McDonald named U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian for 2022-23 season

OTTAWA – Today, U SPORTS celebrates the eight best and brightest university student-athletes from across Canada Wednesday night, unveiling the student-athletes selected as Top 8 Academic All-Canadians for the 2022-23 season.

In the 30^th anniversary of the event, Acadia University’s Haley McDonald (Port Williams, N.S.), Aidan Goslett (Toronto, Ont.) of Dalhousie University, Emmy Fecteau (St-Odilon, Que.) from Concordia University, Yoan David (Sherbrooke, Que.) of the University of Sherbrooke, Queen’s University’s Ashton Miller-Melancon (Dorval, Que.), University of Waterloo’s Hannah Blair  (Waterloo, Ont.), Jordan Canham  (Avonmore, Ont.) of the University of Alberta and Madisson Lawrence (Winnipeg, Man.) of the University of Manitoba were honoured for their academic and sporting excellence.

“Haley is an exceptional person to be honoured as a Governor General medal winner. She is the most remarkable student-athlete I have coached in my time as a coach at this level,” said Acadia women’s basketball head coach Len Harvey. “She was one of the main leaders in our locker room, an exceptional athlete, an inquisitive student, a community ambassador, and a dedicated volunteer. Accomplishing this level of excellence shows that she manages multiple tasks, thrives in a team environment, as well as balance her time and energy exceptionally well. Her performance in all facets is a direct result of her hard work, determination and intrinsic abilities. Haley was a force of nature and an incredible role model during her time as a student-athlete at Acadia.” 

The eight honorees were selected from the 4,900 student-athletes who achieved U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian status in the 2022-23 season.

U SPORTS student-athletes achieve Academic All-Canadian status for maintaining an average of 80 percent or better over the academic year while competing for one – or more – of their university’s teams that participate within U SPORTS.

In recognition of their achievements, a ceremony will be held in Ottawa later on January 31 to present the student-athletes with the Governor General’s Medal for Academic Excellence. They will be honoured Thursday in a reception on Parliament Hill hosted by The Honourable Greg Fergus, P.C., M.P, Speaker of the House of Commons.

“I could talk about her lengthy list of accomplishments, but the most impressive part about Haley is who she is as a person and the role model she is for so many young boys and girls in our community,” said Acadia director of athletics Brian Finniss. “That is what I am going to remember the most about Haley long after her time playing at Acadia is over.” 

In her fifth and final season of U SPORTS eligibility, McDonald capped her remarkable career by winning the Atlantic University Sport women’s basketball most valuable player award and being named first-team U SPORTS All-Canadian for her excellence on the court while maintaining a 4.08 grade point average as she completed her master's degree in Sociology.

She earned the James Bayer Memorial Scholarship Award from the AUS while finishing her career as Acadia’s all-time leading scorer with 1,846 points. In addition to her academic and athletic prowess, McDonald is the founder and director of Lights Out Elite Skills—a basketball skills camp system for girls grades 4 to 12 and co-hosts the Maritime Women's Basketball Association (MWBA) podcast promoting women in sport.

She was previously named a U SPORTS second team all-Canadian twice, in 2019-20 and 2018-19.

McDonald holds the conference's all-time record for points scored in a single game—having scored 51 points in a March 2, 2019 AUS championship semifinal game versus UPEI. The Axewomen went on to capture their second-straight conference title that season.

Past U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian nominees from Acadia:

2015-16: Geoff Schemitsch – Hockey

2014-15: Katie Ross – Soccer

2013-14: Michelle Pryde – Soccer

2012-13: Travis Gibbons – Hockey

2007-08: Justine McMillan – Cross Country

1998-99: Jan Trojanowski – Basketball

1994-95: Jill Lawless – Volleyball