Dinos QB Buckley hauls in Calgary athlete of the year award

CALGARY – Andrew Buckley may need to expand his trophy case.

The fourth-year University of Calgary Dinos quarterback was named the City of Calgary male athlete of the year Wednesday, becoming the first Dinos male athlete since Curtis Myden in 1997 to capture the Scott-Mamini Memorial Trophy. Presented annually by the Calgary Booster Club, the award recognizes excellence in athletics from across the spectrum – and Buckley joins the likes of Olympic champion Mark Tewksbury, Calgary Flames legend Jarome Iginla, and the man who has held the title for the last three years, Calgary Stampeders running back Jon Cornish, with his name engraved on the silver plate.

"It's really an honour, and I'd like to thank the Calgary Booster Club for this incredible accolade," Buckley said at the McMahon Stadium media conference Wednesday afternoon. "Really, though, I have to thank my teammates – none of this would have been possible without them."

Buckley becomes the first Dinos athlete to win the honour since soccer goalkeeper Taryn Swiatek took home the Henry Viney Trophy on the women's side in 2004. The last male athlete at the University of Calgary to be so honoured was swimmer Curtis Myden, who received the Scott-Mamini in 1997 after winning a pair of medals at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics. Buckley joins the likes of Don Blair, Richard Bohne, Tom Ponting, and Karl Tilleman as previous Dinos recipients of the award, which is selected by the local media and the directors of the Calgary Booster Club.

It's another honour for the gaudy resume that the 21-year-old built up in 2014. At the controls of the most potent offence in Canadian university football last season, the 6-foot-1, 201-pound graduate of Rundle College led the Dinos to school records in points, touchdowns, and total offence, leading the nation in all three categories. They became the first team in conference history to break 5,000 yards in total offence, with Buckley tossing for 2,175 yards and 18 touchdowns on 64.3 per cent passing. He also led the nation in rushing yards among quarterbacks with 510, adding 10 TDs along the ground. And perhaps most impressively, he did all that while playing the equivalent of just 6.25 games after the Dinos built up early leads in many of their contests on the season en route to a 6-2 record and the No. 2 national ranking for all but the last two Top 10 polls of the year.

For his efforts, Buckley became the fourth Dino to win the Hec Crighton Trophy as the top player in CIS football, but then he went one better. The kinesiology honours student, a three-time Academic All-Canadian, became the first player in history to win both the Hec Crighton and the Russ Jackson Trophy, which recognizes outstanding achievement in football, academics, and citizenship – for the second year in a row.

Away from the field, Buckley hopes to follow his father's footsteps into a career in orthopedic surgery following graduation. He has been involved in several research studies, including one looking at a new method to reduce stiffness of the elbow joint by testing difference trial doses of a promising drug. The findings of this study were presented in 2014 at the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (Tampa, Fla.) and the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (Montreal).

Andrew has always made it a priority to give back to his school, his community, and other great causes. Andrew volunteers with Alberta Health Services, where he is paired with two elderly Alzheimer's patients, providing companionship for three hours per week as well as relief for full-time caregivers. He embarked on a 10-day humanitarian trip to Guatemala to build efficient wood-burning stoves to replace dangerous open fires within homes.

Buckley was invited to the CFL's combine next weekend in Toronto, where the league's nine teams will put him through the paces ahead of the 2015 CFL Draft to be held in May.

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY

Calgary Booster Club Athlete of the Year Winners

Male – Scott-Mamini Memorial Trophy

2014 – Andrew Buckley, football

1997 – Curtis Myden, swimming

1996 – Don Blair, football

1995 – Richard Bohne, basketball

1993 – Mark Tewksbury, swimming

1992 – Mark Tewksbury, swimming

1990 – Mark Tewksbury, swimming

1985 – Tom Ponting, swimming

1982 – Karl Tilleman, basketball

Female – Henry Viney Trophy

2004 – Taryn Swiatek, soccer

2000 – Leighann Doan, basketball

1994 – Lisa Harvey, track and field

1991 – Jodi Evans, basketball

1990 – Veronica VanderSchee, basketball

-UC-