RIGHT IN STRIDE AWARD
Burnaby’s Sarah Tamura recalled what it felt like to win the national novice title, and wished for it again.
In 2016, she repeated that feat, this time as a second-year junior, taking the Canadian junior ladies figure skating championship crown.
The 15-year-old celebrated her birthday by posting personal best marks in both the short and free skates en route to the gold.
“I definitely felt confident going to Halifax and it seemed like I was in the zone,” the Burnaby Central athlete said. “I did the (free) skate on my birthday, and how it all turned out was a really nice birthday present.”
In 2014, Tamura captured the national novice ladies title.
The most recent win earned the teen a number of international spots on the ISU circuit, including the World Junior championships.`
DIAMOND DREAM AWARD
With a majority of their roster coming from Burnaby, the Hastings Major All-Stars had more than a hometown advantage as the squad hosted the Canadian Little League national championships in neighbouring Hastings Community Park.
The squad delivered, beating rival Whalley 1-0 to advance to the Little League World Series.
Righthander Loreto Siniscalchi anchored the win by tossing five innings of no-hit ball, leaving the game after reaching the maximum 85 pitches. He fanned 13 in the process, while Stefano Dal Sasso got the final three outs. The lone run came in the fifth, when Nicola Barba drove home Matteo Ripoli – all Burnaby players.
After winning their first game at the World Series, beating Tokyo 10-4, Hastings dropped its next two games in the double-knockout round.
“They’ve had the time of their lives… It’s a wonderful experience just being here,” remarked manager Vito Bordignon.
RIDING THE RANGE AWARD
They were the favourites, but we all know how that can turn out sometimes.
This time, the Burnaby Winter Club remained hungry, corralling the Western Canadian AAA bantam hockey title with a 3-2 victory over the Rocky Mountain Raiders in Okotoks, Alta.
Burnaby native Massimo Rizzo scored shorthanded with 2:35 left on the clock to secure a thrilling win for the club, which strolled undefeated through the tournament.
Picking up MVP honours was Sasha Mutala, who tallied four goals and three assists over five games. Joining Rizzo and Mutala on the all-star team was goalie Kaedan Lane.
SAY IT’S SO, JOE AWARD
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the Western Hockey League held a poll to name its Top-50 players of all time. And one-time Kensington Arena rink rat Joe Sakic topped it.
The current general manager of the Colorado Avalanche, Sakic was voted the league’s best-ever product, having starred over a two-year span for the Swift Current Broncos. During his brief tenure in the WHL, the Burnaby native was named MVP twice, as well as the CHL player of the year as a sophomore. He would be drafted 15th overall by the Quebec Nordiques, who eventually moved to Denver. Sakic played 20 years in the NHL, amassing 1,641 points in a Hall of Fame career.
GAIN OVER PAIN AWARD
You could have excused Gabrielle Laguerta had she thrown in the towel after her second major knee surgery scuttled a second straight basketball season.
The St. Thomas More senior, however, isn’t the type to give up. It was evident in the opening game of the 2016 B.C. senior girls AA basketball championships, as Laguerta played her first game at the provincials in what would be her final year of high school.
She first blew out her knee at the 2013 under-16 nationals while playing for Team B.C. Through the long rehab period, Laguerta pushed herself with an eye at helping STM in its pursuit for a provincial title. In her first practice of 2015, the left knee again was torn.
Patience, determination and faith got her back in the game.
“It’s always in the back of your mind, even if you feel confident,” she said of the twice-repaired knee. “You kind of get out there and realize, I feel good and I’ve done everything I could. I’m ready to play.”
The Knights finished fourth, with graduating senior Zion Corrales-Nelson getting named to the first all-star team and the tourney’s top defensive player.
MARDI GRAS AWARD
Burnaby sent eight locals to participate in the biggest sporting event, the Rio Olympics.
It featured athletes from a variety of sports: Christine Sinclair, the captain of the national women’s soccer team, rowers Brendan Hodge and Lauren Wilkinson, field hockey’s Gabriel Ho-Garcia and Iain Smythe, basketball’s Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, and wrestlers Haislan Garcia and Danielle Lappage.
WHEELS IN MOTION AWARD
Burnaby’s Amanda Yan did all the work to earn a spot on the Canadian women’s wheelchair basketball team, and advanced to compete at the Rio Paralympics.
It made up for all the disappointment she felt when falling just short of making the Canadian roster for the 2015 Parapan Am Games. Getting a spot on the 12-player squad was extremely hard, but equally as rewarding, said Yan.
“I grew a few extra layers of skin, literally and figuratively – my hands feel like leather now, and I have a tougher exterior,” Yan said.
WHEELER DEALER AWARD
The Burnaby Lakers did what is so often impossible to do in the Western Lacrosse Association.
The Western Lacrosse Association club made a true lacrosse trade, beginning 2016 with a swap that sent Casey Jackson and a handful of draft picks to Nanaimo for 22-year-old sniper Eli McLaughlin and the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, which turned into New West junior standout Josh Byrnes.
Along with a swap which brought in starting goalie Zak Boychuk, Burnaby have constructed a team that should give league powerhouses in Victoria and Maple Ridge a challenge for the next few years.
HOW’S THIS FOR A HOT HAND AWARD
If there is a Steph Curry zone, Burnaby Mountain senior Jacey Bailey found it in January.
The versatile then-17-year-old centre paced her Lions past Eric Hamber 66-48 by scoring an amazing 55 points, finishing the Britannia tournament in third place.
Bailey’s run shattered five tournament records, starting from the three-point perimeter. She sank 12 of 15 throws, doubling the old tourney mark of six in a game. The dozen treys also established a new mark for a team, and gave her 17 over the three games.
The Team B.C. veteran also blocked a record 32 shots and scored 103 points, despite having the flu.
“It felt really good to be in the zone,” Bailey said, almost bashfully. “Did I think I would? Not 12 threes in one game, and I’m not usually a three-point shooter.”
The Burnaby native would later secure a scholarship to play at Florida Atlantic University.
“She was just in a rhythm. It was something to watch, I tell you,” remarked Burnaby Mountain vice-principal and senior girls coach James Morton.
GOING BIG AWARD
How do you follow up an amazing freshman year? Burnaby’s Briannah Tsang had an answer for that question.
The Penn State gymnast was named to the All-Big 10 first all-star team, after leading the Nittany Lions to second place at the Big Five NCAA gymnastic qualifier in March.
The 20-year-old delivered on both vault and floor exercise, posting team best results.
STEELERS WHEEL AWARD
Underdogs for much of the season, the Grandview Steelers showed some gritty gumption in a long run through the Pacific Junior B Hockey League playoffs, ending in a 4-1 best-of-seven series loss in the finals to Mission.
The Steelers, who finished the regular season at 23-16-2-3, topping both Richmond and Delta with 4-2 series decisions, before hitting the wall against the league-best Outlaws.
CUP RUNNETH OVER AWARD
The Simon Fraser University women’s golf team’s Michelle Waters sank a birdie putt on the first playoff hole to secure the individual title and spark the school to its first team Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown. Waters was in charge after the opening round but saw her lead shrink on the final day. But she proved calm and collected in the playoffs, draining a six-foot putt on the 499-yard, par-5 first hole in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
“Honestly I have never been in that situation before,” the sophomore from Qualicum Beach said. “I led on the first day and I had never been in that spot, either, so leading up to the playoff I was very nervous on the first tee.”
The Clan ended up setting a GNAC two-round team record of 617.
MAN IN THE HOT SEAT AWARD
Up for the challenge, Burnaby’s Victor Montagliani accepted a tough assignment in May when he was elected president of CONCACAF, with some major proposals on the table.
As a two-term president of Canada Soccer, Montagliani has helped spur interest and progress in the nation’s soccer development, and campaigned for the CONCACAF presidency with the aim to unite the various nations together to better soccer in its region.
A TOUCH OF GREY AWARD
He didn’t look out of place, but Burnaby’s Russ Heard admitted to feeling a bit hesitant to lace up the boots and pick up the stick for one more Western Lacrosse Association game in May as a late fill-in for the New Westminster Salmonbellies.
The 52-year-old, who later in the year would be escorted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, picked up an assist in what was his 400th WLA game – six years after game 399.
“I told them I’d only play every eight to 10 years,” Heard joked.
Heard, who played most of his WLA career in Lakers green, was inducted into Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in November.
QUICK TO QUICKEST AWARD
For St. Thomas More’s Zion Corrales Nelson, the track is where it all happens.
The multisport athlete wrapped up her high school career with three more gold medals at the B.C. High School Track and Field championships, duplicating a feat last achieved in 1983.
Corrales Nelson won the senior girls’ 100-, 200- and 400-metre dashes. She set a new personal best in the 100m race to cap it all.
“That’s what I wanted,” said Corrales Nelson. “Coming off the preliminary (heat) I just wanted to have fun with it, and to get the PB was something I was very happy with.”
Corrales Nelson is now a freshman at Cal-Berkeley on an athletic scholarship.
MEMORIES OF THE GREATEST AWARD
Burnaby fighters Manny Sobral and Dale Walters each had their memories of meeting the Greatest, Muhammad Ali, following the legendary boxer’s death in June.
Walters recalled being a 10-year-old on the undercard of Ali’s fight in 1972 with George Chuvalo.
“(Ali) said, ‘What’s your name boy?’ and I said ‘It’s Dale.’ Then he says, ‘Are you going to be the next champion of the world?’ I was kind of scared and said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to try.’ And then he says to me, ‘Well you might be the next champion of the world, but you’ll never be as pretty as me.’ And everybody laughed,” recalled Walter.
“My whole life I’ve been telling that story.”
Sobral trained under Angelo Dundee in 1996, who also trained Ali.
“He came in to visit a couple of times,” said Sobral. “(Ali) was still mobile and on his feet, still had that spark, talking a joking.”
In 2009 the two crossed paths again for a film premiere in Vancouver. Ali, with Parkinson’s disease in its advanced stage, was slowed but still an impressive person. “I got to shake his hand and eat popcorn beside him. (Parkinson’s) had definitely affected him, but he was still a powerful person.”
NASHVILLE CAT AWARD
Burnaby Winter Club’s Dante Fabbro didn’t know what to expect, but came away extremely pleased after being selected 17th overall by the Nashville Predators at the 2016 NHL Draft.
Having starred the past season with the Penticton Vees, and been a major force with Canada’s under-18 team, Fabbro wasn’t disappointed that it was the Predators who called his name.
“I grew up loving the Preds,” said Fabbro. “It’s definitely a special moment for me and my family. I’m honoured and humbled to be a part of this organization, and hopefully in the future I can make an impact.”
BIG STEPS, MORE TO GO AWARD
The Burnaby Lakers made the playoffs – which in itself is an achievement.
The season ended in late August when Victoria bounced Burnaby 14-11 in Game 7 of the semifinal.
Although they failed to advance past the first round – they would post a 10-7-1 record during the regular season, equal to that of the eventual champions from Maple Ridge. With a young lineup that features some of the best scoring talent in the league, establishing consistency will be what carries it the next step up the ladder, head coach Rory McDade said.
Picking up league awards were Boychuk, voted Most Outstanding Goaltender, and Robert Church, who joined Boychuk on the first all-star team.
“That’s a big thing, learning to handle the ups and downs. We want to keep getting better at that because it isn’t an easy thing to do with so much parity and so many lead changes in every game,” remarked McDade.
JAYS KEEP UP WITH JONES AWARD
In convincing fashion, the Burnaby Blue Jays put the brakes to a dynasty.
The Over-30 baseball squad stopped the Howe Sound Hounds 9-3 to capture the Lower Mainland playoff title, after twice being under the other foot.
It was Burnaby’s first title in three years. Pitchers Jeff Weisgerber and Jeff Ammer set the tone, as the Jays had to erase a 2-0 deficit. Reid Wildeman cranked a pair of home runs and drove in three, while outfielder Marc Noble made a tremendous play to keep the score deadlocked early in the game.
ALL IN THE FAMILY AWARD
Cousins to the core, Isabel and Melissa Chan shared in the thrill of competition in June when they medalled at the Youth World Cup karate championships in Croatia. Melissa swept through the ranks to earn Canada a gold in 16-17 girls 48-kilogram kumite. The Burnaby South student defeated her Spanish opponent 3-0 in the final.
“When I won (the final), I was ecstatic,” said Melissa. “I’m not the type of person to show it in the ring, but once I got off to the sidelines it was time to celebrate.”
Isabel collected the bronze in the 18-20 women’s 50kg division, edging her Romanian rival 3-1.
PENNY-WISE AWARD
With new Canadian Olympic star Penny Oleksiak as a national hero, the next wave of pool stars have an idol in whom to follow. For Burnaby’s Octavia Lau, success in the water reaches a national level, with potential to grow.
Lau, a Hyack Swim Club athlete, won three freestyle gold medals at the Canadian Age Group championships, including a new provincial mark in the 50-metre event. She also won the 400- and 1500m races, and finished second in the 100- and 200m events.
Joining her with a bevy of medals was clubmate Brodie Young, who copped gold in the 200 and 400m individual medleys, silvers in 100m breaststroke and 1500m free, and bronze in 200m breast.
FIGHTING SPIRIT AWARD
Burnaby’s Josipa Kafadar was game for the challenge and the spotlight.
With all the hometown pressure on her shoulders, the lanky 15-year-old delivered an opening round win at the World Junior Taekwondo championships in Burnaby in mid-November. When she defeated Bhwana Lama of Nepal and China’s Jia Li, it was a strong statement in a standout tournament. Although Kafadar would be eliminated in the quarterfinals by Turkey’s Ikra Kayir, the Alpha Secondary student can say she planted her feet on the international stage – and won.
“My parents put me in (taekwondo) to discipline me because I was a real energetic kid – they put me in hoping I’d get some energy out. It worked and they put me in sparing the next year. I just loved it,” said Kafadar.
