VANCOUVER (CIS) – UBC quarterback Billy Greene (4th, Surrey, BC) was named the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football player of the year, on Thursday night.
 
The native of Surrey, B.C., became the third Thunderbirds' player to claim the Hec Crighton trophy since its inception in 1967. Running back Mark Nohra and quarterback Jordan Gagner were honoured in 1997 and 1987, respectively.

Greene was announced as the winner at the Gibson's Finest CFL Player Awards at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

He thanked his family, teammates and his previous high school and university coaches as he accepted his award, reserving a special mention for current UBC head coach Shawn Olson.

"It sounds amazing," said Greene when asked how it sounded to be called the Hec Crighton winner.  "It has always been a goal of mine.  I've done a lot of work with coach Olson for the past 18 months, since he's been hired.  He truly got me ready to be a quarterback in the CIS and I owe thanks to him for this award as well as my teammates.  It's a great feeling, I couldn't have done it without them."
 
Greene made his fourth season at UBC one for the record books. He was the architect behind one of the biggest turnarounds in program history as his Thunderbirds improved from a 2-6 campaign a year ago to 6-2 and a second-place finish in Canada West. UBC qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2006 and earned its first post-season win since 1999.
 
In eight regular season games, the 6-foot-1, 220-pound English major led the country in passing yards (2,558) and total offence (380 ypg), tied for the CIS lead in touchdown passes (20), had the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the nation (20-4) and topped all CIS quarterbacks with a team-best 482 rushing yards. Along the way, he set single-season school records for TD passes and passing yards.
 
A product of Holy Cross High School in Surrey, Greene was at the helm of the second best passing offence in the country (326 ypg) and the fourth most productive offence overall (471 ypg).
 
"I'm very happy for Billy, because he took a big step this off-season as far as the work that he put in. It's always good to see a guy rewarded for the amount of work he puts in and to see a player start to fulfill his potential," said Olson. "This is a big as it gets. It's a huge honour and it's something that I think every CIS player dreams about. Very few end up being nominated and even fewer have the honour of being able to say they're a Hec Crighton winner."
 
Acadia quarterback Kyle Graves, Sherbrooke wide receiver Simon Charbonneau-Campeau and McMaster wideout Michael DiCroce were also nominated.
 
Greene was also named a First Team All-Canadian at the quarterback position, while his favourite target in 2011, receiver Jordan Grieve (4th, Salmon Arm, BC) was named to the Second Team, along with teammate Sam Carino (5th, Burnaby, BC).

Carino intercepted two passes this season and made 26 tackles for UBC while Grieve caught 41 passes for 768 yards to lead UBC's receiving corps.

Other CIS recipients announced during tonight's ceremony were Concordia linebacker Max Caron, who captured the Presidents' trophy as the nation's top defensive player; Laval defensive end Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, who became the first-ever multiple winner of the J.P. Metras trophy as the most outstanding down lineman; and Western Ontario running back Tyler Varga, who claimed the Peter Gorman trophy as rookie of the year.
 
It marked the first time in history that CIS award winners were honoured alongside the best of the CFL.
 
More CIS hardware will be handed out Friday morning during the Vanier Cup championship breakfast at the Convention Centre.

UBC coach Shawn Olson is up for the Frank Tindall trophy (coach of the year) while the winners of the Russ Jackson award (football, academics, citizenship) and the Gino Fracas award (outstanding volunteer assistant coach) will also be announced.
 
The 47th Vanier Cup final between Laval and McMaster will follow at 6 p.m. Pacific Time at B.C. Place Stadium, live on TSN and RDS, with TSN's pre-game show kicking off at 5:30 p.m. PST.
 
FULL CIS NEWS RELEASE

HEC CRIGHTON TROPHY (Outstanding Player)

2011 Billy Greene, UBC, QB
2010 Brad Sinopoli, Ottawa, QB
2009 Erik Glavic, Calgary, QB
2008 Benoît Groulx, Laval, QB
2007 Erik Glavic, Saint Mary's, QB
2006 Daryl Stephenson, Windsor, RB
2005 Andy Fantuz, Western Ontario, REC
2004 Jesse Lumsden, McMaster, RB
2003 Tommy Denison, Queen's, QB
2002 Tommy Denison, Queen's, QB
2001 Ben Chapdelaine, McMaster, QB
2000 Kojo Aidoo, McMaster, RB
1999 Phil Côté, Ottawa, QB
1998 Éric Lapointe, Mount Allison, RB
1997 Mark Nohra, UBC, RB
1996 Éric Lapointe, Mount Allison, RB
1995 Don Blair, Calgary, REC
1994 Bill Kubas, Wilfrid Laurier, QB
1993 Tim Tindale, Western, FB
1992 Eugene Buccigrossi, Toronto, QB
1991 Tim Tindale, Western, FB
1990 Chris Flynn, Saint Mary's, QB
1989 Chris Flynn, Saint Mary's, QB
1988 Chris Flynn, Saint Mary's, QB
1987 Jordan Gagner, UBC, QB
1986 Blake Marshall, Western, RB
1985 Larry Mohr, Queen's, RB
1984 Phil Scarfone, McMaster, QB
1983 Greg Vavra, Calgary, QB
1982 Rick Zmich, Ottawa, QB
1981 Dan Feraday, Toronto, QB
1980 Greg Marshall, Western, RB
1979 Scott Mallender, Windsor, QB
1978 Jamie Bone, Western, QB
1977 Bob Cameron, Acadia, QB/P/K
1976 Bob Stracina, Acadia, REC/K
1975 Brian Fryer, Alberta, REC
1974 Al Charuk, Acadia, FS
1973 Dave Pickett, Saskatchewan, QB
1972 Andrew Parici, Windsor, QB
1971 Mel Smith, Alberta, REC
1970 Paul Paddon, Ottawa, QB
1969 Dave Fleiszer, McGill, FB
1968 Mike Raham, Toronto, RB
1967 Mike Eben, Toronto REC

- with files from Canadian Interuniversity Sport