CALGARY – Andrew Buckley capped off his Canadian Interuniversity Sport career Monday night by adding the only individual award missing from his collection.

The fifth-year University of Calgary Dinos quarterback won the BLG Award as the top male athlete in CIS for 2015-16 at the Martha Cohen Theatre at Calgary's Arts Commons, receiving the Doug Mitchell Trophy along with a $10,000 scholarship. Kylie Masse, a swimmer from the University of Toronto, received the Jim Thompson Trophy as the female BLG Award winner.

The BLG Award is the eighth in the University of Calgary's history, doubling the next closest schools' totals – McGill, UBC, McMaster, and Toronto have four apiece – since the inaugural honours in 1993. Buckley joins a constellation of Dinos stars to have received the prestigious honour, including volleyballer Andy Cameron (1993), football star Don Blair (1996), Olympic medal-winning swimmer Curtis Myden (1997), basketball standout Leighann Doan (2001), volleyball sensation Joanna Niemczewska (2004), track and field record-breaker Jessica Zelinka (2007), and two-time Hec Crighton-winning quarterback Erik Glavic (2010).

READ MORE: DINOS AT THE BLG AWARDS

"On behalf of BLG and the Canadian Athletic Foundation trustees, I would like to congratulate Kylie Masse and Andrew Buckley, the winners of the 24th annual BLG Awards," said Doug Mitchell, national co-chair of BLG. "The eight student-athletes who were nominated are all outstanding in their sport. I congratulate all the nominees for their great accomplishments."

Buckley, who was nominated for the second straight year as Canada West's best, beat out hockey players Guillaume Asselin (UQTR) and Jordan Murray (UNB), along with McMaster volleyball's Stephen Maar.

To say that Andrew Buckley has had an exceptional past two years might be the biggest understatement... in CIS history. Simply put, he might run out of room in his trophy case now that he has added a BLG Award to his collection.
 
Back in the fall of 2014, the dual-threat quarterback became the first player in CIS football annals to claim both the Hec Crighton Trophy (player of the year) and the Russ Jackson Award (football, academics and citizenship) in the same season. It marked his second straight Russ Jackson Award win.
 
Cue 2015. A few months before his fifth and final campaign with the Dinos, Buckley earned his first BLG Award nomination and, a few days later, was selected by Calgary in the CFL draft and went on to play in two pre-season games for his hometown Stampeders. Back with the Dinos in the fall, he captured his second Hec Crighton Trophy and was named a Top 8 Academic All-Canadian, becoming the first CIS student-athlete to merit both honours in the same year.  
 
Did we mention he is also the reigning two-time Calgary Booster Club – City of Calgary male athlete of the year?
 
Buckley made sure his 2015 farewell tour as a Dino was a memorable one. While guiding his troops to an 8-0 regular schedule, he set a CIS single-season record for passing yards (3,162), established a new Canada West standard for completion percentage (72.0) and kept the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the country (19-1). The offence he directed set school records in points (471 – also a conference record), touchdowns, passing yards and total yards.
 
An exceptional kinesiology student whose community involvement ranges from helping the homeless in downtown Calgary to a humanitarian trip to Guatemala, Buckley will graduate this spring as a five-time Academic All-Canadian and has his short-term sights set on his second training camp with the Stampeders.
 
"My goal for as long as I can remember is to become a doctor like my parents. I am pursuing medical school following the completion of my undergraduate degree," says the 22-year-old. "That being said, I have the opportunity to play for my hometown Stampeders this summer. It's going to be a very difficult choice if I have to pick, but right now my heart is leaning towards playing professional football for as long as I can and completing medical school after my playing days are done."
 
"Andrew is an outstanding student-athlete who strives for excellence in all that he does," says Dinos head coach Wayne Harris Jr. "On and off the field, he is a team player who approached all challenges with a determined and positive attitude. He has earned the respect of all those who have been associated with him, and he has represented Dinos Football and the University of Calgary exceptionally well."

All eight nominees – one female and one male from each of the four CIS regional associations - received a commemorative gold ring from Jostens and a watch from Timex, the official suppliers of CIS. Masse and Buckley were also presented with a trophy and a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Canadian University graduate school.
 
The winners were once again selected by the Canadian Athletic Foundation, a not-for-profit Board established for the purpose of administering the BLG Awards and protecting the integrity of the selection process. For the second straight year, the general public was also invited to vote online (votes that didn't count towards the official result) and a remarkable 112,499 votes were cast over a two-week period.

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