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Town of Amherst recognizes Athletic Achievers

Five teams and 29 individuals who achieved gold medal performances in provincial or higher level of competition were honoured by the Town of Amherst during the 2019 Athletic Achievers Award Ceremony on Feb. 12.

“On behalf of Mayor David Kogon and all members of council I want to congratulate all the athletes we are honouring here tonight,” Deputy-Mayor Christie said before the awards were handed out.

“These athletes have achieved gold medal performances at the provincial, national or international level. We acknowledge it takes practice, hard work and sacrifice to achieve the level of success that each of you have enjoyed.

“Take pride in the performances you delivered at the provincial, national or international level for I can tell you each and every resident of Amherst is proud of your accomplishments.

“Your successes encourage others to become more active and that helps Amherst meet its goal of becoming the most active, healthiest community in Nova Scotia.”

Deputy-Mayor Sheila Christie, Coun. Terry Rhindress and Recreation Director Bill Schurman presented certificates recognizing their achievements to the athletes.

Those presented with certificates were:

Special Olympics – N.S. Provincial Summer Games – Gold Medalists

• Brad Coady – 200 metre race and shot put
• Laura Mooring – Singles Bocce
• Jarrett Green – Running long jump
• Kyle Dillman – Shot put
• Matthew Porter – Shot put
• Savanna Snowdon – Shot put

Special Olympics – NS Provincial Summer Games – Amherst Coyotes Soccer Team

• Robert Babineau, Tim Bird, Terry Black, Allison Borden, Jacob Fisher, Corey Hanson, Ryan Mootrey, Robyn Munro, Brandon Ott, Rebecca Sprague, Jesse Williams, Lisa Hines (coach) and Acacia Dunphey (coach)

Cumberland Spartans Swim Club

• Reagan Bushen – Gold Medal in 200 IM at the Nova Tech Explosion Provincial Championship
• Ava Taggart – Gold Medal in 100 IM at the Nova Tech Explosion Provincial Championship
• Simon Busk – 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly at the Fast and Furious Invitational
• Olivia Bacon – 50m freestyle

Maine LRSC Junior Olympics Trials Provincial Team Members

• Olivia Bacon, Adam Bobadilla-Amaran, Jordan Beaton, Ella McGuigan and Lauren Millard

Amherst Regional High School Boys Slo-Pitch Team – Division 1 Provincial Champions

• Jackson Comeau, Cal Hoeg, Brady Crowe, MacKenzie Comeau, Mike Farrell, Cole Stevens, Jackson Colborne, Jacob Melanson, Zac Boudreau, Matthew Hunter, Frank Bacon, Jayden Matheson, Kyle Walker, Darren Collins (coach) and Charlie Chambers (coach)

Amherst Sonics Basketball – N.S. under-18 AAA Provincial Champions

• Patrick Liebmann, Sam LeBlanc, Sam Wade, Justin Milner, Frank Bacon Caleb van Vulpen, Kegan Chitty, Aidan Devine, Nabil Mohamad, Brady Crowe, Adam Blair, Jason Morse (coach) and Chris McCarthy (coach)

NSSAF PARA – Gold Medalist Track & Field 2018

• Quentin Knock – gold medalist in the 200 metre and 800 metre races, and shot put.

Amherst Figure Skating Club

• Savanah Cobbett – pre-juvenile ladies under-11 2018 provincial champion, pre-juvenile ladies under-11 tri-province section 2018 provincial champion
• Eve Scott – Star 4 Elements 2018 provincial champion

Aerials Gymnastics – 2018 N.S. Provincials

• Imogen Quinn – Open 6 beam provincial champion

Amherst Shotokan Karate Academy – 2018 Maritime International Karate Daigaku Regional Tournament Winners

• Jace Cousins – Gold, male brown and black belt, age 10-12, Individual Youth Kumite (sparring)
• Nicole Robinson - Gold, combined male and female green-belt, age 16+, individual Kumite (sparring

Amherst Shotokan Karate Academy – 2018 International Karate Daigaku Officials – Barbados

• David Pyke – arbitrator
• Janice Pyke – tournament director
• Norman Robitza – judge

Amherst Regional High School Vikings – NSSAF Baseball Division 2 Provincial Champions

• Jackson Comeau, Aaron Sjanic, Brady Crowe, Cal Hoeg, Michael Farrell, Cole Stevens, Graden Chitty, Jayden Matheson, Jake Adams, Isaac van Snick, Declan Leblanc, Kyle McCarthy, Ryan Rideout, Ethan Herrett, Darren Collins (coach), Jeff Hoeg (assistant coach) and Matt Chitty (assistant coach) 

JC’s Tae Kwon Do – 2018 Gold Medalists

• Jessica Liebmann – Canadian National Junior Women’s – heavy-weight sparring red belt and junior women’s red belt patterns red
• Kaden Wilson – Eastern Canadian ITF Championships – boys 10-12-year-old green belt heavy-weight sparring
• Nathaniel White – Eastern Canadian ITF Championships – boys 10-12-year-old blue belt patterns and boys 10-12-year-old middle-weight sparring, and Canadian National boys 10-12-year-old blue belt patterns
• Brandon Arseneault – Maritime Open Martial Arts Championship pre-junior light-weight sparring; Mastering the Elements Championship pre-junior boys black belt patterns
• Sue Smith – Canadian ITF National Championships senior-women’s hyper-weight sparring (Ms. Smith has also been selected to be a member of Team Canada that is going to the World Championships in Germany this April)
• William Dickinson – N.S. ITF open boys’ 10-12-year-old yellow-belt light-weight sparring; Maritime Open Martial Arts Championship 10-12-year-old yellow-belt, light-weight sparring
• Beau Janes – Canadian ITF National boys’ 10-12-year-old, green-belt, middle-weight sparring
• Alex Rossong – Maritime Open Martial Arts Championships 10-12-year-old boys’ red-belt light-weight sparring; Mastering the Elements boys’ 10-12-year-old red-belt light-weight sparring; Canadian ITF National boys’ 10-12-year-old red-belt light-weight sparring
• Oliver Perron – Maritime Open Martial Arts Championships boys’ 6-8-year-old yellow-belt patterns
• Owen Baker – Mastering the Elements boys’ 6-8-year-old yellow-belt sparring; N.S. ITF Open boys’ 6-8-year-old yellow-belt sparring.