CALGARY – The University of Calgary honoured their student-athletes Tuesday morning at the annual Academic All-Canadian Breakfast in MacEwan Hall. A total of 180 Dinos across 25 sports were recognized for their exceptional performances in the classroom during the 2023-24 school year.

The 180 total is the fourth-most in university history, representing approximately one-third of all varsity student-athletes and putting the total number at 3,365 since the program's inception in 1990.

Dinos Academic All-Canadian History

New this year, the Dinos formalized an award for the top academic student-athletes who will advance as nominees for the U SPORTS Top 8 Academic All-Canadian awards. The Dinos Top Academic All-Canadian award honours one male and one female student-athlete with the best combination of academic and athletic excellence. The 2023-24 winners were Elizabeth Lang from women's hockey and Nathan Versluys from men's swimming.

Lang was named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian in her final season in Calgary and earned a perfect 4.0 GPA in a combined science and education program. She is currently playing professional hockey for HC Davos in Switzerland. Versluys was an individual U SPORTS silver medallist in 2023-24 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Geography. He was a member of back-to-back Canada West championships teams in 2022 and 2023.

"It's stressful enough being a full-time student, let alone a full-time athlete on top of it, and I'm always inspired by how our Academic All-Canadians manage to excel at both," said UCalgary Director of Athletics Ben Matchett. "The skills they are putting to use daily in their sport and studies will set them up for success in whatever field they enter after their time as Dinos. Our congratulations to each of the 180 student-athletes who achieved this status in 2023-24."

The Faculty of Arts led the way with 49 students earning Academic All-Canadian or Dinos All-Academic status, followed closely by Kinesiology (43) and the Haskayne School of Business (28). The Faculty of Science tallied 19 this year, with the Schulich School of Engineering (13) and Werklund School of Education (12) next in line. The Faculty of Nursing had six students, with the Cumming School of Medicine (5), Open Studies (5), Graduate Studies (4), Social Work (2) and the School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape (1) rounding out the faculties with academic honours from the 2023-24 school year.

All Dinos programs were once again represented on the list. Women's rugby and women's track & field/cross country were tied with the most representatives on a given team with 17, followed closely by women's swimming (14), women's soccer (14), football (13), women's volleyball (11) and women's hockey (10).

To become an Academic All-Canadian, a student-athlete must achieve an average of 80 percent or higher while representing their institution on a varsity team.

Varsity student-athletes in sports not sanctioned by U SPORTS (currently golf) who meet the Academic All-Canadian criteria are honoured as 'Dinos All-Academic.' In 2023-24, nine golfers earned this status.

2023-24 University of Calgary Dinos Academic All-Canadians

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