Three Richmond athletes and an official are among the finalists for Sport BC’s 53rd annual Athlete of the Year Awards that will be handed out on March 13 in Vancouver.
Golfer Chris Crisologo and fastpitch player Bryan Abrey are both up for Senior Male Athlete of the Year.
Crisologo’s decorated 2018 included with the prestigious South American Amateur in Argentina and another All-American season at Simon Fraser. The Team Canada member was the B.C. Amateur champion and was the low amateur at the PGA Tour’s Canadian Open at Glen Abbey back in July — finishing tied for 45th.
Abrey, a member of the Canada’s national men’s team, earned MVP honours in helping the New York Gremlins capture their first-ever International Softball Congress (ISC) World Championship last August in Kitchener. The McMath graduate batted .500 (7-for-14) as New York rolled to six consecutive victories, including an 8-1 romp of rival Circle Tap Dukes from Wisconsin in the championship game.
Joining Crisologo and Aubrey as finalists is high jumper Django Lovett of Surrey, a bronze medalist in high jump at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hammer throw standout Camryn Rogers is up for Junior Female Athlete of the Year. She captured the gold at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. Her opening throw of 64.90m proved to be her best as she finished ahead of American rival Alyssa Wilson (64.14m).
The Kajaks member also enjoyed an outstanding freshman season at Cal-Berkeley — setting a new school record (65.61m) last April.
Rogers is up against triathlete Desirae Ridenour and soccer player Jordyn Huitema.
Rounding out the local flavour is accomplished ice hockey referee Brett Iverson for official of the year. His impressive and growing international resumé includes working the 2018 Winter Olympics PyeongChang, Korea.
The Western Hockey League referee has been consistently assigned high-profile IIHF tournaments — including the World Championship and World Junior Championship. The 33-year-old started officiating in 1997.
Jeff Thompson (gymnastics) and Andrew Armstrong (triathlon) join Iverson as finalists.
The Athlete of the Year ceremonies will recognize BC’s best in amateur sport including athletes, coaches, and officials for outstanding performances in their sport over the 2018 season.
Each finalist in the 14 categories was nominated by their Provincial or Multi-Sport Organization, High School, College or University. The Selection Committee, chaired by Bernie Pascall, included 15 highly regarded sportswriters, broadcasters, and amateur sport leaders in BC.
