Nominees are in for K-W and area athlete of the year award
Hockey players Nic Hague — of the Stanley Cup champion Las Vegas Knights — and Caitlin Kraemer, of the Canadian Under-18 women’s world championship squad, are among the 13 nominees for Athlete of the Year Kitchener-Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich.
The nominees, for 2023, were announced Wednesday afternoon during a luncheon at the Kitchener Aud. The winner will be revealed May 29 at the Waterloo Rec Complex.
Hague and Kraemer are joined by Jackie Dent (badminton), Blake Jacklin (baseball), Alex Klein (bobsleigh), Ethan Powell (cycling), Drew Becker (horseshoes), Dhane Smith (lacrosse), Kelly Rudney (long drive), Khashayar Farzam (powerlifting), Ben Flanagan (track and field), Foster Malleck (track and field) and Cory Schoenherr (volleyball) as nominees for the award.
Kraemer and Farzam were on hand for the event and made brief podium appearances to thank organizers.
“The community of KitchenerWaterloo has done a lot to support me throughout the last couple of years, so just to be recognized, I’m really grateful and appreciate it,” said Kraemer, the all-time leading goal scorer for Canada’s national women’s U18 team.
The Resurrection Catholic Secondary School student also played for the Waterloo Ravens of the Ontario Women’s Hockey League and will attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth later this year.
Farzam is a Kitchener-based emergency room doctor at Grand River Hospital who set a Guinness World Record for most weight bench-pressed in 30 seconds (3,610 kg). “It’s nice to be appreciated by the community,” said Farzam. “I moved to K-W a year and a half ago (from Ajax), so to go from unknown to this means a lot.”
Wednesday’s event started with three Award of Excellence announcements.
Longtime volunteer Dave McLelland was recognized posthumously with the individual award, the Kitchener Rangers BB Blue and Red teams shared the team award, and the Waterloo Minor Hockey Association received the award for top organization.