The finalists have been named for ADL/Sport PEI Junior Athletes of the year.
This year’s ADL/Sport PEI Junior Female Athlete of the Year finalists are Katie Fullerton and Aleya Quilty, both from the Cornwall Curling Club.
CCA/Michael Burns Photography/Mark O’Neill Photo: Katie Fullerton (right) receiving second team all-star award from Canadian Curling Association governor Cindy Maddock
17 year old Katie Fullerton threw lead stones and held the broom for the skip on the Veronica Smith rink, who won the provincial Pepsi Juniors Under 21 women’s championship. At the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Fort McMurray Alberta, the team’s first experience on arena ice, she took home second team all-star lead honours, coming within 1% of the 1st team all-star lead’s shooting percentage. The team finished in 1st place in the Fall Fling junior cashspiel at the Silver Fox, with a 6-1 record, and came fourth in the December spiel, also at the Fox. Fullerton showed great improvement this season, with her team practicing several days a week, and curling in the Tuesday night competitive league at Cornwall. Fullerton excels at school as well, and was awarded a 4 year, full-tuition scholarship to UPEI beginning in the fall of 2013
Photo credit – George Wycherley: Aleya Quilty at the CIS/CCA nationals
Aleya Quilty had a busy curling and coaching season, playing on both the Amanda MacLean team, the provincial runners-up at the Pepsi Juniors, and the Veronica Smith university team, who qualified for the CIS/CCA nationals with a B division win, and went on to a 5th place finish in Kamloops, where she had the highest shooting percentage for Team PEI. The MacLean team also competed in the Fall Fling at the Silver Fox, finishing 5th, as well as the Codiac Bonspiel in Moncton, the Maritime Junior Competitive League, and the JSI-OVCA Super Spiel in the Ottawa area, as well as practicing several hours a week, and competing in the Tuesday night competitive league at the Cornwall Curling Club.
On the coaching and instructing front, she coached boy’s teams in the Under 16 and Under 18 provincials and in weekend competitions, completed her Level 3 Coaching technical training and all six competition development and multi-sport modules,and instructed at two junior development and high performance camps. She will also be working as an instructor at the 2013 Whitecap Curling Camp at Cornwall’s APM Centre.
Quilty also excels in the sport of rowing, with three 2 hour dry land training workouts a week in preparation for competing for Team PEI in the 2013 Canada Summer Games.
An honours student throughout grade school, high school, and 1st year university, Quilty was awarded in 2012-13 with a 2012 Joyce Myers Trust Fund Scholarship, a Community Service Bursary, and an Earl D. Foster Entrance Scholarship to UPEI.
The Junior Male Athlete of the Year finalsts are Brooks Roche from Montague, and Tyler Smith from Cornwall and Crapaud.
Brooks Roche from the Montague Curling Club poses with mascot “Slider” and the Capital One Junior Draw to the Button trophy (Photo credit: Grand Slam of Curling)
Montague third Brooks Roche competed and finished in the top three at the provincials in three age categories this season, curling on the Cody Dixon rink, who finished third in the Pepsi Juniors Under 21, and the Tyler Smith team, who placed second in both the O’Connor Glass Under 18 and the Advantage Communications Junior Mixed under 16 division (where Roche played 2nd stone) championships, and third in the O’Connor Glass Under 16.
Roche, who capped off his previous season by winning the Capital One Junior Draw to the Button at the Players’ Championship in Summerside in April 2012, won the Fairplay sportsmanship award in the Under 16 division at the Junior Mixed, and also at the Under 16 championships. He volunteers with the Montague Curling Club junior program and dedicated many evenings and weekends to curling. He keeps fit with cardio workouts, and both indoor soccer in the winter and outdoor soccer in summer. Being a Type 1 diabetic, he is devoted to both fitness and nutrition for his overall health, and was a top performer in fitness at the Canada Games. He is provincial spokesperson for the 2013 IWK Molly Appeal, provincial representative for the Kids for a Cure Lobby Day for Diabetes Research in Ottawa, and was chosen delegate for the 2013 Canadian Conference on Student Leadership in BC. Academically, he achieved 1st place aggregate in Montague Junior High’s 2012 graduating class, and second in class standing at Montague High School in the fall semester.
PEICurling.com photo: Tyler Smith at the Pepsi Provincial Juniors
Former PEI Canada Games team skip Tyler Smith had another busy year, finishing in the top three in four provincial championships – coming first in the Pepsi Junior Under 21 competition, second in both the O’Connor Glass Under 18 and the Advantage Communications Junior Mixed championships U16 division, and third in the O’Connor Glass Under 16. At the M&M Meat Shops Canadian Juniors in Fort McMurray, his team finished with a 3-6 record. The second place finish in the provincial U18’s garnered the Smith rink a berth in the Atlantic U18 championships in Stephenville NL, where they finished in third place. Smith managed to curl in all four Atlantic provinces during the season, competing in junior cashspiels in Sackville NB, where they came second, and at the Lakeshore curling club in Lower Sackville NS, where they finished in third place, in addition to the provincial and Atlantic championships. He also practiced twice a week at the Cornwall Curling Club, and participated in competitive leagues both there and in Crapaud.
The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 29 at the Silver Fox Curling & Yacht Club in Summerside.