2 students named to U Sports All-Canadian teams

Photo credit for Marc Liegghio (right) by Mike Hensen, The London Free Press. Photo for Jean-Gabriel Poulin from www.stathblog.com.

The 2017 U Sports football all-stars were announced Thursday, November 23, 2017 during the All-Canadian Awards Gala held at the Hamilton Convention Centre.

A total of 4 Mustangs were selected as all-stars this year, two of which are King’s students. Jean-Gabriel Poulin earned a spot on the First Team and and Marc Liegghio was named to the Second Team.

Majoring in Criminology with a minor in Sociology, fourth-year Poulin joins the national dream team. Poulin is a key member of the Mustangs defensive unit that allowed only 13.1 points per game during the regular season, second fewest among all U Sports teams. The linebacker led the Mustangs with 37 tackles and 2.5 sacks in eight regular season games.

Liegghio’s 2017 season was one to remember as he established a Western record with 29 field goals in eight regular season contests. As remarkable as that feat was, perhaps more impressive was his consistency, as the kicker connected on 22 consecutive field goals, completing the Mustangs final five regular season games without a miss. Overall, the Woodbridge, Ont., native was second in the country with 29 total field goals, and first in scoring with 125 points, just five shy of the Western single season record of 130 established by Lirim Hajrullahu in 2013. 

The Gala officially kicked off the Vanier Cup festivities, which culminated on Saturday when Western Mustangs defeated the Laval Rouge et Or for Canadian university football supremacy. Congratulations to the whole team and a special shout-out to the 45 King’s student-athletes on the squad.

Well done Marc and Jean-Gabriel. King’s is proud of your effort and your achievements.