December 19- 51st PEI Amateur Sport Awards Finalists & Winners Announced

CHARLOTTETOWN – The Sport PEI Board of Directors has made its selections for the 51st Annual Sport PEI Amateur Sport Awards, which will be hosted Thursday, December 19th at Florence Simmons Performance Hall in Charlottetown.
Among the Stewart McKelvey Athlete of the Year finalists will be Para-nordic skier Mark Arendz of Hartsville going for a record seventh award in the male category while Paris Olympic athletes Alysha Corrigan, a rugby player from Charlottetown, and Hannah Taylor, a wrestler from Summerside, headline the female category. Two-time defending Female Junior Athlete of the Year winner Vanessa Keefe returns to the finalist list in both the junior and intercollegiate categories.
The Annual Amateur Sport Awards, “Recognizing Excellence in Amateur Sport,” is scheduled to take place on Thursday, December 19, 2024, at the Florence Simmons Performance Hall. The award show will commence at 4:00 PM sharp, followed by a reception from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Florence Simmons. Tickets are $15 each and can be booked using this form.
Over 20 sports will be represented across 16 awards. Among those, recognized in the following categories will be:
Stewart McKelvey Lawyers Senior Athlete of the Year finalists
Male
Mark Arendz – Para-Nordic Ski
Tyler Smith – Curling
Martin Sobey – Triathlon
Female
Alysha Corrigan – Rugby
Jenna Larter – Speed Skating
Hannah Taylor – Wrestling
Ladner’s Source for Sports Junior Athlete of the Year finalists
Male
Riley Bissett – Lacrosse
Keegan Crawford – Archery
Cam Squires – Hockey
Female
Vanessa Keefe – Wrestling
Keely MacGrath – Judo & Wrestling
Alex Newson – Basketball
Synergy Fitness & Nutrition Intercollegiate Athlete of the Year finalists
Male
Joel Gallant – St FX Cross-Country
Theo Hustler – University of Maine-Augusta Golf
Blake Kingston – UNB Swimming
Female
Abby Hustler – St. Lawrence University Hockey
Vanessa Keefe – Brock University Wrestling
Livi Lawlor – UPEI Field Hockey
PEI Mutual Insurance Coach of the Year Finalists
Menna Arendz – Para-Nordic Biathlon
Lacey MacLauchlan – Field Hockey
Gary McQuaid – Wrestling
True Sport Award – Hannah Taylor, wrestling
CBC PEI Team of the Year co-winners – U18 Field Hockey & U19 Flag Football
ADL Masters Athlete of the Year winner – John MacDonald, powerlifting
PEI Mutual Insurance Official of the Year – Mike Richards, baseball
SCORE! Charlottetown Event of the Year – 20th annual Prince Edward Island Marathon
ADL Volunteer Administrator of the Year – Lauren Craig, volleyball
Stewart McKelvey Lawyers Senior Athlete of the Year finalists
For the first time in his career, Mark Arendz swept gold in all three World Cup categories, shooting a perfect 35-for-35 record. The Hartsville native served as Canada’s flag bearer for the inaugural Para Biathlon World Championships in BC, collecting another trio of gold medals and a second consecutive Crystal Globe as the top overall International performer, the third of his 14-year career.
While capturing his fourth-straight provincial tankard in 2024, Cornwall’s Tyler Smith led PEI to its best finish at the Brier in 18 years, earning seventh with a five-and-three record. He reached the same placement at the Mixed Curling Nationals after skipping his team to a second consecutive provincial title. Motivated by his first taste of competing among the elite Grand Slam of Curling, Smith’s started this season with a fire to improve on his 2024 marks.
Charlottetown’s Martin Sobey returns to the senior finalists’ list for a second straight year as one of Canada’s top triathletes. The 28-year-old climbed just one spot shy from Canada’s two Olympic qualifier positions, though he managed to be the first or second national team member to cross the finish line in all five competitions he raced.
Female
Scoring a try in the gold-medal game, Charlottetown’s Alysha Corrigan earned a silver medal with Team Canada at the Paris Summer Olympics while upsetting defending medalists France and Fiji as well as heavily-favoured Australia A member of both Canadian sevens and fifteens Senior teams, Corrigan was honored by RugbyDump as a member of their Olympic Seven’s Dream Team and returned to play professionally in England this fall.
Brookfield’s Jenna Larter took bronze medals in the 500-metre race at both the Canada Cup final last winter and National Long Track Championships in October. While training at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Larter competed in several international-level events, securing gold at the Overall Classic and Summer Classic in the 500-metre event as well as a silver medal for the 1000-metre race.
Summerside’s Hannah Taylor achieved her childhood goal of being PEI’s first Olympic wrestler this past summer, finishing fifth at the Paris Summer Games in the 57-kg category. The 26-year-old finished first at the Canadian Olympic Trials and second at Pan-Am Olympic Qualifiers make it to Paris while winning invitational tournaments in France and Italy during preparation.
Ladner’s Source for Sports Junior Athlete of the Year finalists
Female
Capturing gold medals at the Ontario Juniors and Canadian Junior Championships, Oyster Bed’s Vanessa Keefe qualified for the Under-20 Pan-Ams in Peru this summer, where she finished second and earned her first international medal. A tough initial draw at the U20 World Championships put the Oyster Bed native against the eventual gold and bronze medal winners, resulting in a 12th-place result. Keefe also won silver at Senior nationals in the 68-kg division.
Keely MacGrath of Fort Augustes opened her year dominating Eastern Wrestling Championships with gold in the Under-17 and Under-19 divisions as a 14-year-old while earning the title of top female at the competition. At the Wrestling Nationals, MacGrath set records for fastest win and most wins by pinfall as she secured bronze in the under-17 category. Her only loss to date on the mats came to a two-time National Champion. In Judo, she earned bronze at both the Eastern Canadian Championships and the Canadian Open Nationals.
Stratford’s Alex Newson could become the first basketball player to win this award after leading Team PEI U17 a fifth-place nationals finish while leading the competition in scoring and rebounding. The First-Team All-Canadian guard was the PEISAA basketball MVP as a Grade 10 student and now competes in Ontario at King’s Christian Collegiate, one of Canada’s best prep schools, leading the team in scoring.
Male
Winsloe’s Riley Bissett was awarded Rookie of the Year after his first season in the East Coast Junior Lacrosse League with the Saint John Rapids. The 17-year-old’s 35 goals were second-most league-wide and he was selected to play for Canada’s Under-18 team at world championships before a development of Peri-Myocarditis caused him to withdraw.
Covehead’s Keegan Crawford scored gold in multiple archery disciplines this year, winning at both Atlantic Indoor and National Field Archery Championships. Crawford competed internationally at the Youth Pan-Am Championships in El Salvador, finishing 8th, and was named as the first alternate for Team Canada at the Under-21 World Field Championships.
St. Peter’s Harbour native Cam Squires finished his third season with the Cape Breton Eagles leading the team in points and setting a new franchise record for most points in a playoff series with 11 points in 5 games. Squires signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils and spent the first month of the season in their main camp.
Synergy Fitness & Nutrition Intercollegiate Athlete of the Year finalists
Female
A finalist for the NCAA women’s National Hockey Player of the Year award, Abby Hustler of St. Louis led the St. Lawrence Saints team in goals, assists, and points while finishing top-four league-wide in all three categories with 55 points in 39 games. Scoring the second-most powerplay goals in the nation, Hustler led her squad to their first national quarterfinal appearance since 2007 while adding a Second-Team All-ECAC selection, National Player of the Month award, and three consecutive All-Academic Team nods to her resume.
At the 2024 OUA Championships, wrestler Vanessa Keefe successfully defended her 2023 gold medal and helped Brock secure their eighth-straight conference team title. At the U Sports Championships, the Kinesiology major improved on her previous year’s finish, earning a national silver medal.
Charlottetown’s Livi Lawlor was named Atlantic University Field Hockey’s most valuable player and a first-team all-star while helping the UPEI Panthers to a third straight league championship, scoring the title-winning goal in a shootout. At U Sports Nationals, Lawlor was recognized as a member of the All-Canadian and Tournament-Eleven teams and a finalist for national Outstanding Player of the Year.
Male
Wellington’s Joel Gallant, a cross-country athlete at St. FX, earned first-team AUS All-star recognition for the second year in a row. Joel finished top four in invitational meets at Moncton, Acadia, and St. FX’s own, guiding the X-men to first place in each, before finishing second as a team at AUS Championships.
Miminegash’s Theo Hustler, a golfer at the University of Maine-Augusta, earned Second-Team USCAA All-American honors as well as a First-team All-Conference spot in his freshman season. Hustler won National player of the week title after a team and individual first-place finish in just his second meet. Among his highlights, the 18-year-old claimed victory at his own school’s invitational and tied for 13th at the National Championships.
UNB Reds swimmer Blake Kingston broke the Atlantic University Sport record in the 100-metre breaststroke at AUS championships winning a Gold medal in the process, before beating the time again at U Sports Nationals. The UNB swim team MVP also won AUS Gold in the 200-metre breaststroke while picking up silver in the 50-metre and a bronze medal as part of the four-by-one-hundred freestyle relay.
PEI Mutual Insurance Coach of the Year Finalists
In his second year leading the Canadian Para-Nordic Biathlon program, Menno Arendz guided the team to seven podium finishes at both the World Championships and through the World Cup season, including a total of nine gold medals. The Hartsville native’s impact was recognized by Biathlon Canada as their Male Coach of the Year.
Field hockey coach Lacey MacLauchlan had success at international, national, and intercollegiate levels in 2024. MacLauchlan served as an assistant coach for the National Under-17 and Senior development teams this year while maintaining her role as head coach for the UPEI Panthers and provincial Under-18 team. She was named Atlantic University coach of the year while helping UPEI to a third-straight league championship and first-ever U Sports national appearance and led the U18 team to PEI’s first-ever national medal, a bronze in BC.
In the 2024 season, Island Wrestling Academy head coach Gary McQuaid’s athletes earned a combined 58 gold, 43 silver, and 57 bronze medals across provincial and regional competitions. The retired lawyer ensures that athletes are not the only ones receiving his guidance, supporting the development of young coaches transitioning from the role of an athlete.
CBC PEI Team of the Year co-winners – U18 Field Hockey & U19 Flag Football
For the first time since 2010, the Team category will have co-winners as both the Under-18 provincial Field Hockey team and Under-19 male provincial Flag Football team won bronze medals at their respective national championships. It was the first national medal in PEI’s history for both field hockey and football. The field hockey team also produced two players who made the Tournament 11 all-star team (Maggie Mullins and Katie-Grace Noye).
ADL Masters Athlete of the Year winner – John MacDonald, powerlifting
In October, the 41-year-old traveled to South Africa where he lifted the most weight across all divisions at both the Commonwealth and World Masters Powerlifting Championships, taking gold in his division while earning the 2024 “Champion of Champions” crown. His year also saw wins at the Central Canadian and National Championships, hosted locally in Summerside. MacDonald also serves as a coach to athletes of all ages and capabilities while serving as president of the PEI Powerlifting Association and founder of a busy youth lifting club.
PEI Mutual Insurance Official of the Year – Mike Richards, baseball
In his 8th season as PEI Provincial Umpire Supervisor, Baseball Canada recognized Mike Richard’s abilities selecting him to serve as plate umpire for the twenty-two-and-under men’s national gold medal game as well as their international development pathway program and a finalist for their Umpire of the Year award. President of the PEI Baseball Umpire Association and a nationally certified senior course conductor, the 29-year-old officiated in the Western Canada Baseball League, NC double-A Spring Training, and New Brunswick Senior Men’s League while attending MLB’s elite development camp.
SCORE! Charlottetown Event of the Year – 20th annual Prince Edward Island Marathon
Sold out in all twelve race categories, the 20th Annual Prince Edward Island Marathon was the organization’s largest event to date with just under three thousand total participants coming from all over Canada, the United States, Sweden, Barbados, Kenya, Puerto Rico, and Uganda. Unveiling two new awards, organizers of the first PEI marathon Parker Lund and Ken Campbell were honored with the legacy award while Doug MacEachern was selected for the Jim Larkin Volunteer of the Year, named in memory of a long-time board member. The 2024 event had five course records broken, all of which by Island residents and couldn’t have been possible without the thousands of hours put in by 250 local volunteers. The marathon has raised over $85,000 for the Canada Mental Health Association PEI division since 2017.
ADL Volunteer Administrator of the Year – Lauren Craig, volleyball
Everything from major travel arrangements to registration to liaisons with parents, coach certification, and social media, Lauren Craig does everything she can off the court to help the success of the Red Mudd Volleyball Club and its approximate 100 members.
Volleyball PEI’s volunteer of the year, Lauren helped her club send three teams to nationals and participate with six in the provincial program. While her organizational and research skills are often heralded by fellow organizers, Lauren loves to see others thrive and mentors other team managers as they help their own teams.
True Sport Award – Hannah Taylor, wrestling
Hannah Taylor made history as PEI’s first-ever Olympic wrestler this summer, fulfilling a goal she set in her early days as a teenage wrestler. Though the 26-year-old finished just shy of the podium, her gracious handling of the painful defeat was as inspiring as any piece of hardware.
Alongside her fiance and training partner Ligrit, the nine-time national champion credits taking risks, trying new things, and exploring the art of wrestling for her rise in the sport that she regularly gives back to through organizing fun events for her team, hosting clinics for Island athletes, coaching, and as an outstanding role model.
The seven True Sport principle descriptions use such phrases as, “discover how good you can be”, “win with dignity and lose with grace”, “find the joy in sport and share it with others”, “respect and care for your mind and body”, “invite and welcome others into sport”, and “make a difference in the community”. Under these guidelines, Taylor is the True Sport World Champ.
For more information, contact:
Mitch Sanderson
Communications & True Sport Lead, Sport PEI
msanderson@sportpei.pe.ca