BURNABY, B.C. – Three Simon Fraser athletes have been honoured with Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor track and field special awards.

Middle-distance star Alison Andrews-Paul (Ohope Beach, New Zealand) has been named the women's Athlete of the Year, the same award she earned for indoor track earlier this year. Sprinter Marie-Éloïse Leclair (Candiac, Que.) is the GNAC's Freshman of the Year on the women's side, while Charlie Dannatt (North Vancouver, B.C.) is conference's men's NewcomMarie-Éloïse Leclairer of the Year.

Andrews-Paul established herself as one of the top 800-meter runners in Division II history. She set the Division II record in the event with her time of 2:01.43 at the Bryan Clay Invitational, bettering the previous record by nearly a second. The time also ranks as one of the top times ever by a New Zealand national. She won both the 800 and 1,500 meters at the GNAC Championships and ran a leg on SFU's winning 4x400-meter relay team.
 

Andrews-Paul finished second in the 800 meters at the Division II Championships in a time of 2:07.24. She also had provisional qualifying marks in the 400 meters and 1,500 meters. Her season-best of 4:21.79 in the 1,500 meters was fifth in Division II and No. 4 on the GNAC all-time list while her time of 54.07 seconds in the 400 meters was No. 5 in Division II this season.

She joins fellow middle-distance legends Helen Crofts (tied - 2011) and Lindsey Butterworth (2015) as SFU winners of the GNAC Athlete of the Year in women's outdoor track. Butterworth was also the conference's top women's indoor athlete in 2015.
 

Dannatt transferred to Simon Fraser from British Columbia in 2019 and did not compete in the last two outdoor seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once he reached the outdoor oval, though, he made the most of it. Dannatt placed third in the 1,500 meters at the Division II Championships in 3:47.24, earning All-American honors. He also qualified for nationals in the 800 meters, placing 18th. At the GNAC Championships, Dannatt won the title in the 1,500 meters and placed fourth in the 800 meters.

Dannatt's season-best of 3:42.01 in the 1,500 meters ranks No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list and his best of 1:49.52 in the 800 meters ranks No. 7 on the GNAC all-time list. He is the first GNAC men's Newcomer of the Year in SFU history.
 

Leclair was named the GNAC Championships Female Athlete of the Meet after she won both the 100 meters and 200 meters in meet-record times. Her winning time of 23.88 seconds eclipsed the conference all-time record of 23.99 seconds set by NyEma Sims of Seattle Pacific in 2007. In her four individual races in the meet, Leclair set conference records three times. At the Division II Championships, Leclair placed 13th in the 200 meters, 14th in the 100 meters and was part of the SFU 4x400-meter relay team that placed eighth and set the GNAC and SFU record with a time of 3:41.17.

Leclair the first SFU woman to win the GNAC outdoor track Freshman of the Year award.
 
2022 GNAC OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SPECIAL AWARDS

MEN
Athlete of the Year: Joshua Wagner, Alaska Anchorage
Newcomer of the Year: Charlie Dannatt, Simon Fraser
Freshman of the Year: Steven Schmidt, Northwest Nazarene
Coach of the Year: Pee Wee Halsell, Western Washington

WOMEN
Athlete of the Year: Alison Andrews-Paul, Simon Fraser
Newcomer of the Year: Abbey Wood, Northwest Nazarene
Freshman of the Year: Marie-Éloïse Leclair, Simon Fraser
Coach of the Year: Octavious Gillespie-Bennett, Western Oregon
 
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