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Alex Legge. (Nick Pearce Photo)

First-year Dal med student and former varsity basketball player Alex Legge has been named one of the Top 8 Academic All-Canadians across Canada.

A native of Mahone Bay, Ms. Legge was a stand-out player for the Tigers women鈥檚 basketball team for the past four years. In her first year, she was named AUS rookie of the year and AUS first-team all-star. In her last year with the team, she received the 2010 James Bayer Memorial Scholarship Award, presented annually to an outstanding student athlete for excellence in academics, athletics, leadership, sportsmanship and citizenship.

And all this while finishing her undergraduate degree in neuroscience -- with a 4.27 grade point average.

How did she manage? 鈥淕ood time management I guess,鈥� says Ms. Legge, who says she spent as much time at the library as she did on the basketball court. 鈥淚 also think I thrive on a little bit of stress and being really busy. I鈥檓 much happier constantly being productive and having things to do.鈥�

The other student athletes of the Top 8 are:聽 Jacob Kilpatrick from the University of New Brunswick; Marie-Michelle Genois, Laval University; Steven Bielby, McGill University; Megan Brown, University of Toronto; Dillon Heap, Wilfrid Laurier University; Jennifer Hinze, UBC; and Thomas Hall, University of Manitoba.

In all, 96 Dalhousie student athletes were named to the Academic All-Canadian list. They were聽recognized at a celebration Wednesday, Nov. 17 in the presence of peers, professors and parents for their academic accomplishments according to standards set by the national university sport authority, Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). In order to be recognized as an Academic All-Canadian, a student must maintain an average GPA of 80 per cent or better while being a member of a varsity team.

This year, Ms. Legge is discovering new volunteer opportunities through Dalhousie Medical School; she鈥檚 acting as the cancer fundraising rep for her class and encouraging med student involvement in initiatives such as Relay for Life, Run for the Cure and Movember. As well, instead of playing basketball this year, she鈥檚聽helping out as聽assistant coach.

鈥淚 need to give my knee a break and let some rehab happen there,鈥� says Ms. Legge, who's had persistent knee trouble over the past year or so.

She's loving med school so far and speaks highly of her classmates. "It's such a competition when you're trying to get admitted, but now we're all in it together. You want so much for each other to succeed."

Here is the full list of Dalhousie's Academic All-Canadians: