McMaster’s Nelles named ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS athlete of the week

OTTAWA (CIS) – Cindy Nelles, a rugby player from McMaster University, and Michael Cox, a soccer player from York University, are the ArcelorMittal Dofasco CIS female and male athletes of the week for the period ending Nov. 8, 2015.

Nelles, a fourth-year civil engineering student from Belleville, Ont., was named most valuable player of the CIS championship after she helped the Marauders capture the first Monilex Trophy in program history in Kingston. Announced as the CIS player of the year prior to the national tournament, the number eight lived up to the hype on the biggest stage as she scored four tries in three games to lead McMaster to a 62-14 quarter-final win over Lethbridge, a 14-8 semifinal victory against Ottawa and a 27-3 gold-medal triumph over host Queen's. Nelles was voted player of the match following the Marauders' opener.

Soccer players Tamara Brown of Cape Breton, Laurie Couture-Dallaire of Laval and Samantha Chang-Foidl of Calgary were also nominated for the women's award.

Cox, a fourth-year finance and business economics student from Calgary in his first season with the Lions, scored back-to-back winning goals at the OUA Final Four to help York repeat as conference champion. The 6-foot-2 striker tallied the lone goal in the 21st minute of extra time in a semifinal victory over crosstown Toronto on Saturday, and was the hero once again on Sunday when he headed a cross into the net in the 89th minute to give the Lions a 2-1 gold-medal win against McMaster. York will have home-field advantage this week as it looks to successfully defend its CIS title (Nov. 12-15).

UNB soccer player Oliver Jones, UQAM soccer player Armel Dagrou and Regina basketball player Jonathan Tull were the other male nominees.

Female nominees:
AUS: Tamara Brown, soccer, Cape Breton
RSEQ: Laurie Couture-Dallaire, soccer, Laval
OUA: Cindy Nelles, rugby, McMaster (recipient)
CWUAA: Samantha Chang-Foidl, soccer, Calgary

Male nominees:
AUS: Oliver Jones, soccer, UNB
RSEQ: Armel Dagrou, soccer, UQAM
OUA: Michael Cox, soccer, York (recipient)
CWUAA: Jonathan Tull, basketball, Regina

Source: CIS