SASKATOON — The province’s top athletes and other sports personalities from the past year will be honoured during a night of celebration for the 40th Annual Saskatchewan Sports Awards Gala on Thursday, Jan. 30, at Prairieland Park.
The finalists were selected for the Excellence and Recognition award categories. The recipient will be announced at the gala. The Recognition Awards—Inspire Through Sport, Volunteer Dedication, and Coach Dedication—have multiple recipients for their valued contributions.
Volleyball coach Tony Fineblanket of the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, rowing official Sheila Leach of Weyburn, and Regina’s Lindsay Markwart in Special Olympics will receive the Inspire Through Sports Award.
Fineblanket, a volunteer coach since 2022, has dedicated his time to honing the skills of his athletes and instilling in them the passion of volleyball. Leach’s involvement in provincial sports spans three decades, establishing the Estevan Minor Football Club and becoming a water polo and baseball coach; she has now concentrated as a rowing official since 2013 and promoting the sport in the province.
Markwart—who competes in bowling, track, walking, and bocce—has been a Special Olympics ambassador since joining the program 20 years ago. She has competed in numerous provincial and national events and received the Special Olympics Canada Athlete Community Excellence Award in November.
Regina’s David Calam, Denise Fernandez (tennis), and Carla Nicholls (athletics) are the awardees for the Coach Dedication category, with the former being honoured for his 31-year service in guiding multiple athletes to join his footsteps as a certified lawn bowling coach and co-developed an annual Development Clinic in Saskatoon and Regina.
Despite guiding multiple athletes to the US NCAA and being successful internationally, Fernandez continues to innovate and improve her coaching skills by attending various workshops, such as those organized by the Women’s Tennis Association Coach Inclusion Program. She is also focused on developing tennis further in the province through the high-performance junior program.
Nicholls has been involved with the athletics program for 30 years, from the provincial to the national levels. She helped establish the University of Regina’s Track & Field Club as a permanent team, which increased the number of members and participants and assisted in including Para Athletes in Canada’s athletics program. She had the privilege of being the Para Athletics Lead in the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, aside from attending the Summer Olympics in Beijing (2008), London (2012), and Rio (2016).
The Female Athlete of the Year nominees are Paris Paralympians Julie Kozun of Melfort (bronze in volleyball), Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon (bronze in swimming), and Keely Shaw of Midale (bronze in cycling). Paris Olympians Carissa Norsten of Waldheim (silver in rugby sevens) and Borden’s Savannah Sutherland (finalist in athletics) also made the list.
Moose Jaw’s Blake Tierney leads the Male Athlete of the Year nominees after winning gold and silver in separate ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships and two bronzes in the world championships. Blake Tierney of Saskatoon was named Canada’s 2024 Breakout Swimmer of the Year after setting a national record of 49.39 seconds in the 100-metre breaststroke event at the World Aquatic Championships. He was also the lone member from Saskatchewan in the Canadian Olympic men’s team in Paris. Pike Lake’s Rylan Wiens claimed Canada’s first medal, a bronze in the 10-metre synchronized platform, in the 2024 Olympics, winning two silvers in the World Cup.
Citi Para Swimming World Series gold medalist Ali Diehl of Prince Albert, Saskatoon’s double medalist in weightlifting Etta Love, and three-time gold-medal-winning diver Lila Stewart of Regina are the finalists for the Female Youth AOY.
The Male Youth AOY nominees, all from Saskatoon, are Pan-Am Championships gymnastics gold medalist Jordan Carroll, Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship bronze medalist and Canadian Junior Weightlifting Nationals gold medal winner Dryden Parchewsky, and five-time medalist Kash Tarasoff in diving.
Saskatoon’s Mary Carroll (diving), Ryan Jones (swimming), and Tyrell Sawatzky (athletics), who helped guide their respective athletes to podium finishes in the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games, are the finalists for the Coach of the Year award.
Nominated for the Team of the Year are Regina’s Elise Miller and Porter for baton twirling, who won gold in the Provincial and Canadian Championships and finished first during the National Team Trials to clinch a spot in the World Championship; the Regina Rebels claimed their second straight Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League title and won the Esso Cup, the women’s U18 national club championship; the University of Saskatchewan’s Huskies Women’s 4X800 metre relay team after ruling the U SPORTS National Championships with a U of S record time of 8:45.60, aside from claiming gold at the Canada West Championships.
