It was a semester off that was well-deserved for Penticton’s Cole Kingzett, who won the UBC Okanagan Heat’s Provost Award for Excellence.
For the second straight year Kingzett, a bio-chemistry student and OBC Okanagan Heat men’s soccer player, was given the award because of his hard work in the classroom that led to one of the top ranked averages in his program.
“It’s awesome to be recognized with this award. It is really hard to be a student-athlete. A lot of the time you are exhausted, so it is nice to recognized for that hard work,” said Kingzett.
Between the time constraints of school life, soccer practices, games and team workouts Kingzett took the past semester off to travel with friends.
“My first year I was taking five courses during the soccer season and I was incredibly busy. You are up late studying, because you are practicing after classes or working out. Then you spend the weekends travelling and playing games and home late on Sunday. It is tough, but I enjoy it. There are so many positives on being a part of a team and the Heat athletic community. I love soccer and have for as long as I can remember,” he said.
The mid-fielder said he has big goals for the Heat next season.
“I’d like to make it to nationals. I think we will have a good shot at it. This past season we started out really well and hit a rough patch where we couldn’t score goals, so coming into the second half of the season we dropped in the standings. But if we can pull off a full season like the way we started I really like our chances.”
Kingzett is one of three Penticton Football Club alum’s (Bret Depner/Heat, Marisa Mendonca/Thompson Rivers University WolfPack) that were recognized recently by their post-secondary institutions
Medonca was nominated for the Sports Task Force Award, based totally on outstanding performance on the field during the season. She finished her third year with the WolfPack on a mission to improve on a so-so season the year before. She finished 12th in league scoring and led the WolfPack playoff push with five goals in the last six games. That included two game-winners. Mendonca was named captain for the 2018/19 season.
Related: Joining the WolfPack
Depner was nominated for Student Athlete of the Year for the second time. A model of what an elite student athlete is, Depner earned a dean’s list level first term average in his applied science program while starting in 14 of 15 games as fullback for the Heat this past season.
Depner was recognized for his respect for teammates on and off the pitch and leading by example with his academic and athletic achievements.