UOIT Ridgeback and Nuclear Engineering student named to Capital One Academic All-America Team

During her five-year career with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s (UOIT) women's hockey program, Jill Morillo, right winger and captain of the UOIT women’s hockey team, earned a number of awards for excellence in athletics and academics. Upon graduation, Morillo was again recognized for her accomplishments by being named to the Capital One College Division Academic All-America® women's at-large team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The 2014 Capital One Academic All-District ® women's at-large teams recognize North America's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Capital One has been the entitlement rights holder to CoSIDA's Academic All-America teams programs since 2011. The team is made up of student-athletes from Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, and two-year junior colleges in the United States.
 
Morillo, who is from Whitby, Ontario, was one of three Canadian student-athletes to be named to the women's at-large first team. A graduate of UOIT's Nuclear Engineering and Management program, she is just the second UOIT student-athlete to be named to an Academic All-America team after men's hockey alumnus Nathan Spaling of Drayton, Ontario earned the honour in 2011. She is the only women's hockey student-athlete to be named to the women's at-large first team.
 
Morillo ended her playing career in style by being named the UOIT overall athlete of the year at the year-end banquet. She scored 14 goals, 10 of which were on the power play, which was tops in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA). She also became the first Ridgeback to eclipse 100 career points, finishing with 111. Her 64 career goals ranks her fifth all-time in the OUA goal scoring charts.

Highlights of Morillo’s career include:

• Recipient of the 2012 CIS Marion Hilliard Award, which celebrates excellence in athletics, academics and community involvement.
• Named CIS all-Canadian in 2012, becoming the first UOIT student-athlete to win a national award.
• Two-time winner of the UOIT athlete of the year award (2014 and 2012)
• Recipient of the James-Baun Cup (2011), awarded to the student-athlete who shows commitment, dedication, perseverance, academic responsibility, leadership and is a great teammate in the pursuit of excellence.

She is also a four-time recipient of the UOIT All-Academic award and has earned CIS Academic All-Canadian status. She is a member of the Canadian Nuclear Society and UOIT's Engineering Society.
 
Read the full story on the UOIT Ridgebacks website.