Simon Fraser University Clan student athletes Erin Chambers and Lindsey Butterworth were co-winners of the Clan’s female athlete of the year.
Chambers, a senior forward on the women’s basketball team, and Butterworth, a senior middle distance runner in the track and field, were selected from among four finalists for the award at the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown Friday at the annual Clan Athletic Awards Banquet.
Chambers finished third in NCAA scoring, averaging 23 points per game and was selected the Great Northwest player of the year after leading the Clan to a 15-13 record. She scored 41 points against St. Martin's University, the third-highest total in SFU history. Chambers was a first team all-region and an All-American honourable mention.
Butterworth completed a brilliant 2015 season and indoor career, winning the women's 800-meter title in the NCAA national meet and anchoring SFU's second-place distance medley relay team that set a Great Northwest conference record, earning her All-American first team honours. Butterworth had the season-best time in NCAA Division II in both the 800 (2:06.56) and mile (4:44.80), and was named the conference’s outstanding performer this year.
Butterworth 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. Butterworth, who carries a 3.0 grade point average, is passionate and dedicated to SFU. She served as a learning coach for Clan athletics, worked with event staff at Clan home games and was a youth coach at SFU summer camps
The other two female finalists for athlete of the year were cross country/track and field runner, Rebecca Bassett, and wrestler Bailley Halvorson.
Bassett, a sophomore from Nanaimo, competed in the mile and 3,000 metres, earning second- and third-place finishes, respectively, in the events at the 2015 conference indoor championships. She also ran on the second-place DMR relay and was a first and second Team All-American at nationals. Bassett helped both the cross-country and indoor track teams to seventh-place finishes at nationals, their highest placing ever.
Bailley Halvorson, a graduate student from Thunder Bay, Ont., registered a 30-3 record on the mat this season and won a bronze medal at the national championships, earning All-American honours for a third time.
