MEDIA RELEASE January 29, Saskatchewan. Athlete of. the Year for. Sport Inc is the MASTER. World. group at the in the

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1 For immediate release MEDIA RELEASE January 29, 2015 Sask Sport Inc. announces the 2014 Saskatchewan Sport Award Recipients Sask Sport Inc. is pleased to announce the recipients of 2014 Saskatchewan Sport Awards. Nominations were submitted by Sask Sport Inc s active and affiliate members for awards in the following categories: Athlete of the Year for master, youth male, youth female, male, female, and team; as well as awards for coach of the year, coach dedication, official male, official female and volunteer. A voting process involving the Saskatchewan sports media and Sask Sport active and affiliate member organizations was used to determine the recipient in each category. Congratulations to alll of the award recipients, finalists and nominees of the 2014 Saskatchewan Sport Awards. The Sport Awards celebrate the hard work, dedication and commitment of the outstanding amateur athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers in our province, and Sask Sport Inc. and our member organizations are proud to honour their remarkable achievements, said Jeff Herback, President of Sask Sport Inc is the year of sport in Canada, and we re pleased in this Year of Sport to celebratee these outstanding achievements and the many benefits of participation in sport. The Saskatchewan Sport Award nominees and recipients embody the spirit of the Sportt It s More than a Game campaign, inspiring others to participate and fueling our Saskatchewan pride. The recipients for the 2014 Saskatchewan Sports Awards are: MASTER ATHLETEE OF THE YEAR: Milos Kostic, 73, Regina, Triathlon, Nominated by Saskatchewan Triathlon Corporation World champion at the Ironmann World Triathlon Championships in the age category and finished fifth overall in the full Ironman distance; Finished over two hours ahead of the next closest competitor while winning his age group at the Ironman Canada Championship ps. The time placed him in second against all athletes in the age category; Placed first in the age category at the Oliver Halfman Triathlon and the Ironman 70.3 Boise, Idaho; Won silver at the Ironman 70.3 in Mallorca, Spain. The other finalists were: Carol LaFayette-Boyd, 72, Regina, Athletics, Nominated by Saskatchewan Athletics Mike Vincent, 49, Regina, Canoe/Kayak k, Nominated by Canoe Kayak Saskatchewan 1

2 YOUTH MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Marco Schumann, 15, Saskatoon, Speed Skating, Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Speed Skating Placed first in his overall age category at the Canadian Age Class Long Track Championship. Setting provincial records in each distance he skated; Placed first overall in age category at the Canada West Short Track Championships; At the Canada Winter Games Short Track Qualifier #1, broke the provincial record in the 3000m by 19 seconds; Earned three gold medals at the Western Single Distance Short Track Championships in the 1000m, 1500m and 3000m; Won the gold in the 500m at the Oktoberfest Short Track Competition, second in the 1500m and fifth in the 1000m. Ben Lapointe, 17, Saskatoon, Canoe/Kayak, Nominated by Canoe Kayak Saskatchewan Connor Antochow, 17, Regina, TaeKwon-Do, Nominated by Saskatchewan TaeKwon-Do Federation International YOUTH FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Tianna Kennett, 17, Manor, Wrestling Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Wrestling Won the silver medal at the 2014 Cadet Pan Am Championships; qualifying for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, China where she finished sixth; Won the gold at the Cadet/Juvenile Canadian Championships and Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) Cadet Trials, qualifying for the 2014 Cadet Pan Am Championships; Won the bronze medal in the 52 kg weight category at the 2014 Juvenile National Championships; Won gold medals at both the Saskatchewan Amateur Wrestling Championships and the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Championships. Larissa Werbicki, 18, Saskatoon, Rowing, Nominated by Saskatchewan Rowing Juliette Wheler, 17, Saskatoon, Speed Skating, Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Speed Skating 2

3 MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Mark McMorris, 20, Regina, Snowboard, Nominated by Saskatchewan Ski Snowboarding Won bronze in the snowboard slope style event at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games; Won gold at the Dew Tour ion Championship in Breckenridge, Colorado; Won silver at the X-Games in Aspen, Colorado; Won gold at the Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships. Lucas Makowsky, 27, Regina, Speed Skating, Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Speed Skating Kelly Wiebe, 25, Swift Current, Athletics, Nominated by Saskatchewan Athletics FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Brianne Theisen-Eaton, 25, Humboldt, Athletics, Nominated by Saskatchewan Athletics Won gold in heptathlon at the 2014 Commonwealth Games; 200m performance marked a Games Best and a new personal best for heptathlon; Won silver in heptathlon at the International of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Combined Events Challenge. Set new Athletics Canada Outdoor Senior Women s record for heptathlon and Athletics Saskatchewan records for heptathlon and high jump. Setting several personal bests in high jump, long jump, 200m and heptathlon overall; Finished the outdoor season ranked in first place for heptathlon with Athletics Canada and second in IAAF world rankings; Won silver in pentathlon at the IAAF World Indoor Championships, setting a new Athletics Canada Indoor Senior Women s record for pentathlon. Jillian Gallays, 28, Saskatoon, Wrestling, Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Wrestling Kali Christ, 23, Regina, Speed Skating, Nominated by Saskatchewan Amateur Speed Skating 3

4 TEAM OF THE YEAR: Saskatchewan Women s Under-15 Provincial Basketball Team, Regina, Basketball Nominated by Basketball Saskatchewan Won the first ever gold medal for a Saskatchewan female provincial team, defeating Ontario to win gold at the 2014 National Championships; To advance to the gold medal game, they defeated Quebec in the semifinals and earned a victory over New Brunswick in the quarterfinal; Finished 4-1 in pool play in the entire tournament; Defeated British Columbia, Manitoba and Alberta in lead-up tournaments. Defeating every province they played during the summer. Saskatoon Hilltops, Saskatoon, Football, Nominated by Football Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Women s Under-23 Rowing 2-Pair (Sabrina Proctor, Sierra Bronkhorst), Saskatoon, Rowing, Nominated by Saskatchewan Rowing Weyburn Gold Wings Female Midget AAA Hockey Team, Nominated by Saskatchewan Hockey COACH OF THE YEAR: John Haver, Saskatoon, Rowing, Nominated by Saskatchewan Rowing Coached athletes who were major contributors to the most successful summer ever for Saskatchewan Rowing athletes; Coached Larissa Werbicki who won the senior women s 1x and senior women s 63 kg 1x at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Championship Regatta; Coached Werbicki and Caileigh Filmer, who became the first Team Canada crew to train in Saskatchewan since They won the silver medal at the World Junior Rowing Championships and the bronze at the Youth Olympic Games; Coached Sierra Bronkhorst, who represented Canada in the W2 at the U23 World Rowing Championships. COACH DEDICATION AWARD: Frank McCrystal, Regina, Football, Nominated by Football Saskatchewan Coaching the University of Regina Rams since 1984, accounting for 31 years of coaching; Achieved Level 3 certified coaching status and has assisted in the implementation of numerous athlete development programs with Football Sask; An NCCP course conductor, provincial coaching representation with Football Canada, and served as a mentor coach for hundreds of individuals; Canadian Junior Football League Coach of the Year, CanWest Coach of the Year, CIS Frank Tindall Coach of the Year. 4

5 MALE OFFICIAL: Ron Boden, Saskatoon, Nominated by Saskatchewan Athletics Served as a national clinician since 2000; and served as the chair of the National Officials Committee; Twice served as officials coordinator and as chief race walk judge for the Saskatchewan Summer Games; and served as the chief race walk judge (twice) and photo finish referee at the Canada Summer Games; Served as the track referee and chief race walk judge at the Canadian Masters Championships; and served as the officials coordinator and track referee at the 55+ Games; Honoured and recognized for over 40 years of officiating in athletics. FEMALE OFFICIAL: Karen Howard, Regina, Nominated by Skate Canada Saskatchewan Served as a judge in singles and pair skating at the 2014 Olympic Games; Served on numerous Skate Canada committees including high performance, technical officials, officials advisory, officials assignments and promotion; has been a monitor of skaters from juvenile to senior international levels; and has served on the board of directors; At the provincial level she has served on the officials, coaches and skater development committee as well as the board of directors; was the seminar leader for various judges, evaluators and skaters clinics; and monitor of skaters. VOLUNTEER AWARD: Al Dyer, Prince Albert, Nominated by Special Olympics Saskatchewan Served as the chair of the organizing committee for the 2014 Saskatchewan Winter Games and was selected as mission staff for the 2014 Special Olympics Canada National Summer Games; Member of the Core Planning Committee for Special Olympics Canada (SOC), and represented Saskatchewan on the SOC President s Council; Chair of the Saskatchewan Special Olympics Saskatchewan board, and helped found the Training for Life Power Breakfast annual fundraiser. VOLUNTEER AWARD: Carol Chernishenko, Zehner, Nominated by Synchro Saskatchewan Currently the vice president of sport development for Synchro Saskatchewan and serves as competitions chair; and a member of the high performance committee, and technical and coaching committee. She is also the assistant computer scorer for Synchro Canada; Served in numerous capacities with the Synchro Saskatchewan including vice president of finance and administration, and computer scorer; Served as president, meet manager, and secretary for Regina Synchro; Served as a panel referee for Western Divisionals; judge and computer scorer for the MASY competition; chief scorer at Masters Nationals; and chief referee at the Canadian Prairie Invitational. 5

6 Information on the 2014 Athlete of the Year Award finalists is attached on the following pages and also online at Follow us on Facebook at or on Twitter at Special thanks to Global TV, our production and promotion partner for the Saskatchewan Sports Awards. Saskatchewan Lotteries is the main fundraiser for amateur sport in Saskatchewan supporting over 300,000 registered participants For more information contact Pat Rediger at (306) , or visit #YearofSport \ #AnneeduSport #Flag50 /#Drapeau50. 6