Soccer player Jovan Blagojevic was named the male athlete of the year at the Simon Fraser University awards banquet at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown on April 1.
The current Whitecaps FC2 striker also recieved the Lorne Davies Senior Award.
Blagojevic completed a superb senior season with the Clan in 2014, and was unanimously selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's and West Region's player of the year, and was named to the 2014 men's soccer All-America second team.
The Coquitlam native registered 18 goals in 18 games, including a conference-leading seven game-winning goals. He was seventh in NCAA in goal scoring. Blagojevic's 18 goals were the 11th best single-season goal-scoring total in Clan history.
Following the season, Blagojevic was selected in the third round of the MLS Draft by Vancouver Whitecaps FC. He is currently playing for WFC2.
Blagojevic also received the Lorne Davies Senior Award, given to a graduating senior who excels in competition, in the classroom and in the community. The award is named in honour of the Clan's founding athletic director, who passed away in February.
Blagojevic carried a 3.0 grade-point average and volunteered as a youth coach and in hospitals. He has aspirations of becoming a doctor once his professional soccer career is over.
Blagojevic was selected from among six finalists for male athlete of the year.
Jordan Herdman, a sophomore on the football team, set a Great Northwest single-game and season records for tackles, breaking the conference season record by 37.
The native of Winnipeg finished second in the NCAA in tackles, was the conference defensive player of year and an All-American honourable mention.
Oliver Jorgensen, a sophomore from Abbotsford, became the first SFU athlete to qualify for three different national championships in the same year – outdoor track, indoor track, and cross-country. Jorgensen was a Great Northwest champion in the 3,000-metre steeplechase and achieved a world junior standard.
Clan basketball player Sango Niang finished 13th in NCAA scoring, averaging 22.6 point per game, and scored 46 points at Central Washington – one point more than Jay Triano scored in his best game at SFU – and one point short of the university record. The native of Paris, France scored 20-plus points in a game 14 times and was voted to the all-conference second team.
Freshman Adrian VanderHelm was SFU's first All-American in swimming, finishing second in the 100-yard freestyle and eighth in the 200 freestyle at the recent national championships. The Barrie, Ont., native set four SFU all-time championship records and five dual meet records during the season.
