Richmond is well-represented among the finalists for the 54th annual Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards set for March 12 at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
The event recognizes the province’s best in amateur sport including athletes, coaches, teams, and officials for outstanding performances in their sport over the 2019 season.
Each finalist was nominated by their Provincial or Multi-Sport Organization, High School, College, or University. The Selection Committee, led by long-serving Chair Bernie Pascall, included a diverse group of highly experienced British Columbia sport leaders and media members.
Camyrn Rogers and Wendy Zhang are both finalists for Junior Female Athlete of the Year.
Rogers, 20, had an outstanding sophomore season at Cal-Berkeley in the hammer throw — capped by capturing the national title at the NCAA Championships last June in Texas. She earlier won the Pac-12 and NCAA West Regional titles, setting new personal bests along the way. She also represented Canada at the Pan Am Games.
Zhang, 17, led the way for Team BC on the badminton court at the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer. The Richmond High Grade 12 student captured gold in the singles and doubles event. That led to being the BC flag bearer for the Games Closing Ceremonies. The national team member also represented Canada at the Junior World Championships in Russia.
They are up against cyclist Emily Johnston from Comox.
Race walker Evan Dunfee is a finalist for Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
The 29-year-old captured bronze in the 50-km event at the World Championships in Qatar. Dunfee started the race in the 20th position and his way through the pack, reaching fifth place with 10-kilometres to go before charging up the last lap to reach the podium in a time of 4:05:02. It sets the stage for him to be a medal threat at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Joining Dunfee as finalists are Vancouver’s Scott Tupper (field hockey) and Burnaby’s Brian Maxwell (archery).
Finally, Christine Wong is a finalist for Female Coach of the Year for her work on the golf course, that includes overseeing the program at Langara.
“The Athlete of the Year Awards is a true celebration of sport in our province, these finalists represent an exceptional 2019 in BC sport. We congratulate all of our finalists and the organizations they represent”, shares Sport BC’s President and CEO, Rob Newman. “The 2019 finalists represent 20 sports from 24 different communities demonstrating the collective strength of our province’s sport sector.”
An additional six awards will be presented at the ceremony including the Best of BC, KidSport BC Community Champion, Harry Jerome Comeback, Daryl Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award and In Her Footsteps Honourees.
