Thunderwolves announce RBC February Athletes of the Month

March 7, 2023

Thunderwolves announce RBC February Athletes of the Month

Thunder Bay, Ontario – Lakehead Athletics is pleased to announce its Thunderwolves RBC Athletes of the Month for February. Honoured this month are: Michael Okafor, Men’s Basketball; Jaime Couvrette, Women’s Volleyball; Tiffany Reynolds, Women’s Basketball; Olivier Pouliot, Men’s Hockey; Leif Buxton, Men’s Track & Field; Aly DaSilva, Women’s Track & Field; Isabel Bedard, Women’s Wrestling; Mateo Anisi, Men’s Wrestling; Erikson Moore, Men’s Nordic Skiing; and Sarah Lutes, Women’s Nordic Skiing.

Tiffany Reynolds, Women’s Basketball, 5th Year Masters of Kinesiology, Toronto, ON

Tiffany Reynolds is the WBB Athlete of the Month for February.  Tiffany led the Thunderwolves to two victories in February.  She shot a remarkable 38.2% and averaged 14.6 pts, 3 assists and 8 rebounds/game. In addition to leading the team offensively, Tiffany continued to play excellent defense for the Thunderwolves. In her second last game of the season, Tiffany scored her 1000th point as a Thunderwolf! This is the second time this season that Tiffany has earned the Athlete of the Month honour for the team.

Michael Okafor, Men’s Basketball, 5th Year Psychology, Toronto, ON

The men’s basketball Athlete of the Month for February is Michael Okafor. For the season, Michael held averages of 16.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG & 2.4 AST while shooting 44.5% from the field and 29.3% from 3. Michael effectively used his athleticism and skill level to find ways to impact winning for the Wolves throughout the season, but in particular throughout February. This was highlighted by leading the Wolves to a comeback win against TMU where he finished with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists.

Mateo Anisi, Men’s Wrestling, 2nd Year Honours BA Environmental Management, Scarborough, ON 

The men’s wrestling Athlete of the Month is Mateo Anisi. Mateo had a very strong showing at the OUA championships, dominating his way to the finals where he lost a close match to come home with a silver medal. Later in the month, at the U Sports championships he wrestled tough. After a rough match with the eventual winner of the tournament he wrestled through to place 4th. We are extremely happy with the year Mateo had and are excited to see what he can accomplish moving forward.

Isabelle Bedard, Women’s Wrestling, 2nd Year Nursing, Timmins, ON 

Wrestling’s women’s Athlete of the Month is Isabelle Bedard. Isabelle had a strong showing in the second half of the season, capping it off with an OUA Championships performance where she managed to pin the woman who went on to win the silver medal. Isabelle is committed to improving as a wrestler and always comes to practice with the right mindset. We are very excited to see what the next year with these wrestlers will bring.

Erikson Moore, Men’s Nordic Skiing, 1st Year Engineering, Thunder Bay, ON

Men’s nordic Athlete of the Month is Erikson Moore. Erikson is new to our team this year and has made an immediate impact on the results sheet and in contributing to a positive team culture. He led our men’s team to the OUA Championship Banner with individual gold and silver and finished the championship by anchoring our men to relay gold on the final day of competition. As we play host to the national championships in 4 days time, we are looking for more great things from Erikson on the trails and as a leader on our team.

Sarah Lutes, Women’s Nordic Skiing, 3rd Year Applied Life Science, Ottawa, ON

The women’s nordic team Athlete of the Month for February is Sarah Lutes. Sarah is a repeat winner of the athlete of the month honour, having played a key leadership role on our team this year. She finished a great OUA career with personal bests at this year’s championships and has been a beacon of great energy for our program during her time at Lakehead. As she closes out her career as a Thunderwolf, we look for a strong showing from Sarah at the National Championships and continued leadership for our team and program.

Olivier Pouliot, Men’s Hockey, 1st Year Business, Rimouski, QC

Men’s hockey has selected Olivier Pouliot as our Athlete of the Month. Oliver’s month was highlighted by a 3rd period hat-trick in our elimination game of the 2nd round against University of Toronto. Not only did this help the team advance to the conference finals, it also led to Olivier being recognized as the U Sports Men’s Hockey Player of the Week. Olivier averaged a point per game through the month of February and has been a key contributor for our team.

Aly DaSilva, Women’s Track & Field, 2nd Year Psychology, Thunder Bay, ON

The women’s track Athlete of the Month is Aly Dasilva. Aly has been a role model for us all season long — her dedication to the team & commitment to helping others has been admirable. This past month, Aly helped our Lakehead 4x200m & 4x400m relays place 4th in both events. Running hard, Aly helped our team score valuable points in our relays at the OUA Championships. Additionally, this puts her in the record books, along with her teammates as Lakehead University 4x200m Record Holders. 

Leif Buxton, Men’s Track & Field, 2nd Year Applied Life Science, Burnstown, ON

Leif Buxton is our men’s track & field Athlete of the Month. Leif had an amazing Indoor Track & Field season, one many sophomores could only dream of. Leif finished 9th at the OUA Championship in a loaded men’s 3km race, working hard to achieve a lifetime personal best of 8:34s. This was almost 45 seconds better than his performance last year at the OUA Championships as a freshman. Along with Leif’s outstanding performances on the track, he’s been an excellent role model for our younger athletes, showing them what hard work & varsity-level commitment look like. 

Jaime Couvrette, Women’s Volleyball, 2nd Year Concurrent Education, Washago, ON

Our women’s volleyball Athlete of the Month is Jaime Couvrette. Jaime has been a consistent force for us in our team’s middle blocking position this entire season. She is someone who brings stability to our team’s front row defence. She has become not only a threat at the net as an attacker, but also worked hard to develop a tough serve from the endline throughout this season. Jaime had a total of 17 kills over the course of our last two home games versus Guelph, as well as the highest hitting percentage in game 1 of both teams. We are so proud of how Jaime has grown this season and the consistent effort she has displayed throughout.