Cond takes top honour at Sabercats awards

Although Gavin Cond goes quietly about his business, the Sabercats linebacker made a lot of noise on the field this summer and was recognized for his efforts with a pair of awards on Wednesday night.

The Sault Sabercats held their year-end awards gathering at the John Rhodes Centre. The team, for players ages 15-19, completed their second season in the Ontario Varsity Football League with a 3-5 record.

Cond finished in the league's top 10 for defensive points and was a team leader both on and off the field. The Sir James Dunn grad, who will return to Laurier University for a second season of football, was presented with the most valuable player award while being given the players choice award by his teammates.

In eight regular season games, Cond recorded 53.5 tackles to go with 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and an interception.

Mark Palombi, who is off to the University of British Columbia for his rookie season, was named the offensive player of the year for his running ability at the full back position while linebacker Dan Kennedy collected honours as defensive player of the year.

Defensive lineman Elliott Corston-Pine was selected as the team most improved player, Gary Knox collected the lineman of the year award and Ian Hazlett, who played for Team Ontario in July, was given the Sabercats Award for his commitment and dedication to the team.

The team also recognized players heading to university in September including Corston-Pine to the University of Windsor, Knox to the University of Guelph, Hazlett to Queens University and coach Sean Pratt to Windsor.

Graduating players that were honoured include Wes Tabaczuk, Rob Signoretti, Cond, Hazlett, Knox, Mike Cuzzolino, Ron Kelly, Jason Giosa, Eric Vallee, Adam Day and Corston-Pine.