{"id":856507,"date":"2025-06-18T22:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T03:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/18\/wespy-finalists-announced-along-with-renaming-of-basketball-awards\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T22:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T03:13:13","slug":"wespy-finalists-announced-along-with-renaming-of-basketball-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/18\/wespy-finalists-announced-along-with-renaming-of-basketball-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"WESPY finalists announced along with renaming of basketball awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<article aria-labelledby=\"articleTitle\" data-wcm-id=\"244de4f4-4c4d-4904-82b5-6a377bf0b1e2\">\n<header aria-label=\"Beginning of Article\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Author of the article:<\/p>\n<p><span> <a href=\"https:\/\/windsorstar.com\/author\/jim-parker-windsor-star\/\">Jim Parker<\/a> <\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span> Windsor Star<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Published Apr 17, 2025<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span>Last updated Apr 18, 2025<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span>4 minute read<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure data-aqa=\"featured-image\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=564&#038;h=423&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=KmuOa0-usHyqpVTqapsaAA, \nhttps:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1128&#038;h=846&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=R3JW3EEFzDncia2SEdx6Zg 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=564&#038;h=423&#038;type=jpg&#038;sig=zBx6u-RvQaeNZ5EGZKDLnA, \nhttps:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1128&#038;h=846&#038;type=jpg&#038;sig=W0AtV_Eop6FxnLb_Reuokw 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=472&#038;h=354&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=xYYq_2yKCY2x2WpXmned2Q, \nhttps:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=944&#038;h=708&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=KLXljN5tUhmv32kFExPOXw 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=472&#038;h=354&#038;type=jpg&#038;sig=i8Y-zikTzpGZ3nUJuIudhQ, \nhttps:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=944&#038;h=708&#038;type=jpg&#038;sig=EmUD9mxZBlaE-Ffsit49Gw 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=288&#038;h=216&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=p9O10FjGoTSC6ep2fQf1Ow, \nhttps:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=576&#038;h=432&#038;type=webp&#038;sig=Jx04xX5pZ9TWoZa6vKmjKA 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The WESPY Awards has renamed the female basketball award to honour former Canadian Olympian and Windsor Lancers' standout Miah-Marie Langlois.\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=288&#038;h=216&#038;sig=UOuxtK9A-s6yRuwtt1PU1Q\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=288&#038;h=216&#038;sig=UOuxtK9A-s6yRuwtt1PU1Q,\n                    https:\/\/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital\/windsorstar\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/28-marie.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=576&#038;h=432&#038;sig=bjIcCYSfrY-l8h1bpt0IvQ 2x\" height=\"750\" width=\"1000\"><\/picture><figcaption><span>The WESPY Awards has renamed the female basketball award to honour former Canadian Olympian and Windsor Lancers&#8217; standout Miah-Marie Langlois.<\/span> <span>Photo by Nick Brancaccio<\/span> \/<span>Windsor Star<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section>\n<p>It\u2019s not just current athletes set to be honoured this year.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section data-aqa=\"identity-sign-in\" data-async id=\"article-block\">\n<header>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Windsor Star\" height=\"37\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/18.9.4\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-ws-new.svg\" width=\"280\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.<\/li>\n<li>Get exclusive access to the Windsor Star ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.<\/li>\n<li>Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.<\/li>\n<li>Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n<p>Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.<\/li>\n<li>Get exclusive access to the Windsor Star ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.<\/li>\n<li>Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.<\/li>\n<li>Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n<p>Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Access articles from across Canada with one account.<\/li>\n<li>Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy additional articles per month.<\/li>\n<li>Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n<p>Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Access articles from across Canada with one account<\/li>\n<li>Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments<\/li>\n<li>Enjoy additional articles per month<\/li>\n<li>Get email updates from your favourite authors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div data-auth-component id=\"auth-screen-form\" aria-live=\"assertive\">\n<h2>Sign In or Create an Account<\/h2>\n<p><span><\/span><span>or<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a hard decision,\u201d WESPY founder Dominic Papa said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just one clear-cut (basketball) person. So, it made more sense to (split the award) and do it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s Milwaukee Bucks, Brkovich also played for Canada\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Along with the renaming of the basketball awards, the nominees for this year\u2019s awards have also been announced along with some early award winners.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div aria-labelledby=\"WindsorStarSports7416797173862314800782285599670272\" data-account-id=\"b9d3df2fccd108b5eff3c44f573b2cd6\" data-aqa=\"widget-newsletter\" data-newsletter=\"single\" data-newsletter-component data-target-list=\"WS_SportsNews\" data-widget=\"newsletter\">\n<p>By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p>Basketball\u2019s Suzie Pizzicaroli won the officials award while Harold Konrad was announced as the male legacy winner.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Following are the award nominees for the event, which is set for April 30th at the Caboto Club.<\/p>\n<p><b>Coach of the year \u2013<\/b> Ryan Steer (Holy Names Knights), Anthony Iaquinta (Lakeshore Canadiens) and Mike LaChance (St. Clair Saints)<\/p>\n<p><b>Male athlete of the year \u2013<\/b> Chad Vincent-Simon (St. Clair Saints), A.J. Stanat (Windsor Lancers) and Maurice Sodja (St. Clair Saints)<\/p>\n<p><b>Female athlete of the year \u2013<\/b> Madelyn Eybergen (Windsor Lancers), Jane Pozzi (Holy Names Knights) and Brooke Ward (Sandwich Sabres)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><b>Executive of the year \u2013<\/b> Jamie Kell (Tecumseh Thunder), Francine Stadler (Sun Parlour Hockey) and Mark Seguin (Lakeshore Canadiens)<\/p>\n<p><b>Captain\u2019s leadership award \u2013<\/b> Kaitlyn Overeem (St. Clair Saints), Owen Findlay (LaSalle Vipers) and Robert Springer (Windsor Lancers)<\/p>\n<p><b>Team of the year \u2013<\/b> Lakeshore Canadiens, St. Clair Saints football and St. Clair Saints baseball.<\/p>\n<p><b>Track and field \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Hockey award \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><b>Soccer award \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Baseball award \u2013<\/b> Brady Nelsen (St. Clair Saints), Carter Ray (Windsor Stars) and Sam Blair (Tecumseh Thunder)<\/p>\n<p><b>Softball award \u2013<\/b> Judy Lafleur (St. Clair Saints), Jayde Melhuish-McGahan (Windsor Lancers) and Sienna Beaulieu (Windsor Wildcats)<\/p>\n<p><b>Volleyball award \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Swimming award \u2013 <\/b>(male) Riley Carswell (WEST), Aaron Barta (WAC) and Lucas Safta (WEST) and (female) Tabitha Main (WAC), Taya Hutchison (WAC) and Mia Arlotti (WAC)<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<p><b>Football Award \u2013 <\/b>Robert Springer (Windsor Lancers), Devon Versus (Windsor Lancers) and Maurice Sodja (St. Clair Saints)<\/p>\n<p><b>Wrestling award \u2013 <\/b>(male) Francesco Lapico (WWC), Logan DeBono (WWC) and Nash Renaud (WWC) and (female) Daniella Papia (WWC), Charissa Okeke (WWC) and Taylor Quenneville (WWC)<\/p>\n<p><b>Golf award \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Basketball award \u2013<\/b> 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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Parasport award \u2013<\/b> Anthony Cigan (St. Joseph Lasers), Brianna Williams (figure skating) and Nicholas Neri (Windsor Lancers)<\/p>\n<p><b>Gymnastics award \u2013<\/b> Danile Hodare (Alpha), Olivia Douma (Rose City) and Alyssa Rizzo (Alpha)<\/p>\n<p><b>Cross-country award \u2013<\/b> (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)<\/p>\n<p><b>Figure skating \u2013<\/b> Jake Ellis (South Windsor), Tianyu Lin (South Windsor) and Om Dighe (South Windsor)<\/p>\n<p><span><span \n                data-original-string='+Gui0hJ\/M63xUdYvUg2zRA==7f4On9E+6pEH2V28rzI1s6bIzyhzZvdk1U\/ssCdG3yzcL8='\n                class='apbct-email-encoder'\n                title='This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.'>jp<span class=\"apbct-blur\">******<\/span>@<span class=\"apbct-blur\">*******<\/span>ia.com<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>twitter.com\/winstarparker<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section>\n<p>Article content<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p> Jim Parker <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/windsorstar.com\/sports\/wespy-finalists-announced-along-with-renaming-of-basketball-awards\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Author of the article: Jim Parker \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Windsor Star Published Apr 17, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated Apr 18, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read The WESPY Awards has renamed the female basketball award to honour former Canadian Olympian and Windsor Lancers&#8217; standout Miah-Marie Langlois. Photo by Nick Brancaccio \/Windsor Star It\u2019s not just current athletes set<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":856508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33925,135686],"tags":[11204,135685],"class_list":["post-856507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-finalists","category-wespy","tag-finalists","tag-wespy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}