A lot of them are already champions in their own right, and now they’re up for another prestigious honour.
The Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards announced its 2014 finalists this week.
Two of the high-profile names include V.I. Raiders and B.C. Lions football player Whitman Tomusiak and Maximum Fighting Championship MMA athlete Graham Spencer.
The ninth annual awards gala will be held Feb. 1 at the Coast Bastion Hotel. The event begins at 6 p.m. and there will be dinner and a live and silent auction leading up to the awards presentations.
Tickets are $65 and may be purchased by calling Marilyn Sullivan at 250-716-6110.
This year’s Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards finalists are:
Male Team Athlete of the Year - Brandon Jones, basketball; Whitman Tomusiak, football; Chae Faickney, football.
Female Team Athlete of the Year - Sara Simovic, basketball; Jocelyn Jones, basketball; Kalli Gordon, golf.
Male Individual Athlete of the Year - Graham Spencer, mixed martial arts; Byron Trajan, triathlon; Eli Wyse, martial arts.
Female Individual Athlete of the Year - Erin Burrett, running; Katelynn Ramage, race walk; Melissa Liew, badminton.
Junior Male Athlete of the Year - Brandon Parker, football; Josh Burgmann, baseball; Jason Clare, track and field.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year - Marita DeSchiffart, track and field; Victoria Behie, volleyball; Bernadette Alvarez, karate.
Masters Athlete of the Year - Samira Rusman, swimming; Jack Gilmour, trap shooting; Bill Hollingshead, track and field.
Partners of the Year - Riley Kazanowski and Caleb Harder, beach volleyball; Lucas Pallard and Sarah Kedves, figure skating; Justin Mark and Jeff Riemer, adventure racing.
High-Performance Coach of the Year - Matt Kuzminski, basketball; Matthew Blokker, football; Bill McWhinnie, basketball.
Grassroots Coach of the Year - Sean Roden, football; Rob Stevenson, football; Tyler Heisterman, track and field.
Team of the Year - Nanaimo Redmen midget football; VIU Mariners men’s basketball; Nanaimo White Rapids Div. 7 girls’ relay swim team.
Junior Team of the Year - Dover Bay senior boys’ cross-country; John Barsby Bulldogs AA varsity football; NDSS Islanders senior AAA girls’ volleyball.
Sport Administrator of the Year - Aileen Mutch Faickney, football; Brenda and Phil Levesque, hockey; Jazz Sohal, soccer.
Official of the Year - Mike Walker, badminton; Lianne Rear, roller derby; Rick Kitsul, softball.
Sports Story of the Year - World’s Longest Indoor Hockey Game; Western Canada Cup hockey tournament; Harbour City FC U8 Team France.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com