Jordan Naylor (L) and Karoline Tormena (R) were named the Male and Female Athletes of the Year at the Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards. (Gary Dorland/VIU Mariners)

By Dan Marshall

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May 19, 2021 | 12:46 PM

NANAIMO — The region’s best athletes, performances and storylines were honoured at the annual Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards.

The 16th installment of the Nanaimo Sport Achievement Awards was held virtually on Tuesday, May 18. Most of the winners were able to post results in the pre-pandemic months of 2020.

Sport Achievement Awards chair Marilyn Sullivan applauded the commitment of local athletes through many disruptions last year.

“We know that a lot of sports, both individual and team, could not happen in the past year, but we acknowledge the athletes for their perseverance during this pandemic.”

Two of the larger awards went to members of the CCAA championship women’s volleyball team at Vancouver Island University.

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Shane Hyde was named the High Performance Coach of the Year while Karoline Tormena selected as the Female Athlete of the Year.

Two players with ties to the Nanaimo Clippers were recognized with goalie Jordan Naylor taking the Male Athlete of the Year award and Brayden Boehm collecting Male Junior Athlete honours.

Naylor set a Clippers team record with six shutouts in the 2019-20 season while Boehm played for the Clippers in the Island Cup last fall before making the roster of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

The franchise announcement for the Nanaimo NightOwls was Sports Story of the Year.

The NightOwls were supposed to begin play in the West Coast League in 2021 but the date has been pushed back to 2022 because of COVID-19 health restrictions.

The Hero in You was given to Kyle Noble a life long fan of the Nanaimo Senior B Timbermen who passed away in 2020.

Noble was a fixture at lacrosse home games and an inspiration to the team’s players throughout the years.

The Team of the Year was given to the Nanaimo Riptides swim team and the Junior Team award went to the John Barsby senior boys basketball squad.

Azia Deal won the Junior Female Athlete of the Year for her four medal performance at the BC Winter Games.

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