Wall of Fame 2014 Inductees

Female Junior Athlete of the Year

Sherilyn Chung – Speed Skating
In just her second year with the Lightning Speed Skating Club, Sherilyn has rocketed to the top in her age group, competing at the Canada West competition in Lethbridge. She finished 2nd at the 2014 BC Short Track championships and ended up ranked first in her division at the nationals.

Male Junior Athlete of the Year

Nextor Lin – Badminton
Nestor continued a pace he set in prior years on the badminton court – this 13-year-old has a resume to rival many of his older elite racquet wielding rivals. He won both the 2014 under-12 boys singles and mixed doubles crowns, then captured the mixed doubles title at the Western Canadians Junior Cup, with a silver in singles. He joined forces with older brother Paxton to take second in the u14 boys doubles.

Female High School Athlete of the Year

Samantha McILwrick – Field Hockey
In her final high school field hockey season, Samantha captained an under-staffed Port Moody squad to the provincials where the underdog Blues finished sixth overall. She would score a key goal in Team BC’s gold medal win at the U18 national championships. Along with this, Samantha organized an annual cancer fundraiser among the high school field hockey teams.

Male High School Athlete of the Year

Graham Miller – Basketball
Throughout his years at Dr. Charles Best, Graham has demonstrated a willingness to not just learn but to lead. This past year, including the 2015 B.C. High School AA championships, he showed that ability. As a Gr. 11 he was named captain of his basketball team, and racked up a number of tourney MVP titles en route to a Fraser Valley second-team all-star honour. He would carry that experience into his final season and lead Best to its first-ever provincial championship boys basketball tournament appearance. Well done Graham!

Female University Athletes of the Year

Golf – SooBin Kim
As a member of the University of Washington women’s golf team, SooBin helped UW earn the No. 1 NCAA ranking early in the year. She won the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Seattle, and stood as the top-rated female on the NCAA circuit when in December she ended her college career after capturing her LPGA tour card at Q-school. Quite the feat for this rising young star.

Male University Athletes of the Year

Jovan Blagojevic – Soccer
A senior with Simon Fraser University, Jovan’s stock rose like a shot from the free kick line. He would set the conference pace with 18 goals in 18 Great Northwest Athletic Conference. His achievements earned him such hardware as the West Region’s and GNAC’s Player of the Year, and finished his career eighth on SFU’s scoring list. Congratulations on a tremendous year, Jovan.

Female Senior Athlete of the Year

Jessie Sanderson – Curling
Jessie did a lot of travelling as a member of Victoria-based Team Van Osch, playing a key role as the rink’s second. Team Van Osch would beat one-time World champion Kelly Scott to claim the 2014 Scotties BC women’s curling championship. They would cap the year by being named Curl BC’s Team of the Year.

Male Senior Athlete of the Year

Kevin Reynolds – Figure Skating
There were ups and downs in 2014 for Kevin on the figure skating circuit – including skate issues that almost sidelined him from the Sochi Olympics. But he found a good fitting boot just in time and took his position on Team Canada where he played an instrumental role in Canada’s silver medal, nailing three quadruple jumps to finish second in the men’s free skate. It came on the heels of a third-straight silver medal at the nationals. He began 2015 with hip surgery, but we expect to see a lot more great things from Kevin in the near future.

Masters Athlete of the Year

Elaine Whidden – Track and Field
Hitting the golden years sometimes means gold in medals, too. Coquitlam’s Elaine Whidden made her return to the track count after years away. The 60-year-old sprinter made up for lost time in 2015, setting two new masters racing times at the Trevor Craven Memorial meet in the 100- and 200-metre women’s events. Her 100m time of 14.60 seconds bested a record set by a Canadian Masters Athletics Hall of Fame member, and she repeated the feat in the 200. As the anchor, Elaine would also put the finishing touch on another record, this time the Canadian women’s 60-plus 4x400m relay. The quartet of Tri-City Greyhounds runners knocked 27 seconds off the old standard at a meet in Surrey.

Coach of the Year

Barry Wolff
Barry, or Wolffie as he’s affectionately known to his players, took over the reins of the Express in May 2013 with little time to recruit for the 2013-14 season. But in the span of a handful of months, he built a roster that would prove to be unstoppable, as they climbed the charts once the calendar flipped. From January 2014 to May 2014, the Express went on a tear and moved up from mediocrity to become the BCHL playoff champions, upsetting Prince George, Langley, Victoria and Vernon in the process. A tremendous achievement for the boys, and for their coach.

Volunteer of the Year

Dave Parsons – Curling
If you’ve come down to the Coquitlam Curling Club, you’ve no doubt crossed paths with Dave Parsons. Considered the unsung hero of the club for the past 12 years, Dave has taken on any task, rolled up his sleeves and helped put on events big and small. He’s served numerous leagues as president, handles day-to-day chores and even takes the broom heads home to cleaning for the club’s high school program. From bonspiels to the club’s ‘learn-to-curl’ program, Dave’s knowledge and assistance is always at the ready. A curler, coach and essential part of the club, it’s a privilege to have Dave as the Wall of Fame’s inaugural Volunteer of the Year recipient.

Team of the Year

Under 16 Coquitlam Metro-Ford SC Spartans
This young group of soccer stars entered the season with big aspirations, and exceeded them. Carrying the Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club banner, the Spartans sailed through the provincial cup tournament and advanced to the nationals, where they out-scored the competition 14-1 en route to a national title. The lone goal against came in the final, where Coquitlam carted off a dramatic but richly deserved 2-1 win.

Players

• Matteo Polisi
• Devon Jones
• Coach – Les Krivak
• Assistant Coach – Rob Mazzarolo
• Manager – Rick Horvath