Finalists revealed, winners to be announced Wednesday
A half dozen different sports are represented among the seven finalists for the 2014 St. John’s Molson-Coors male and female athlete of the year honours.
The winners will be announced 7 p.m. Wednesday at the E.B. Foran/Greene Room, City Hall.
The female finalists are soccer players Malorie Harris and Jessie Noseworthy along with baseball player Heather Healey.
The male finalists include hockey player Clark Bishop, softballer Sean Cleary, powerlifter Josh Hancott and air rifle shooter Ben Taylor. There was a tie for third place in the male voting leading to four finalists.
Brad Gushue’s curling rink, Memorial University’s women’s soccer team and 3Cheers Pub/Bud Light softball team are the finalists for team of the year.
Don Power is the master of ceremonies for the 64th anniversary event.
MALE ATHLETE
Clark Bishop: Bishop, the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ captain, helped Canada to a bronze medal at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship in Finland and a gold medal at the Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic. Bishop was a fifth-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL Entry Draft. He has 17 goals and 12 assists in 28 games for Cape Breton this season.
Sean Cleary: Cleary helped pitch 3Cheers Bud Light to its third straight national senior softball championship, earning MVP honours. He was also named MVP of the St. John’s league and provincial tournament.
Josh Hancott: Hancott was junior world champion for his weight class following a recordsetting showing at the International Powerlifting Federation World Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hancott, who competes in the 74-kilogram (163-pound) division, set new world records in the squat, deadlift and total lift.
Ben Taylor: Taylor shot his way to the 10-metre air rifle title at the Canadian Smallbore Rifle Championships in August. The 21-year-old MUN student was also named the 2013 Shooting Federation of Canada male athlete of the year and earned an invitation to the Pan American Games Trials.
FEMALE ATHLETE
Malorie Harris: Harris was leading scorer at the national Jubilee Trophy senior women’s soccer championship. She was MVP in the Breen’s Jubilee Women’s Soccer League regular season and playoffs while winning the scoring race with 31 goals. She was also a firstteam league all-star.
Heather Healey: Healey helped the Ontario Trail Blazers to a silver medal at Diamond Classic Tournament. Batted .500 and pitched three innings for a Nova Scotia team at national senior women’s championship.
She was named Baseball Newfoundland and Labrador’s senior division player of the year.
Jessie Noseworthy: Noseworthy of the Atlantic University Sport champion Memorial Sea-Hawks was named a second team CIS all-Canadian after scoring nine goals during the AUS regular season, She was named a first-team AUS conference all-star.
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Brad Gushue Rink: In December, Gushue made it two straight Grand Slam curling titles with a 6-5 victory over Saskatchewan’s Steve Laycock at the Canadian Open in Yorkton, Sask.
In November, Gushue and his curling team from the Bally Haly Curling Club won its first World Curling Tour event of the 2014-15 season, defeating Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen 8-6 in the Masters of Curling.
Memorial women’s soccer team: The Sea-Hawks beat No. 1 seed University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds 3-1 to win the AUS women’s soccer championship in Halifax.
It was the first AUS soccer title for the women’s team.
3 Cheers Pub/Bud Light: The 3Cheers Pub Bud Light squad took home the gold from the senior nationals in Charlottetown, P.E.I., beating another St. John’s based team — Kelly’s Pub Molson Bulldogs — in an all-Newfoundland Canadian final, a first for Softball Canada's senior men's nationals.
It was the third straight Canadian crown for 3Cheers.