Jada Named Investors Group Female Athlete of the Week, Powered by 2XU
BURLINGTON, Ont. – The following athletes have been named Investors Group Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Athletes of the Week, powered by 2XU, for the period ending October 17th, 2017.
Male Athlete of the Week – Phil Vranic (Toronto, Ont.) – 4th Year – Guelph Gryphons
Vranic was a workhorse in the Gryphons' opening weekend of the OUA season -- and he went home with lots of hardware.
The fourth-year Toronto, Ont. native and co-captain of the team was razor sharp at the OUA Sprint Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 14. Vranic captured individual gold in the 50m fly, bronze in the 50m free event, and an additional gold with his teammates in the medley relay. A good day, overall, but Vranic, a Management Economics and Finance student, wasn't done.
On Sunday, Guelph's team traveled to the Badger Invitational and the 6-4 Vranic won another two gold medals in the 400m free and 200m free, to go along with a silver medal in the 100m fly event. He has dominated the 400m free, winning that race at the Brock meet for the fourth consecutive year.
Female Athlete of the Week – Emmanuela Jada (Guelph, Ont.) – 3rd Year – Guelph Gryphons
Jada apparently knows how to make a debut. The third-year wing from Guelph has been nursing a shoulder injury that she picked up last season with the Olympic 7s program. It was a slow road back and Jada saw a bit of action recently against McMaster but in her first full start of the season, an OUA semi-final against her former side the York Lions, she proved unstoppable.
The International Development student and York transfer actually started at outside centre, a new position for her, but it took about seven minutes for the standout player to put a stamp on the match. Jada took a ball wide right and sprinted down the sideline out of the reach of the pursuing York defenders to score the first try of the day, which propelled the Gryphons to a decisive 55-0 win.
She continued to showcase her speed and athleticism with two more tries later in the match, again outrunning the York defence. But Jada also played an important defensive role, continually tackling opponents behind the time gain line and disrupting rucks. In Guelph's biggest match of the season to date, she was the best player on the pitch.