Holidays are done and there’s little more than a week officially left in what has been a beautiful summer. Which means that it’s back into routine for the Thorpe Report and also of course for local students. With that in mind, we look back this week to acknowledge students who earned top athletic awards from Nanaimo and district secondary schools at the end of last school year…
Named as outstanding athletes of the year at Dover Bay Secondary were Grade 8 students Ian Tuck and Madeline Hart. From Grade 9, male winners were Miles Huynh, Quinn Mirau, Max Reed and Jeff Webb, while top female athletes were Hannah Ross and Rose Plensky. Receiving the Bill Cootes Memorial Award as outstanding Grade 10 athletes were Callum Montgomery, Peter Oxland and Thomas Oxland, together with Faye Tuck and Mikayla Herring-Pletsch. From Grade 11, male athletes of the year were Wes Richardson, Rob Calvin and Andrew DeGroot and outstanding female athlete was Sydney Goodwin. Keegan Lang and Garrett Dunlop shared honours as top Grade 12 male athletes, with McKenzie Nicks and Gabby Jeffrey chosen as top Grade 12 female athletes.
Other major athletic awards presented at Dover Bay saw Jenna Ziemanski and Ben Nguyen received the Bruce Mitchell Athletic Leadership Award, while the Jeet Purhar Platinum Award went to Garrett Dunlop, Albert Hsueh and McKenzie Nicks. The Neal McCormick Spirit of Sport Award, in memory of the popular teacher and coach who passed away this past year, was presented to Jillian Hannah, Scott Reynolds and Jacob Burnley.
Over at Wellington Secondary, that school’s year-end athletic banquet saw Hassy Fashina Bombata and Ethan Dyck recognized as top Grade 8 athletes of the year. Outstanding athlete among junior girls was Sahara Tom, with James Sandifer getting the award as top junior boy. Senior male athlete of the year was Bradley Jenks and senior female athlete of the year was Sara Simovic. As well, Coach’s Awards were presented to Jessica MacKinnon, Mariah Vansickle, Adam Jackson and Dustin Olsen. Academic Athlete of the Year at Wellington was Julie Zhao.
Chosen as athletes of the year from Woodlands Secondary last June were CilineTheberge from Grade 8 girls, Joey Chi from Grade 8 boys, Keira Christensen for junior girls and Zack Williams for junior boys. Chosen as top senior girls’ athlete was Michelle Berti and the top senior boys’ athlete was Aaron Halsall. The Sandra Brown Award for service to athletics at the school was presented to T.J. Andjelkovic.
Athlete of the year awards handed out at Nanaimo District Secondary last year saw Annica Crosby named as top Grade 8 female, while Isaac Bevis won as top Grade 8 male athlete. Grade 9 awards went to Sarah Lundy and Ben Barrera and from Grade 10 the winners were Rachel Baird and Jeremie Cheng. Maddy Dawson was the Grade 11 female athlete of the year and Ryan Doumont the Grade 11 male winner. Top Grade 12 female athlete at NDSS was Darby Walker, with the Grade 12 male award going to Peter LePatezour. Earning the NDSS Sports Award was Will Halliday.
From John Barsby Secondary, Jayden Easterbrook and Krystal Wyse were selected as outstanding Grade 8 male and female athletes, while Cole Smith and Kianne Young were honoured at the junior level. Taylor Sampson was the outstanding senior female athlete and Duc Truong the outstanding senior male athlete. Named as outstanding overall female athlete for the year was Kaitlin Ovcharov. Barsby’s outstanding overall male athlete of the year was Dexter Shea.
Athletic awards presented this past year at Cedar Secondary included honours to Amber Swithin as top Grade 8 female athlete and Jack Schlitz as top Grade 8 male athlete. At the Grade 9 level, top female athlete was Hannah Stannard and top male athlete was Josh Bailey. Top athletes from Grade 10 were Kelsey Hutt and Kurt Olson. Grade 11 winners were Hailey Bradley and Braxton Clark. Cedar’s outstanding female athlete in Grade 12 was Alexa Ellis and recognized as the Grade 12 outstanding male athlete was Keony Magnan.
Congratulations to all award winners and also to the many volunteer coaches and sponsors who support sports in our local school system.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.