BRUNSWICK, Ga. – St. Thomas University senior Cassandra Lemieux was named the 2018 Sun Conference Women's Tennis Champion of Character Award winner at Wednesday's night's Conference Championship Banquet held on the campus of the College of Coastal Georgia.
 
A four-year team captain, Lemieux has been a mentor for the Boys & Girls Club supporting young girls and becoming a sincere friend and role model. Her latest Servant Leadership effort was packaging relief aid for Hurricane Irma victims. She is part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, which for several times a month she mentors three young girls. The goal of the organization is to show these children the possibility of overcoming the barriers set by their community and Lemieux does just that.
 
Additionally, Lemieux volunteers at the Marian Center helping children with developmental disabilities. Several times a semester, she helps coordinate and follows through on visits to a local, needy nursing home. Lemieux also has hosted a coffee and conversation diversity event as Vice President of the Psychology Club at St. Thomas University to bring awareness to current issues such as Health Care, Sexual Assault, Undocumented/Refugees, Black Lives, and Gun Violence/Gun Laws.
 
Lemieux has also worked with the Women's Breast and Heart Initiative to inform women on breast and heart health through door-to-door outreach. With this, she offered free mammograms through the organization which provided a mobile mammography bus that came to at-risk neighborhoods. Lemieux also assisted with Live Healthy Miami Gardens to interact with children while their parents were administered a survey as part of a study with Live Healthy Miami Gardens. She helped administer activities to children that promoted exercise and the importance of healthy eating and daily activity. She is a regular part of the periodic Report Card Review program at Carol City Middle School where she volunteers to review report cards at a local, at-risk public middle school.  Most recently, Lemieux also participated in the March for Our Lives rally in Parkland, Fla.
 
In addition to Lemieux, STU senior Victoria Slavina was named Second-Team All-Conference, while Bobcat senior Naomi Maehama was named Academic All-Conference at the awards ceremony.
 
The no. 3 seeded Bobcats will begin play Thursday in The Sun Conference Championships with the semifinals vs. no. 2 seed SCAD-Savannah.  Thursday's semifinals begin at 9 a.m. with the championship final set for Friday.