BELLEVILLE – Loyalist College student Kierstyn Bennett says receiving the athlete of the week award for women’s rugby uplifted her spirits during a tough week.
“It was actually good news. I kind of had a bit of a rough week. I put my dog down on Monday,” Bennett told QNet News. But the next day her friend sent her a link that told she’d been named athlete of the week.
She thinks she may have received the honour because she had some challenging games in a tournament in Markham last weekend but managed to rack up some points for the Lancers, she said.
“It was a hard-fought weekend … and I got some points, did some good things.”
Bennett scored an impressive 23 points for the Lancers in four games, and also scored three tries and four converts to help the Lancers through a 1-3 weekend record.
She has been playing sports for as long as she can remember, she said. She started out with soccer at the age of four. In Grade 3 she got into track because she figured out that she could outrun the boys.
She learned to play rugby with the local team the Belleville Bulldogs, and fell in love with it.
“It’s been my choice of sport ever since,” said Bennett.
The next game for Loyalist’s women’s rugby team is Oct. 15 at Fleming College in Peterborough.