The finalists have been announced for the 2017 Bill Sturrup Award, given to the Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year.
Danielle Boiago played basketball at both the university and professional levels in 2017. The graduate of St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School also played for Team Ontario prior to attending McMaster University. Boiago was named USport Female Basketball Player of the Year for the 2017 university season.
Boiago was named USport First Team All Canadian, OUA player of the year, and OUA Defensive Player of the Year. She also played professional basketball in 2017 for the FSG Royal Eagles in the Netherlands.
Michelle Fazzari is a Hamilton-born wrestler who captured gold in the women’s 58-kilogram category at the 2017 Canadian Championships in St. Catharines. Following the nationals, she won gold at the 2017 Pan-American Wrestling Championships in Brazil. The 30-year-old also won bronze at the Senior World Championships in Paris in August, posting a 3-1 record.
Fazzari defeated the 2016 Olympic silver medallist en route to her bronze medal match against a Swedish opponent. Her lone defeat was in the semifinals against American Helen Maroulis, who won the 2016 Olympic title and went on to take the world crown in 2017.
Fazzari has qualified for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. She won the gold medal in her weight class in the trials hosted by Simon Fraser University. The 2018 Commonwealth Games will be held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, in April.
Mike Green is a 44-year-old Burlington native and professional racquetball player. He’s the current Canadian champion in Men’s Singles. Green won his 11th singles title in 2017, breaking the Canadian record for most men’s singles titles. He also won the men’s doubles championship for the 10th time.
Green’s 21 Canadian championships in men’s singles and doubles, is more than any other player. He played on the international tour with his highest ranking being eighth in 2003-04. Green has made 28 appearances for Team Canada beginning in 1996 and won gold medals three times.
He was also part of Team Canada that won the overall team title at the 2000 World Championships. He earned medals on eight other occasions and represented Canada at the 2009 World Games and 2015 Pan Am Games.
Since 1995, The Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year Award has recognized the Burlington and Greater Hamilton Area’s top athlete. A committee of 10 people narrow the list of nominations down to three finalists. Following committee deliberation, the winner is then decided.
The award is named after Bill Sturrup, 900 CHML broadcaster for more than 45 years. He died in 2007 at the age of 68. Sturrup was a mainstay on the Hamilton sports scene, working as a public address announcer at professional and amateur sporting events in Hamilton that included Hamilton Bulldogs, Hamilton Cardinals and Hamilton Tiger-Cats games.
The recipient of the award will be announced and presented at the 33rd Annual Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Children’s Fundraiser Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
Full list of GHAY nominees:
Sally Anderson — Special Olympics skiing
Reegan Chinchilla — Triathlon
Cory Conacher — American Hockey League’s Syracuse Crunch
Myles Misener-Daley — Track and field
Danny Denyanenko — McMaster University volleyball
Ryan Ellis — National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators
Jessey The Elf — Triathlon
Renata Fast — National hockey team
Laura Fortino — National hockey team
Nicholas Grubic — Rowing
Eleanor Harvey — National Fencing Team
Rayvon Higdon — Redeemer College basketball
Kevin Higson — Professional boxing
Mackenzie Hughes — Golf
Michael Chris-Ike — St. Thomas Moore football
Kiara Lacoviello — Dance, modern and jazz
Kevin Lytwyn — National gymnastics team
Kiel Matisz — National Lacrosse League’s Georgia Swarm
Tricia Misener — Track and field
Kia Nurse — National basketball team/UCONN
Sarah Nurse — National hockey team
Dan Petermann — McMaster University football
Sarah Svoboda — McMaster University rugby
Jordan Szoke — Motorcycle Road Racing
Cam Talbot — National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers
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