John Edwards
Special to CFL.ca
LENNOXVILLE, Que. — Shawn Gore, Steven Turner and Nick Poloniato from the Bishop’s Gaiters football team have all been selected to participate in the 2010 Canadian Football League (CFL) Evaluation Camp, to be held this weekend in Toronto.
Gore, a 6’1″ 200 lb. slotback, posted the best season of his career in 2009, with 32 catches for 496 yards, the fourth-highest total in the QUFL. The Toronto native led the Gaiters with five touchdowns the longest being a 73-yard catch on September 27 at Laval. In his four seasons at Bishop’s, he has made 372 catches for 1,121 yards and seven touchdowns. Last year, Gore also started seeing more time on special teams, and he made 7.0 special teams tackles (five solo, four assisted).
Turner, a 5’9″ 185 lb. fourth-year slotback and kick returner, led the Gaiters with 670 all-purpose yards last season. In 2009, he led the CIS with an average of 20.4 yards per punt return, and scored two punt return touchdowns last season. The Brampton, Ont. native led the QUFL with an average of 21.4 yards on kickoff returns. Turner has scored six kick return touchdowns (three on kickoffs, three on punts) in his career, and he has amassed 2,379 career all-purpose yards. He averages 27.9 yards per kickoff return and 11.6 yards per punt return in his career. He is a three-time QUFL All-Star at Kick Returner, and a two-time unanimous all-star selection.
Poloniato, 6’0″ 190 lb. cornerback, was named a QUFL All-Star for the first time last season. He led the CIS with eight passes knocked down in 2009, and made 23.5 tackles and added one interception in eight regular-season games. He made a season-high 7.5 tackles in the Gaiters’ QUFL semifinal game at Montreal last year. The Hamilton native has 14 interceptions in his career, two short of the school record of 16. In four years at Bishop’s, Poloniato has 15 passes knocked down and 85.5 tackles (74 solo, 23 assisted).
This marks the fourth consecutive season that the Gaiters have had a representative at the Evaluation Camp, and the second straight year that three Gaiters have attended, following Jamall Lee, James Yurichuk and Kyle Jones last season. The other Gaiters to have attended the camp include Keith Godding (WR, 2008), Dan McCullough (DL/LS, 2007), Andrew Carter (OL, 2001) and William Wright (DE, 2001).
Gore, Turner and Poloniato will look to join the four Gaiters currently active in the CFL (Lee, Yurichuk, Jones, and McCullough) and the more than 25 Gaiters who have gone on to play in the CFL, including Larry Smith, Wally Zatylny, Tom Europe, as well as current Gaiters’ Head Coach Leroy Blugh.
