FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017 Winter : U Sports International announces snow sports rosters

December 22, 2016

TORONTO (U SPORTS) – U Sports international announced the rosters XXX for the in three snow sports including , , and , to go along with the cross country skiing team that was previously announced in August. In total, 37 athletes were named to Team for the 28th Winter Universiade,that will be held from January 29 – February 8 in Almaty, .

The Canadian cross country skiing team will compete for the first time since the 2013 Universiade.

The snowboard team consists of a brand new squad of athletes representing Canada, as Coach Patrik Gaudet is the only returning member from the 2015 team.

Canada will be represented by Mackenzie Hamilton (Carlisle, Ont.) from McGill University, sisters Emma Van Groningen (Cambridge, Ont.) and Abby Van Groningen (Cambridge, Ont.) from the University of Guelph, Jennifer Hawkrigg (Toronto, Ont.) from Ryerson University, and Will Malisch (Thornhill, Ont.) from the University of Waterloo, who have represented Canada at the FIS Junior World Championships.

Austin White (Oyama, BC) from UBC, and Andrew Hildebrand (Toronto, Ont.) from Western University will round out the team.

In alpine skiing, 12 athletes were named, including four returning athletes from the 2015 squad.

Simon-Claude Toutant (Montreal, Que.) from Laval University, Vincent Lajoie (Sherbrooke, Que.) and William Schuessler Bedard (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.) from the University of Montreal, along with Philippe Rivet (Greenfield Park, Que.) of the University of New Hampshire, are all back after competing for Team Canada in Granada, two years ago.

Toutant finished 22nd in the slalom race, while Rivet came 24th in the giant slalom event at the 2015 Winter Universiade.

Joining them in Almaty are Adrienne Poitras (Montreal, Que.), Sandrine David (Montreal, Que.) Gabriel Mains (Hong Kong, ) from the University of Montreal, teammates Marie Desrosiers (Repentigny, Que.) and Justin Beaurivage (Victoriaville, Que.) from the Polytechnique School of Montreal, Frederique Nolin (Levis, Que.) and William Mercier Robin (Quebec City, Que.) from Laval University, and Hannah Schmidt (Ottawa, Ont.) of Carleton University.

The team is led by Ève Routhier (Sherbrooke, Que.) and head coach, Michel Huot.

In biathlon, six athletes were named, among them three returnees from Granada 2015 including Jessica Paterson (St. Albert, Alta.) and Sasha Eccleston (Hinton, Alta.), of the University of Alberta and Reagan Mills (Truro, N.S) from UPEI.

Paterson’s best race was in the 15-Km individual competition, finishing 39th overall. Mills’ top finish in 2015 was the 12.5-Km pursuit, where he finished 48th, while Eccleston’s highest finish was 52nd in the 20-Km individual race.

Rounding out the biathlon team are Seamus Boyd-Porter (St. John’s, N.L.) of Memorial University, Eveline Juce (Hamiota, Man.), and Taij Mann (Edmonton, Alta.) from MacEwan University.

The biathlon team will be led once again by Lowell Niven (Camrose, Alta.) from the University of Alberta, who served as team leader at the 2015 FISU Games, and was also on staff as a technician in 2013.

The Canadian rosters in the U Sports championship offerings of men’s and women’s hockey and for the 2017 Winter Universiade will be announced in the new year.

Cross Country Skiing

Name Hometown School Jordan Cascagnett Pentetanguishene, Ont. Nipissing University Emma Camicioli Edmonton Alta. University of Calgary Shelby Dickey Collingwood, Ont. Nipissing William Dumas Gatineau, Que. University of Laval Gabrielle Lemire Quebec City, Que. University of Laval Alexis Morin Victoriaville, Que. University of Laval Christel Pichard-Jolicoeur Saint- Ferréol-les-Neiges, University of Laval Que. Carrington Pomeroy Chelsea , Que. Carleton University Gavin Shields Thunder Bay, Ont. Lakehead University Andree-Anne Theberge Levis, Que. University of Laval Connor Thompson Montreal, Que. University of Laval Kyla Vanderzwet Port Elgin, Ont. Western University

Snowboarding Name Hometown School Mackenzie Hamilton Carlisle, Ont McGill University Emma Van Groningen Cambridge, Ont. University of Guelph Abby Van Groningen Cambridge, Ont. University of Guelph Jennifer Hawkrigg Toronto, Ont Ryerson University Will Malisch Thornhill, Ont. University of Waterloo Austin White Oyama, BC University of British Columbia Andrew Hildebrand Toronto, Ont Western University

Alpine Skiing

Name Hometown School Adrienne Poitras Montreal, Que. University of Montreal Marie Desrosiers Repentigny, Que. Polytechnique School of Montreal Frederique Nolin Levis, Que. University of Laval Sandrine David Montreal, Que. University of Montreal Hannah Schmidt Ottawa, Ont. Carleton University Vincent Lajoie Sherbrooke, Que. University of Montreal Justin Beaurivage Victoriaville, Que. Polytechnique School of Montreal Simon-Claude Toutant Montreal, Que. Laval University Philippe Rivet Greenfield Park, Que. University of New Hampshire William Schuessler Bedard Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC University of Montreal Gabriel Mains Hong Kong, China University of Montreal William Mercier Robin Quebec, Que. Laval University

Biathlon

Name Hometown School Jessica Paterson St. Albert, Alta. University of Alberta Sasha Eccleston Hinton, Alta. University of Alberta Reagan Mills Truro, N.S. University of Prince Edward Island Seamus Boyd-Porter St-John, N.L. Memorial University Evaline Juce Hamiota, Man. University of Alberta Taij Mann Edmonton, Alta. MacEwan University

About the

The Universiade is an international multi-sport competition that takes place every two years. The event, which is second only to the Olympics in number of participating athletes and countries, is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the games.

The 2017 Summer Universiade will feature 14 compulsory sports and seven optional sports. Compulsory sports: athletics, basketball, fencing, football (soccer), artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, diving, water polo, tennis, volleyball, judo, table tennis and taekwondo. Optional sports: archery, badminton, baseball, golf, roller sports, weightlifting and wushu.

Official website: http://www.taipei2017.com.tw/

About U Sports

U Sports is the national brand for University Sports in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student- athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. U Sports also provides higher performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer , as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit usports.ca or follow us on:

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For more information, please contact:

Michel Bélanger Team Canada Communications Manager Email: [email protected] Local cell in Almaty: +77476192403

Ken Saint-Eloy U SPORTS Manager, Communcations Email: [email protected] Cell: 647-871-7595