WESPY finalists announced along with renaming of basketball awards

It’s not just current athletes set to be honoured this year.

Ahead of the18th Windsor/Essex County Sports Persons of the Year (WESPY) Awards, which celebrates the exploits of area athletes and officials, the event announced two former basketball standouts will be remembered going forward.

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The WESPY Awards announced that the female basketball player of the year will be renamed to honour Miah-Marie Langlois while the male basketball award will be renamed to honour Mike Brkovich.

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“It was a hard decision,” WESPY founder Dominic Papa said. “It wasn’t just one clear-cut (basketball) person. So, it made more sense to (split the award) and do it that way.”

Brkovich guided Lowe to back-to-back OFSAA high school provincial titles before moving on to play at Michigan State University and won an NCAA title in 1979. A draft pick of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, Brkovich also played for Canada’s national team.

Langlois guided Catholic Central high school basketball title locally before moving on to the University of Windsor Lancers and quarterbacking the team to four national titles in a row. An Olympian, Langlois also helped Canada to two gold medals at the FIBA AmeriCup and a gold medal at the Pan American Games.

Along with the renaming of the basketball awards, the nominees for this year’s awards have also been announced along with some early award winners.

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Basketball’s Suzie Pizzicaroli won the officials award while Harold Konrad was announced as the male legacy winner.

Marie Johnson earned the Knobby Knudsen female volunteer of the year, David Tremblay Sr. earned the Award for Courage and Determination while Jimmy Stewart was named the winner of the John DeNapoli Sports Community Service Award.

Following are the award nominees for the event, which is set for April 30th at the Caboto Club.

Coach of the year – Ryan Steer (Holy Names Knights), Anthony Iaquinta (Lakeshore Canadiens) and Mike LaChance (St. Clair Saints)

Male athlete of the year – Chad Vincent-Simon (St. Clair Saints), A.J. Stanat (Windsor Lancers) and Maurice Sodja (St. Clair Saints)

Female athlete of the year – Madelyn Eybergen (Windsor Lancers), Jane Pozzi (Holy Names Knights) and Brooke Ward (Sandwich Sabres)

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Executive of the year – Jamie Kell (Tecumseh Thunder), Francine Stadler (Sun Parlour Hockey) and Mark Seguin (Lakeshore Canadiens)

Captain’s leadership award – Kaitlyn Overeem (St. Clair Saints), Owen Findlay (LaSalle Vipers) and Robert Springer (Windsor Lancers)

Team of the year – Lakeshore Canadiens, St. Clair Saints football and St. Clair Saints baseball.

Track and field – (male) Dakari Milks (Border City), A.J. Stanat (Windsor Lancers) and Drezdon Howe (Border City) and (female) Jaela Bailey (Border City), Ella Steele-Douglas (Border City) and Mandy Brunet (Windsor Lancers)

Hockey award – (male) Tre Altiman (LaSalle Vipers), Liam Greentree (Windsor Spitfires) and Kyle Walker (Lakeshore Canadiens) and (female) Maggi DeWolf-Russ (Windsor Lancers), Ariela Martino (Windsor Wildcats) and Maggie Peterson (Windsor Lancers)

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Soccer award – (male) Simon Grande (Windsor Lancers), Guilherme Silva (St. Clair Saints) and Samo Hassoun (Holy Names Knights) and (female) Kat Campana (Windsor Lancers), Victoria Walsh (St. Clair Saints) and Jane Pozzi (Holy Names Knights)

Baseball award – Brady Nelsen (St. Clair Saints), Carter Ray (Windsor Stars) and Sam Blair (Tecumseh Thunder)

Softball award – Judy Lafleur (St. Clair Saints), Jayde Melhuish-McGahan (Windsor Lancers) and Sienna Beaulieu (Windsor Wildcats)

Volleyball award – (male) Darian Koskie (Windsor Lancers), Kale Wilkinson (St. Clair Saints) and Quinton Greenridge (Windsor Lancers) and (female) Lauren Essenpreis (Sun Count Bandits), Kianna Huggins (St. Clair Saints) and Alah Admans (Windsor Lancers)

Swimming award – (male) Riley Carswell (WEST), Aaron Barta (WAC) and Lucas Safta (WEST) and (female) Tabitha Main (WAC), Taya Hutchison (WAC) and Mia Arlotti (WAC)

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Football Award – Robert Springer (Windsor Lancers), Devon Versus (Windsor Lancers) and Maurice Sodja (St. Clair Saints)

Wrestling award – (male) Francesco Lapico (WWC), Logan DeBono (WWC) and Nash Renaud (WWC) and (female) Daniella Papia (WWC), Charissa Okeke (WWC) and Taylor Quenneville (WWC)

Golf award – (male) Josh DiCarlo (Pointe West), Alex Mauro (Essex) and Ben Buchner (Sutton Creek) and (female) Alyssa Cowling (Ambassador), Ella Harris (Essex) and Emily Young (Kingsville)

Basketball award – Andrew Loyuk (St. Clair Saints), Troy Nekkers (Kennedy Prep) and Chad Vincent-Simon (St. Clair Saints) and (female) Kali Grootenboer (Windsor Lancers), Jane Pozzi (Holy Names Knights) and Kaitlyn Overeem (St. Clair Saints)

Parasport award – Anthony Cigan (St. Joseph Lasers), Brianna Williams (figure skating) and Nicholas Neri (Windsor Lancers)

Gymnastics award – Danile Hodare (Alpha), Olivia Douma (Rose City) and Alyssa Rizzo (Alpha)

Cross-country award – (male) Jacob Fitzpatrick (Windsor Lancers), Brendan Currie (Villanova) and Luke Mawinney (Windsor Lancers) and (female) Madelyn Eybergen (Windsor Lancers), Tori Horrobin (St. Clair Saints) and Anieu Chan (Windsor Legion)

Figure skating – Jake Ellis (South Windsor), Tianyu Lin (South Windsor) and Om Dighe (South Windsor)

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