Holidays are over and school is back in session. So we take time this week to look back and acknowledge local high school students who earned special recognition for their athletic achievements at the end of the last school year.
At Dover Bay Secondary, awards for top Grade 8 athletes were given to Cassidy Byrne, Olivia Ory, Sophia Dendes, Ethan Hart and Cyrus Urbanowicz. From Grade 9, top athletes were Delaney O’Toole and Jack Harrison. Jessica Ory, Sarah Zuccaro, Cara Dunlop, Colton Goldsbury and Linden Kaps were the top Grade 10 athletes. At the Grade 11 level, winners were Hayley Goodwin, Zoe Dendes, Maddie McDonald, Madeline Hart, Nathan Ziemanski and Rhys Foster. Athlete of the year honours from graduating students in Grade 12 were Kaylie Rafuse, Rose Plensky, Amy Smith, Elise Angelucci, Jeff Webb, Quinn Mirau and Miles Huynh.
Also from Dover Bay, athletics coordinator Josie Webb sends word that the spirit Award was presented to Kaylee Cyr. Leadership awards were shared by Jeff Webb, Mirau and Huynh and the Jeet Purhar Award went to Plensky and Jeff Webb.
Over at Wellington Secondary, top athletes from the school’s various sports teams were recognized. From rugby, winners were Hamish MacMillan and Cole Vos, while soccer awards went to Moreau Laurie. Top basketball athletes were Jenna Rodway, Matthew Noshkin, Shayla Scott, Makenna Reynolds, Gordon Yam, Olivia Mjaaland and Hayden Jeffrey. Recognized from volleyball teams were Haley Campbell, Holly Cochrane, Maddie Stevenson and Jarred Romando. Other awards were given to Riley Besson for wrestling, Terilyn Ewen-Holdem for gymnastics, Alyssa Mousseau for cross-country and to Hassy Fashina-Bombata and Isaac Sandri for track and field.
In major awards at Wellington, coordinator Nicole McRae reports that the Grade 8 athletes of the year were Rodway and Riley de Ruiter. Shaylie Jobbagy and Ryder Jenks were the school’s junior athletes of the year. Top senior athletes were Jeffrey, Fashina-Bombata and Mccalli Franklin. The Coach’s Award was shared by Megan Zolorycki and Daniel Goodman, the Volunteer Award went to Taylor Eshelby and the Academic Athlete of the Year was Owen Laurie.
Athletic director Glenn Johnson supplied award winners from Nanaimo District Secondary. From last year’s Grade 8 teams, top athletes were Aiden Metz and Joscelin Martin. Named as top junior athletes were Maren Bradbrooke, Marina Anderson and Jenna Falkenberg and top senior athletes were Callum Gemma, Ben Barrera and Natasha Jensen. Max Reed received the Coach’s Award, with leadership and service awards presented to Taya Kirk, Ava Johnson, Amanda Merner and Ish Ndiaye.
Over at John Barsby Secondary, athletic director Rob Stevenson reports that awards were given to Kenya Heneault and Ethan Katzberg as outstanding Grade 8 athletes, Carmen Murphy, Jessica Katzberg and Steen Rasmussen as top juniors and Kaitlyn Wright and Jaydon Easterbrook as top senior athletes. The school’s most outstanding athletes were Hope Stewart and Nathanael Durkan.
Year-end awards were bittersweet at Woodlands Secondary last June, due to the school’s imminent closure. According to coordinator Zed Malenica, Athlete of the Year winners were Erin Jensen and Nathan Yeung from Grade 8, Mikayla Mitchell and Ben Harder from junior grades and Keira Christensen, Max McKay and Jordan Cox from senior grades. The Sandra Brown Award for Athletic Service was given to Christensen.
Athlete award winners at Nanaimo Christian School were Abi Dupont, Sydney Kool and Angela Wilson for track and field, Mackenzie Crane for swimming and Anthony Foster, Alastair Baird and Mackenzie Ellis for badminton. Volleyball recipients were juniors Kaitlyn Vanderkooi, Raisa VanBaaren, Alyssa Sayler, Matthew Morris, Jonathan Gillespie and Braiden Gent and seniors Kool, Leanna Milligan and Anna Boland. From basketball, winners were Morris, Matthew Gall and Baird for junior boys and Ben Sijpheer, Josh Pooley and Evan Klaassen for senior boys.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
