	Montréal (Rosemont - La Petite-Patrie)	Montréal
Béatrice Guay	Badminton	2000 $	Québec	Laval
Omar Kreim	Soccer	2000 $	Laval	Montréal
Jessy Lacourse	Track and field	2000 $	Québec	Laval
Myriam Leclerc (2 bourses)	Basketball	4000 $	Saint-Roch-de-Richelieu	Concordia
Alexandre Obomsawin	Volleyball	2000 $	Gatineau	Laval
Clément Secchi	Swimming	2000 $	Montréal (Plateau-Mont-Royal)	McGill
Dimitrios Sinodinos	Football	2000 $	Laval	McGill
Claire Vercheval	Volleyball	2000 $	Sainte-Julie	McGill
Alouettes
Adam Auclair	Football	1000 $	Notre-Dame-des-Pins	Laval
Benjamin Carré	Football	1000 $	Trois-Rivières	McGill
Ryth-Jean Giraud	Football	1000 $	Laval	Montréal
Digaan Gomis	Football	1000 $	Thetford Mines	Bishop's
Glody Musangu	Football	1000 $	Vaudreuil-Dorion	Concordia
Samuel Polan	Football	1000 $	Montréal	Sherbrooke