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Sarah Wierks of the University of the Fraser Valley women\u2019s basketball team was named a second team All-Canadian at the CIS awards banquet on Wednesday evening in Quebec City.\nIt was a historic achievement for the Chilliwack native \u2013 she became the first UFV basketball player to be recognized as a CIS All-Canadian, and she\u2019s the second Cascade across all sports to earn the distinction. Spencer Schmidt, a striker with the men\u2019s soccer team, was a first team All-Canadian back in 2007.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous honour for her to receive that, and it\u2019s a great way for her to wrap up her career,\u201d said Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer. \u201cShe\u2019s very deserving, and it\u2019s been an honour to have her in our program for five years. She\u2019s been a big part of elevating our program to a new level in CIS women\u2019s basketball.\u201d
\nWierks, a 6\u20192\u201d fifth-year centre out of Chilliwack Secondary, authored a fantastic senior campaign \u2013 not only did she lead Canada West in scoring at 19.2 points per game (good for fourth in the nation), she also put together the greatest rebounding season in conference history.
\nWierks set single-season conference records for total rebounds (307) and rebounding average (15.4), and tied the record for double-doubles with 18 in 20 games. She also established single-game marks for offensive rebounds (12), defensive rebounds (20) and total rebounds (31). She led the nation in rebounding by a huge margin, finishing 4.1 boards per game ahead of her nearest competitor.
\nTo top it off, she also ranked second in blocks (2.2 per game) and 11th in steals (2.0 per game, a remarkable number for a centre) in Canada West this season.
\nWierks wraps up her career in second place on the Canada West all-time rebounding list with 1,049 boards, and she\u2019s mentioned 35 other times in the conference record book. She\u2019s also rewritten the UFV team record book \u2013 she has 106 mentions on Tuchscherer\u2019s spreadsheets of career, season, single-game and rookie top-10 marks, including 30 records that she holds sole possession of.
\nFor Wierks, the trip to Quebec City for the CIS national banquet is a fitting bookend to her career \u2013 she also traveled there after her rookie season (2010-11) to collect a CIS all-rookie team award.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s definitely nice to finish off my career on a high note after the way our season ended,\u201d Wierks said, alluding to her team\u2019s elimination from the Canada West playoffs at the hands of the Regina Cougars last month. \u201cIt gives me something to look back on when I\u2019m older and be proud of.\u201d
\nThat said, Wierks noted that individual awards pale in comparison to what she\u2019ll treasure most as she reflects on her Cascades career \u2013 the memories she\u2019s made with her teammates and coaches over the years.
\n\u201cI really enjoyed my season, and I want to praise my teammates,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done this without their help.\u201d<\/p>\n