A pair of Robert Bateman secondary students have been nominated for a significant honour at the annual Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards.
Wrestler Rupinder Johal and football player Logan Thiessen received nominations for high school female and high school male Athlete of the Year awards respectively for their outstanding 2022 athletic years.
Big honour for @RobertBatemanSS, as the school has an athlete nominated for @SportBC's male AND female athlete of the year.
— Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) January 17, 2023
Congrats to @BatemanFootball star @thiessen_logan and wrestler Rupinder Johal for earning the nods – pic.twitter.com/D8K7BtlIbQ
Johal started off 2022 with gold in her division at the B.C. School Sports Provincial Wrestling Championships in Vancouver in February.
She then went on to represent Canada at multiple international championships, including the 2022 U17 World Championships and U17 Pan Am Championships, where she recently won gold in the 73-kilogram division and won the Women‘s Outstanding Wrestler Award.
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Johal, who also earned gold at the U17 Canadian trials and silver at the U20 Canadian trials in 2022, is an honour roll student and went undefeated in B.C. high school competition during the 2021-22 season. She did not surrender a single point during her high school season.
She went on to win two gold medals – one as part of Team BC and one in her women’s 79 kg division – at the Canada Summer Games in August. Prior to her wins she was named the flag bearer for BC at the event.
RELATED: Abbotsford’s Rupinder Johal named Team BC flag bearer at Canada Summer Games
Thiessen was a key part of the Bateman Timberwolves AA provincial champion football team and was named the most valuable lineman at the AA final on Dec. 3.
Thiessen and the Timberwolves recorded a perfect season in B.C. high school football action, winning all seven regular season, three playoff and three exhibition games in 2022. He was also named an AA provincial all-star.
RELATED: Abbotsford’s Robert Bateman Timberwolves win AA football provincial title
Outside of Bateman, Thiessen suited up for Team Dunigan in the second edition of the Canada Football Chat Prospect Game and was named a lineman MVP for his team.
Thiessen has received considerable interest from university football programs and it’s believed he will sign with a school in the coming months.
In addition to the Bateman students, a pair of Abbotsford athletes are also up for a Sport BC award in the Team of the Year category. Lana Dueck and Lucie Romeo, both members of the Canada Summer Games gold medal winning Team BC women’s rugby sevens team, are also nominated.
BC went a perfect 4-0 in preliminary play and then defeated Ontario in the semi-final and Quebec in the gold medal game on Aug. 10. It was the debut year for the sport in the Games.
RELATED: Abbotsford athletes win medals in rugby and wrestling at Canada Summer Games
Dueck and Romeo will be going up in the team category against Abbotsford’s Emma Gamache and the Trinity Western University Spartans women’s volleyball team. The Langley-based team went 15-1 in Canada West regular season conference play and went on to win the Canada West and U Sports titles.
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The 55th annual Sport BC Athlete of the Year Awards take place on Thursday, March 9 at the Vancouver Convention Centre East. The event will be hosted by the CBC’s Scott Russell and will also recognize the province’s best in amateur sport, including athletes, coaches, teams and officials for outstanding performances in their sport in either the 2021 or 2022 season.
Each finalist was nominated by their provincial or multi-sport organization, high school, college or university. The selection committee, led by long-serving chair Bernie Pascall, included a diverse group of highly experienced British Columbia sport leaders and media members.
For a full list of the nominees, visit sportbc.com.