The George Brown Huskies put a bow on the 2023-24 season Friday night, hosting the 54th Annual Athletic Awards at the Glenn Gloud Studio.
It was an evening celebrating the pack's outstanding accomplishments throughout the campaign, highlighted by two CCAA National silver medals in Men's Basketball and Badminton as well as four OCAA Coach of the Year awards.
"Our Athletic Awards Ceremony is such a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our student-athletes, coaches and teams from the past season," Manager Athletic and Recreation, Melanie Gerin-Lajoie explained. "They all work so hard and commit so much time, effort, and blood sweat and tears for the College, so it's nice to be able to give a little something back to culminate things at the end of the year and give them all the proper thank you and accolades they so truly deserve."
Badminton pair Giselle Kochapanya and Monique Lee and men’s basketball forward Christian Tabiri took home the highest honour as Female and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively.
Kochapanya and Lee experienced a historic run in Women’s Doubles within the program. Their outstanding performance led to an undefeated run at the Provincial Championships, where they secured a gold medal in the discipline for the first time since 1991. Then, they clinched a silver medal at the CCAA National Badminton Championships, marking the program's best-ever performance in this discipline.
Individually, Lee was named Women’s Badminton Player of the Year, CCAA All-Canadian, CCAA Academic All-Canadian and OCAA Women’s East Regional All-Star. Kochapanya was also named an CCAA Academic All-Canadian and OCAA Women’s East Regional All-Star.
Tabiri delivered a career-best performance, significantly contributing to the program's remarkable achievements this season. He achieved career-highs averaging 15.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. His efforts were instrumental in the team securing an OCAA silver medal for the second consecutive year and achieving the program's best Nationals result since 1976, claiming a silver medal. Tabiri's exceptional season earned him several individual accolades, including the CCAA Championship First Team All-Star, OCAA East Division First Team All-Star, and OCAA Provincial Championship All-Star honours.
Take a look at all the award winners from our pack below.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Giselle Kochapanya and Monique Lee, Badminton
MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Christian Tabiri, Men’s Basketball
FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Claire Ramos, Women’s Volleyball
MALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Matthias Broomers, Men’s Soccer
COACH OF THE YEAR
John Williams, Men’s Soccer
TEAM OF THE YEAR
Men’s Basketball
CONTRIBUTIONS TO ATHLETICS
Jordyn Dawkins, Women’s Basketball
Jason Alvarado, Men’s Soccer
FRANKIE GYAMFI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
Kobe John, Men’s Volleyball
STUDENT ASSOCIATION AWARD
Giselle Kochapanya, Badminton
Nas Robert, Men’s Basketball
STUDENT THERAPIST OF THE YEAR
Sarah Raleza, Men's Basketball
ATHLETIC ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – 4.0 GPA
Ashley Altamirano, Women’s Soccer
Janice Chen, Women’s Basketball
Sonia Chwalek, Women’s Soccer
Monique Lee, Badminton
Wai Yan Phyo, Badminton
Anges Yung, Women's Soccer
HUSKIES HEART AWARD
Fahad Alvi, Facilities
Mabroor Butt, Recreation
Taylor Grant, Facilites
Logan Norquay, Facilities
Fernanda Novaes, Events
HUSKIES SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Michelle Abalos
Thomas Byrne
Melissa Maharaj
Howard Wong
Stephanie Parson
Melissa Gallo
TEAM AWARDS: MVP
Nick Manoukarakis, Men’s Baseball
Christian Tabiri, Men’s Basketball
Jaycelyn Valencia, Women’s Basketball
Monique Lee, Badminton
Yonis Jama, Men’s Outdoor Soccer
Ashley Altamirano, Women’s Outdoor Soccer
Noak Park, Men’s Volleyball
Claire Ramos, Women’s Volleyball
Jason Alvarado, Men’s Indoor Soccer
Nathalie Finley-Horne, Women’s Indoor Soccer
TEAM AWARDS: COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE
Braeden Tremblay, Men’s Baseball
Darnell Richards, Men’s Basketball
Ava Proskos, Women’s Basketball
Giselle Kochapanya, Badminton
Adam Wood, Men’s Outdoor Soccer
Senna Mathew Mundackal, Women’s Outdoor Soccer
Ken Nguyen, Men’s Volleyball
Julia Gordon, Women’s Volleyball
Filipe Assis, Men’s Indoor Soccer
Sonia Chwalek, Women’s Indoor Soccer
