Lattanzio and Gillanders named All-Canadians

Two members of the Gee-Gees football team were honoured in Quebec City Thursday night as part of the Sun Life All-Canadian Banquet, presented by Mallette in the lead up to Saturday's TELUS Vanier Cup Championship.

Third-year defensive lineman Ettore Lattanzio was the Ontario nominee for the J.P. Metras Award for the nation's most Outstanding Lineman. Although the award went to McGill's Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Lattanzio did earn recognition as a first team All-Canadian.

Also being named to the All-Canadian team was running back Brendan Gillanders. The fifth-year Gee-Gee capped off his career with a spot on the second team thanks to his outstanding season mixing rushing and receiving skills. The CFL prospect led OUA running backs with an average of 132.6 all-purpose yards per game, all of them coming from the line of scrimmage.

The awards were the first All-Canadian honours for both players. In total, the University of Ottawa football program has had 86 All-Canadians, dating back to 1970. That includes 24 members of the second team.

For a full list of 2013 CIS Football Awards, view the CIS announcement.

The gala was held at Hilton Quebec Hotel as part of the TELUS Vanier Cup celebrations. Laval and Calgary face off in the 49th CIS championship final Saturday at 1 p.m. EST at TELUS-Université Laval Stadium in Quebec City, live on Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 and Radio-Canada, as well as on the web at www.cis-sic.tv.

Official TELUS Vanier Cup website: www.vaniercup.com