HAMILTON, Ont. - McMaster Marauders football player, Alex Cheng, was named the OUA's nominee for the national Russ Jackson Award on Thursday afternoon at the 2022 OUA Football Awards Luncheon, hosted at Tim Horton's Field. He becomes the first Russ Jackson Award nominee from McMaster since 2016 and just the third in Marauders program history.

The Russ Jackson Award is presented to the player best exemplifying the attributes of academic achievement, football skill and citizenship. The award is named in honour of Canadian Football Hall of Famer and six-time CFL East Division All-Star with the Ottawa Rough Riders, Russell Stanley Jackson, who played quarterback for McMaster in the 1950s. "Russ" Jackson, a Hamilton local, is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. Jackson spent his entire 12-year professional career with the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. He is a member of the Order of Canada, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and has been described as the best Canadian-born quarterback to play in the CFL. 
 
Alex Cheng (London, Ont.), a second-year student in his first-year of eligibility, played in all of the Marauders' eight games in 2022. The defensive tackle totaled 14.5 tackles on the year, including nine solo tackles, and averaged 1.8 tackles per game.

Beyond the field, the London, Ont. local is the Chair of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) athletes at McMaster. In this role, Cheng is responsible for highlighting and promoting the achievements of API heritage student-athletes at McMaster and for creating opportunities for these student-athletes to share their stories. Alex is an active member of his community and gets involved in as many ways as possible. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he volunteered at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Haldimand-Norfolk to give back to his community.

The Marauders' rookie doesn't allow the massive commitment to football and his community to negatively impact his time in the classroom. Cheng has earned himself a perfect 12.0 GPA as a consistent A+ student and has been a Student-Athlete Mentor in past to provide assistance to first-year student-athletes in the same program. He is also an Academic Mentor on the football team and provides guidance on study habits to his teammates.

With his strong academic standing, Cheng has received a number of awards in past headlined by the Class of '44 Award at McMaster, awarded to the student entering the penultimate year of any program who has attained the highest fall-winter average across all programs at McMaster University. Alex is a two-time recipient of the Provost's Honour Roll Medal (awarded to students who have achieved an average of 12.0 over 30 units in an academic year). Coming out of high school with a 95% + average, the defensive tackle was awarded the McMaster President's Award in 2020-21.

Athletically, the Dr. Ronald V. Joyce Award is awarded to Awarded to students who have completed at least Level 1 of any program and who, in the judgment of a selection committee, have demonstrated outstanding athletic ability as members of a McMaster varsity team that competes in U SPORTS. Alex Cheng was the 2021-22 recipient of this award.

Cheng has made the most of his McMaster experience thus far and exemplifies what it truly means to be a student-athlete, a key attribute of any Russ Jackson nominee.
 
OUA Major Award Winners
Most Valuable Player – Keon Edwards, Western
Outstanding Stand-Up Defensive Player – Daniel Valente, Western
Lineman of the Year – Silas Hubert, Queen's
Norm Marshall Award (Rookie of the Year) – Isaiah Smith, Guelph
Russ Jackson Award Nominee – Alex Cheng, McMaster
David "Tuffy" Knight Award (Coach of the Year) – Greg Marshall, Western
Volunteer Coach of the Year – Mike Circelli, Windsor
EDI Award – Darrell Adams, Waterloo
Ken Green Officials Award of Merit – Ben Chapdelaine

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