An Academic All‑Canadian high

Basketball player Alex Legge is one of 80 student athletes at Dalhousie who have earned Academic All-Canadian status for excellence in sports and academics. (Nick Pearce Photo)

Dalhousie is home to more Academic all-Canadians than any other university in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) with 80 student-athletes earning the recognition.

Recently Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) named the Desjardins Top 8 Academic All-Canadians, and for the fourth consecutive year, a Dalhousie student-athlete received this honour.

Niklas Rademacher graduated from Dalhousie’s management program last spring and was a 6’10” left side hitter for the men’s volleyball program. He was on the Dean’s List and an Academic All-Canadian each of his four years and received many awards during his time here. Among them: AUS player of the year, first-team CIS All-Canadian (three times), and winner of the Dale Iwanoczko Award as the most outstanding student-athlete in CIS men’s volleyball. Now he caps off his university experience by adding Desjardins top 8 Academic All-Canadian honours to his list of accomplishments.

To qualify as an Academic All-Canadian, a student-athlete must maintain a grade point average (GPA) of 80 per cent or better over the academic year while competing in a varsity sport. Only one male and one female student-athlete from each of four regional conferences are selected as a Desjardins Top 8 Academic All-Canadian.

There are so many interesting individuals that make up this accomplished group of Dalhousie student-athletes. Among those who have returned to Dal to compete for another year is stand-out Alex Legge, a member of the women’s basketball team and in her third year at Dalhousie, studying neuroscience. In 2007-08, Ms. Legge achieved 4.24 GPA in the fall term and a 4.30 GPA in the winter term. She hopes to continue on to medical school once she completes her undergraduate studies.

A native of Mahone Bay, N.S., Ms. Legge chose to come to Dalhousie because of its strong academic and athletic reputation. She has not regretted her decision: “So far my experience at Dalhousie has been amazing. I love the academic program I’ve chosen and I truly enjoy my classes. My first two seasons of basketball have been great too. I couldn’t ask for better teammates. It’s a lot of hard work, but we’re all in it together working towards a common goal.”

Ms Legge has been a starter for her team since she came to Dalhousie. This, combined with her academic performance, is proof that she is a motivated young woman.

“My parents are both really hard workers and their success in life is truly self-made. That’s where I get my determination and work ethic from. They have been my inspiration and they are extremely supportive of my goals.

“At the same time they have never pressured me to succeed—I am truly self-motivated and all my goals are ones I have set for myself. I’ve always been a goal setter and right now as far as basketball goes I’m really focused on the AUS championship at the end of this year. Personally, my major goal right now is medical school, which I’ll start applying for next year.”

Although she recently suffered a knee injury that has taken her out of the line-up, she’s contributing to the team’s success from the sidelines.

“Alex is a great basketball player who has a high basketball IQ. She knows every position's job for every play we run,” says Carolyn Savoy, head coach of women’s basketball. “She has a critical eye … she is always assisting her teammates with information to help them perform better. Her information is always succinct and accurate.”

The women’s basketball team is entering the regular season ranked fifth in the country and that makes Ms. Legge even more eager to return to play: “We have it all this year—size, quickness, depth, experience. There’s no excuse for us not to win an AUS banner in my opinion. I think we could be a real contender at the CIS championship as well.”

Karen Moore, acting director of Dalhousie University’s Department of Athletics and Recreational Services, is impressed by the accomplishments of all 80 standout individuals.

“We are very proud of our Academic All-Canadians at Dalhousie. They are model students who commit hour upon hour to their sport while also excelling in the classroom,” she says. “To have 30 per cent of our athletes achieve this honour is quite an accomplishment and we thank them for the sacrifices they have made in order to achieve excellence in both athletics and academics.”

Dalhousie's Academic All-Canadians