Shomachuk, Mbituyimana named top Pronghorn athletes

By Lethbridge Herald on April 7, 2025.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Angelo Mbituyimana, Graeme Moffat and Jinaye Shomachuk pose with their awards during a media availability on Friday at U of L.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

University of Lethbridge Pronghorn Athletics closed out  another season with their annual Blue and Gold awards ceremony to recognize their athletes late last week.

The major award winners were track and field athlete Jinaye Shomachuk winning Female Athlete of the Year, men’s basketball player Angelo Mbituyimana taking home Male Athlete of the Year and women’s  rugby coach Graeme Moffat was selected as Coach of the Year.

Mbituyimana collected 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game and led the way in all  major statistical categories on the team.

“I was very happy with the opportunity I was presented this year,” said Mbituyimana to reporters on Friday.

“The coaches, staff (and) the school trusted me. So I was glad I was able to shine, especially for my fifth year.”

Mbituyimana reflected on his time at U of L.

“A lot of people talk about Lethbridge being a small program,” said Mbituyimana.

“But I don’t think there’s fans like this anywhere in the conference. So to be able to play in front of everyone here … , (I was) very happy with the opportunity and I was rewarded with it at the end of the year.”

He was also named a third-team all-star at the end of the year.

For Shomachuk, she earned Female Athlete of the Year after finding lots of success in competitions, as at Canada West Championships she won gold in weight throw and earned silver in shot put and placed second in weight throw at USports Championships.

“It’s always nice to be recognized for all the hard work and everything that goes on behind the scenes outside of the circle, I really do appreciate it,” said Shomachuk.

Overall she thought it was a good year.

“When it came to Can West, I could not ask for a better competition,” said Schomachuk.

”It was the best competition of my life. Throwing over 19 metres five teams was truly (an) exhilarating experience and having all of my team there performing as well as they did, it was really good. And nationals, it’s a little interesting when you go to a new competition venue that you’ve never been to before. You don’t know what the circle’s gonna be like but all things considered it went really well.”

It was for her dominant performance at Canada West that she won Field Athlete of the Year.

“These two set the bar,” said Spence Pommells, Pronghorn athletics director.

“They just elevate our programs, elevate the level of competition and it’s an honour to have them here and have them pushing us forward.”

Moffat  guided  the women’s rugby team to a Can West bronze and swept the other Alberta University teams for the first time in 13 years and had  a 4-2 record.

“I was honoured to get the award and definitely surprised because of the quality of coaches that we do have here,” said Moffat.

“We gotta really good relationship within our department with all the coaches. Yeah it was obviously exciting for all the coaches that were nominated. Kenny’s (Otieno) done a fantastic job, Vikram (Virk) did a brilliant job, so yeah just to be in the same kind of conversations with them is really good.”

Moffat spoke about how the rugby program took steps forward.

“The girls have been fantastic; they’ve worked incredibly hard,” said Moffat.

“I thought we had a really successful fall season. We kinda hit the goals that we wanted to and now we’re getting excited for next year (and) try and kick on again.”