Three Surrey teenagers are among the finalists for Sport BC’s Athlete of the Year Awards.
Three finalists in each category were announced last month, and the winners will be announced March 5 in Vancouver.
Asianna Covington, 18, has been nominated for the Female High School Athlete of the Year award.
As a Grade 12 student/athlete at Little Flower Academy in Vancouver, she won gold medals in the discus and hammer throw, adding a silver medal in the shot put at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships last June in Langley.
Covington is the daughter of Canadian Football League Hall of Famer Grover Covington and a brother of Christian Covington, currently playing football with the Rice Owls at Rice University in Houston, Texas.
Asianna accepted a track and field scholarship offer from the Georgia Bulldogs, and is in her freshman year at Georgia University in Athens, Georgia.
Also in his freshman year at an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) is Amarveer Dhesi, a nominee for the Male High School Athlete of the Year award.
Dhesi is in the Oregon State Beavers wrestling program at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon.
While attending Burnaby Central Secondary, he won a provincial championship in the 110 kg. class. then went on to win the U.S.A. junior men’s freestyle nationals in Las Vegas last April, defeating the top-ranked high school wrestler from the United States in the final.
Taylor Kim is nominated for the Female Junior Athlete of the Year award, after a solid 2013 season which saw her win a gold medal at the 2013 Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec. She also tied for third at both the 2013 B.C. Women’s Amateur championship in Pitt Meadows and the CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Courtenay.
Kim, 19, is currently attending Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.
The 48th-annual awards ceremony and gala dinner will recognize the province’s best amateur athletes, coaches and officials in 2013.
A committee of 20 sportswriters, broadcasters and amateur sports leaders select the finalists and winners from nominations received from provincial and multi-sport organizations, high schools, colleges or universities.
“A significant number of very strong nominations were received this year,” said Sport BC President/CEO Rob Newman. “The Athlete of the Year Awards provides a great opportunity to recognize these talented and deserving athletes, coaches and officials.”