AWARDS: Record-setting five Gee-Gees named All-Canadians

Alexandra Ondo carries the ball. — Photo : Robin Kasem

November 11, 2021

The Gee-Gees women's rugby team had players named to the All-Canadian team 16 times in its 27-year history coming into the 2021 U SPORTS National Championships. Today, five more joined that total, setting two team records.

All five Gee-Gees who were named RSEQ conference All-Stars were selected to the All-Canadian Teams for 2021: Alexandra Ondo and Maya Montiel are First Team members and Claire Gallagher, Madison Grant, and Anna Dodge were named to the Second Team.

For Ondo it is the fourth straight season as an All-Canadian, making Gee-Gees history. She was already the only Gee-Gees women's rugby player to have been named an All-Canadian three times, and she now becomes just the third Gee-Gee in any team sport to be a four-time All-Canadian.

Ondo led the RSEQ conference in tries scored in the regular season with nine, setting a career high. Ondo was named the RSEQ conference Leadership and Community Engagement Award winner for 2021 and graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences with a BSocSc with a minor in Global Studies in the spring of 2021.

Maya Montiel has been an impressive and steady presence for the Gee-Gees since her rookie campaign in 2017 and she now earns her first career All-Canadian honour. Back wearing number one this season after wearing number three for every game in 2019, Montiel was a 2018 RSEQ All-star and a member of the 2019 U SPORTS National Championship All-Star Team, and represented Canada in 2018.

A pair of former RSEQ Rookies of the Year, Gallagher (2018) and Grant (2019) are also on the All-Canadian team for the first time in their standout Gee-Gees careers. Gallagher led the RSEQ in points scored with 64 points while Grant, who has an extensive national team resume, continued her excellent play offensively and defensively at number eight this season.

Third-year Anna Dodge had another fantastic season for the Gee-Gees in the pack. Always strong in the scrums, the Garnet and Grey have seen the benefits of Dodge's skill for the past three seasons and are proud to see her earn her first RSEQ all-star and All-Canadian honours this year.

Notably, Dodge and Montiel both hail from New Brunswick and played together for the Moncton Black Tide.

The other Gee-Gees to be named an All-Canadian four times from team sports were volleyball player Leslie Irie, from 1984-87, and football player Neil Lumsden, from 1972-75.