There was a lot to celebrate at this year’s “Celebrating Excellence in Athletics” Awards Banquet & Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this past weekend. The banquet, held at the Toronto Don Valley Hotel & Suites on Saturday September 28, was attended by nearly 250 guests, many of whom are considered some of the best athletes in the country. A special thanks goes to Kate Van Buskirk, 1500m runner who competes for Athletics Toronto, who was the evening’s emcee (and a co-winner in the Sr. Female Distance category) along with the many staff and volunteers who helped make the evening a success. Our evening’s special guest speaker, Molly Killingbeck, shared some of her personal stories, both successes and challenges, in a touching speech to those in attendance, with a reminder to young athletes to “dream big and dream often”.
Special Awards of the evening, included the Athlete of the Year Award which was won by Derek Drouin. The Sponsor Award went to Cisco Systems Canada, while the Media Award went to M2 Canada and the Volunteer Award was awarded to Craig Blackman.
There were numerous outstanding performances and we congratulate all athletes on their achievements this year and we thank everyone who participated in the nomination process and supported the event. We look forward to the 2014 Banquet and another year of Excellence in Athletics in Ontario!
Award Winners for the 2013 AO Awards Banquet
Para-athletics
- Most Outstanding Track Performance (Male): Curtis Thom
- Most Outstanding Track Performance (Female): Virginia McLachlan
- Most Outstanding Field Performance (Male) : Kyle Pettey
- Most Outstanding Field Performance (Female): Renee Foessel
Sprints/Hurdles
- Bantam Girls: Alyssa Marsh
- Midget Girls: Kyra Constantine
- Youth Girls: Lexi Aitken, Juliana Puopolo
- Junior Women: Nicole Setterington
- Senior Women: Crystal Emmanuel
- Masters Women: Karla Del Grande
- Bantam Boys: Sanjade Hylton
- Midget Boys: Joseph Daniels
- Youth Boys: Locky Butcher
- Junior Men: Andre De Grasse, Brandon McBride
- Senior Men: Aaron Brown
- Masters Men: Men’s 80 years plus Relay Team (Earl Fee, Bill Thompson, Ray Wardle, Ed Whitlock)
Distance
- Bantam Girls: Jocelyn Chau
- Midget Girls: Lucia Stafford
- Youth Girls: Kailee Sawyer
- Junior Women: Vanessa McLeod
- Senior Women: Melissa Bishop, Sheila Reid, Kate Van Buskirk
- Masters Women: Lioudmila Kourtchaguina
- Midget Boys: Edward Hayfron
- Youth Boys: Justyn Knight
- Junior Men: Adam Palamar
- Senior Men: Matt Hughes
- Masters Men: Jerry Kooymans
Jumps
- Bantam Girls: Sarah Saldutto
- Midget Girls: Ebhani Blackwood
- Youth Girls: Emma Li
- Junior Women: Alysha Newman
- Senior Women: Michelle Kinsella
- Midget Boys: Joseph Murdaca
- Youth Boys: Paul Galas
- Junior Men: Shawnacy Barber
- Senior Men: Derek Drouin
- Masters Men: Zoltan Sara
Throws
- Bantam Girls: Trinty Tutti
- Midget Girls: Grace Tennant
- Youth Girls: Obeng Marfo
- Junior Women: Kelly Gribbons
- Senior Women: Sultana Frizell
- Masters Women: Kristin Daija
- Midget Boys: Joseph Maxwell, Fletcher Smith
- Youth Boys: Noah Rolph
- Junior Men: John Kryzyszkowski
- Senior Men: Timothy Nedow
- Masters Men: Jim Slepica
Combined Events
- Youth Girls: Alexandra Morrow
- Senior Women: Maddie Buttinger
- Youth Boys: Pierce Lepage
- Junior Men: Zachary Bornstein
- Senior Men: Damian Warner
- Masters Men: Don Ritchie
Sponsor of the Year: Cisco Systems Canada
Media of the Year: M2 Canada
Volunteer of the Year: Craig Blackman
Overall Athlete of the Year: Derek Drouin
Photos (supplied to AO from Trevor Parkinson): Click on image to enlarge
More Photos (from Doug Smith, OMA) of the evening can be found at the following links:
http://www.ontariomasters.ca/omwp/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/AOTY-OMA-20132.pdf and https://plus.google.com/photos/100366138259738835327/albums/5928848290311522369?banner=pwa