Laval sprinter Audrey Leduc, Montreal QB Jonathan Sénécal named U Sports Athletes of the Year
Sprinter Audrey Leduc has Paris in her sights and football player Jonathan Sénécal wants to follow other Canadian quarterbacks into pro football.
The University of Laval's Leduc and University of Montreal's Sénécal were named Canada's U Sports athletes of the year Monday.
They were chosen from eight nominees, four of each gender, from each of the four university conferences.
In addition to leading the Carabins to a 2023 Vanier Cup title, Sénécal was named MVP of that game and earned the Hec Crighton Trophy as the top football player in Canadian university sport.
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The 24-year-old from Mirabel, Que., was just the second player to claim all three football trophies after Calgary's Don Blair in 1995.
"What I'm most proud of is our Vanier Cup championship this year," Sénécal said. "It's been a while since the Carabins had a Vanier Cup win. I think the last one was in 2014."
The third-year student in business administration has two years of U Sports eligibility remaining, and is eligible for the CFL draft in 2025.
"There's some Canadian quarterbacks that are paving the way, Tre Ford, Nathan Rourke, Michael O'Connor are the quarterbacks that are making a statement," Sénécal said.
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Leduc was the fastest Canadian woman in the 60 metres and went unbeaten in that distance en route to a national U Sports title in March.
The 25-year-old from Gatineau, Que., went on to set Canadian records and reach Olympic qualifying standards in both the women's 100 and 200 metres in the last two months.
"Starting this indoor season with my Quebec record at the 60 metres, to do a tenth of a second PB and just continuing that