Eileen Benoit and D.J. Jackson named STFX Student-Athletes of the Year

ANTIGONISH, NS --- The STFX Athletic Department honoured the athletic accomplishments of their varsity student-athletes this week at the Athletic Awards Gala held Wednesday evening at the STFX Keating Centre. X-Women Cross Country/Track runner Eileen Benoit was named the STFX Female Student-Athlete of the Year, while X-Men Basketball guard D.J. Jackson received the STFX Male Student-Athlete of the Year title.

Eileen Benoit is a first year Education student from Windsor, N.S., in her fourth year of eligibility with the AUS champion X-Women Cross Country team and the X-Women Track team. After claiming the AUS Cross Country individual bronze medal last season, Eileen ran away with the AUS title and gold medal at the 2024 championship, leading her squad to their fourth consecutive AUS banner. She garnered AUS Cross Country runner of the year accolades, was an AUS first team all-star, and earned U SPORTS second team all-Canadian status with her 12th place finish at the national championship. Eileen enjoyed equal success on the track as she was a two-time medalist at the AUS championship, winning gold in the 3000m and silver in the 1500m. She followed up with an impressive fifth place performance in the U SPORTS 3000m race, while picking up the AUS Women’s Track Community Service award along the way. Eileen becomes the sixth X-Women Cross Country/Track athlete to be named the STFX Female Student-Athlete of the Year, and the first since Bridget Brennan in 2016.

D.J. Jackson is a first year Human Kinetics student from Mississauga, Ont., in his third year of eligibility as a guard on the X-Men Basketball team. The AUS most valuable player and AUS first team all-star, he led the country in scoring, averaging 24.4 points per game. D.J. also led the AUS conference in steals (2.2 S/G) and free throw percentage (86.1) while leading the nationally ranked X-Men to a 15-5 regular season record and a first-place finish in the AUS standings. D.J. was honoured as an AUS championship all-star as his X-Men fell just short in a closely contested AUS championship game. He went on to garner U SPORTS first team all-Canadian recognition as one of the top players in the country. D.J. becomes the 14th X-Men Basketball athlete to win the STFX Male Student-Athlete of the Year award, with the last one being David Muenkat in 2023.

The STFX Community X-cellence awards recognize community initiative and involvement, volunteer experience and extra-curricular contributions outside of the student-athlete’s varsity and academic experiences within the past academic school year. The 2025 Community X-cellence award recipients were presented to Anna MacCara and Mark Woolley from the X-Women and X-Men Hockey teams.

Anna MacCara is a fifth year Business student from Yellowknife, N.W.T., and a forward with the X-Women Hockey team. The founder of the X Gives Blood Society, Anna has been a player ambassador with the national Hockey Gives Blood organization for the past three years. Through this role Anna inspires and educates about Canada’s Lifeline, the hub for blood, stem cell, organ & tissue and plasma donation with Canadian Blood Services (CBS). For her work she was honoured by CBS as the recipient of the inaugural Cameron Bulger Memorial Award in 2022. Her national involvement inspired her to start up the X Gives Blood Society where this year alone she encouraged 480 STFX students to join Canada’s stem cell registry. In the past three years, Anna has overseen 1200 new registrants while leading five student-athlete blood drives. She has raised over $7000 for CBS, has hosted three Hockey Gives Blood promotional games, two local celebrity hockey games, and has made numerous presentations to high school and STFX students encouraging them to join Canada’s Lifeline.

In addition to her Hockey Gives Blood volunteer activities, Anna was the co-chair of the STFX Student-Athlete Advisory Council this past season and was a co-lead in organizing the annual STFX Athletics mental health awareness week events for student-athletes. She served as the assistant coach of the Business women’s team in the Pucks for Purpose charity event which raised money for cancer research. Anna volunteered her time during Family Literacy Week reading to local schoolchildren, she was a volunteer for the STFX Homecoming cleanup event, volunteered at the Woolley’s Warriors diabetes awareness hockey game, and was a team captain for the Motionball Marathon of Sport – creating awareness and raising money for Special Olympics. And in what spare time she has left, she serves as a skills coach at X-Women Hockey youth camps. 

Mark Woolley is a third year Business student from St. Thomas, Ont., who is a defenseman with the X-Men Hockey team. Mark launched Woolley’s Warriors (WW28) in 2019, a nonprofit organization to support and create awareness for young athletes living every day with Type 1 diabetes and to raise funds for Diabetes Canada. He brought the organization to STFX and has since hosted two WW28 promotional events at X-Men Hockey games. He raised $3900 in this year’s event, securing silent auction items and selling merchandise and 50/50 tickets. Mark also volunteered at a local golf pop-up fundraising event, and in Ontario last summer at an OHL Alumni Golf Classic event, contributing to his Diabetes Canada total donations of over $25,000.

When not busy raising funds for WW28, Mark instructs at local minor hockey camps for Antigonish youth, and serves as an executive member of the STFX Motionball Committee, raising funds for Special Olympics. The highly successful Marathon of Sport Day (pairing university students with Special Olympic athletes) saw the STFX committee garner the top Motionball school award for 2024, and set a record high $35,500 fundraising total. Mark also donated his time as a volunteer at the X Gives Blood hockey charity game, and as a team member at the STFX Relay for Life event. 

Eric Gillis is the winner of the 2025 STFX Coach of the Year award. In his 7th season leading both the X-Women and X-Men Cross Country and Track programs, Coach Gillis was recognized as the AUS Women’s Cross Country Coach for the fourth consecutive occasion this season. He guided the nationally ranked X-Women to first place finishes in all three regular season meets on route to their fourth straight AUS championship title, and a fourth place finish at the U SPORTS championship, just off the national podium. His X-Men squad also earned first place finishes at all three regular season meets and were the runner-up at the AUS championship. The X-Men placed three runners in the top 10 conference race and five in the top 14, while the X-Women had an impressive six runners in the top 10, including the gold and bronze medalists. 

On the track, Coach Gillis guided the X-Women to six medals at the AUS Track & Field Championship, including three gold (3000m, 1500m, 4x800m). The X-Men took home three medals, including one gold in the 3000m. A four-time AUS women’s cross country coach of the year and one-time AUS men’s cross country coach of the year, this year marks the first time Coach Gillis has been awarded the STFX Coach of the Year award.

The ‘X-ceptional Award’ which recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to contribute in a positive manner to STFX Athletics, was awarded to Iris Magill. The full-time Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the Athletic Department for the past three seasons, Magill has made outstanding contributions during her short time at STFX as she prepares for a career shift in moving back to her hometown of Ottawa this spring. A consummate professional in all her tasks and responsibilities, Iris has positively elevated the marketing efforts, social media presence and in-game promotions in all STFX sports. She has worked diligently to raise the profile of our STFX X-Men and X-Women teams, keeping the brand of STFX Athletics at the forefront. She has significantly increased followers on all social media platforms, particularly growing STFX Athletics Instagram engagement. She implemented social media interns across all varsity sports and supervised their contributions in further profiling and showcasing our X teams and student-athletes. Iris has also energized the fan experience at varsity games through various promotions, while working with STFX Athletics team members to increase attendance. She never misses an opportunity to work with and guide our student-athletes in various community engagements, is always eager to profile our student-athletes in various media highlights, and is present and attentive at all varsity functions. Her engaging personality, strong communication skills and her ability to instantly connect with colleagues, athletes, fans, alumni and community members young and old has been a tremendous asset to the STFX Athletics team. Always with a smile on her face, and mobile device in her hand, she has left a rock-solid foundation in the areas of marketing, communications, promotions and fan engagement at STFX University. 

All first-year student-athletes were recognized and received their traditional STFX varsity pin from their respective head coaches, while graduating student-athletes received a framed varsity X for their contributions to their teams over the past four or five years. X-Men and X-Women student-athletes who received AUS and U SPORTS accolades were recognized for their achievements as STFX Athletics produced 47 AUS all-stars, five AUS all-rookies, 11 AUS major awards winners, 10 U SPORTS all-Canadians and one U SPORTS all-rookie this past varsity season. Three STFX teams – X-Women Cross Country, X-Men Soccer and X-Women Hockey – were AUS conference champions, while STFX earned five AUS individual championship medals including Eileen Benoit (cross country, 3000m), Caden Lee (1500m), X-Women 4x800m relay team and Brett King (3000m).

Graduating student therapists and sports performance interns, along with student managers and social media interns from all STFX varsity teams were recognized for their contributions to the 2024-25 varsity season. Iron X Awards were handed out to members of each team for their dedication to sports performance and improvements in the varsity weight room and included the following:

Individual awards for each varsity team were awarded to student-athletes and presented by each head coach. The winners are as follows.