The UNBC Timberwolves athletic brass rewarded their student athletes on Sunday during the year-end awards banquet from the Hart Crown Hall.
The night began with Prince George native Tyrell Laing who took home Male Rookie of the Year after averaging 5 points per game and setting a school rookie scoring record with 90.
Mara McCleary followed that up by being selected as the Female Rookie of the Year playing in every minute of action for the Timberwolves women’s soccer team this past season.
The Victoria product also led the varsity squad and the entire Canada West in tackles in just her first season.
The Timberwolves men’s soccer program would take home the two biggest prizes of the evening recognizing fourth-year player Tofa Fakunle as the Male Athlete of the Year followed by his good friend Francesco Bartolillo who became the first winner of the KJM Sales Award.
VIDEO: The new KJM Sales Timberwolf Award will honour the TWolf who excels in athletics, the class, and community. https://t.co/KcEyy8y0ph
— UNBC Athletics (@UNBCATHLETICS) April 6, 2017
The honour is given to the athlete who exemplifies excellence in the classroom, athletics and community.
MYPGNOW caught up with Fakunle after the banquet who couldn’t have been more pleased of winning the same award Bartolillo did a year earlier. 
“I am extremely grateful to all my teammates and my coaching staff who have helped me to become a better player and leader this year as I struggled with that a little last season. Fran is one of my best friends, he pushes everyone to be the best and I am lucky to have him as a teammate, but it’s not just Fran it is every single one of them who push me to be the best and set a good standard.”
Bartolillo echoed his friend and teammates kind words. “It’s exciting to have Tofa win that award the year after me, he is the reason I came up to Prince George so for him to win it is great.” 
Better days are ahead for the men’s soccer program who finished just out of a playoff spot with a 4-10-2 record.
“The growth of our team has been unbelievable and the team chemistry has been really improved, we come into practice during the offseason and we work hard day in and day out constantly battling with one another but lifting each other up.”
Vasiliki Louka’s monster season for the UNBC Women’s basketball team earned her Female Athlete of the Year honours.
The Athens, Greece native cracked the top 10 in Canada West Scoring this year with just under 16 points per game while racking up an average of 33 minutes of time on the court.
Louka says her commitment to conditioning helped lead her to such a quantum leap. “It’s a big honour for me to get this award but this would not have happened without the support of my coaches and teammates through this year. I practiced more throughout the summer and spent more time in the gym and I think that was the biggest difference for me.”
Here is a full list of the team awards for UNBC.
Women’s Soccer:
MVP – Tianna Pius
Top Offensive Player – Tianna Pius
Top Defensive Player – Mara McCleary
Green and Gold Award – Lianna Toopitsin
Men’s Soccer:
Golden Boot – Tofa Fakunle & Francesco Bartolillo
Defensive Player – Gordon Hall
MVP – Tofa Fakunle
Coach’s Award – Francesco Bartolillo
Women’s Basketball:
MVP –Â Vasiliki Louka
Best D –Â Maria Mongomo
Rookie of the Year – Madison Landry
Most Improved – Stacey Graham
Most Inspirational – Preety Nijjar
Men’s Basketball:
Rookie of the Year – Tyrell Laing
Best Defensive Player – Austin Chandler
Most Outstanding – Rhys Elliott
Zane Robison Award – Marcus MacKay
Most Inspirational – Volodymyr Pluzhnikov