Beach volleyball duo and York students, Melissa Humana-Paredes and Victoria Altomare, received top honours from the province, winning the Ontario Sport Award for team of the year.
The Ontario government celebrated some of the province’s top amateur sports athletes and coaches Thursday night for their outstanding achievements in amateur sport in 2011.
Right: Melissa Humana-Paredes (left) and Victoria Altomare
Altomare, a psychology and kinesiology and health science student, and Humana-Paredes, a kinesiology and health science student, both in the Faculty of Health, won silver at the Under 21 World Championship in 2011, becoming the first Canadian women to stand on the podium at an international Federation Internationale de Volleyball event in the history of beach volleyball. The team won the provincial championships in 2011 and then placed third in the national championships.
Earlier this year, Humana-Paredes was named an Ontario University Athletics first-team all-star and Canadian Interuniversity Sport second-team all-Canadian for the 2011-2012 season. She earned York athlete of the week honours on two occasions, and helped the Lions to a 16-2 record and first place in the OUA standings. And just last month, she was also named York’s female athlete of the year.
Other top awards handed out at the Ontario Sport Awards were Male Athlete of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, which Altomare was nominated for, Male Athlete with a Disability of the Year and Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year.
Some 33 athletes were nominated for the awards this year.
Established in 1965, the Ontario Sport Awards marked its 46th year honouring outstanding achievements in Ontario amateur sport. It is the highest recognition for sport excellence in the province.