CHRIS QUANTOCK, Holly Knowles and Anna Docherty have made the shortlist for the 2018 Active York Sportsperson of the Year award.
The winner, along with those in a host of other categories at the Active York Sports Awards, will be decided on Thursday, March 22 in a presentation ceremony at the University of York’s Roger Kirk Centre.
There are 14 awards in all, with seven of them featured here in today's Press. These seven awards are listed, along with the nominations for each one.
Tickets for the Active York Sport Awards night are available until Friday.
They cost £40 and can be bought by emailing info@thirstcommunications.co.uk or phoning Leanne on 07739 827108.
Sportsperson of the Year
Chris Quantock
Darts player Quantock qualified for the PDC Tour for the first time in 2017 and has already risen to 68 in the world rankings.
He narrowly missed out on a place at the World Championships at Alexandra Palace, but has beaten a host of the sport’s biggest names during his first year on the circuit.
Among his scalps were two-time world champion Adrian Lewis, along with the likes of Ronnie Baxter, Kevin Painter and Vincent van der Voort.
His talent has not gone unnoticed and he is now being mentored by two-time world champion Gary Anderson.
Quantock also qualified for the third round of the 2017 UK Open, where he was beaten by former World Championship finalist and Premier League ace Simon Whitlock.
Holly Knowles
Weightlifting supremo Knowles has been selected for the Wales Commonwealth Games team to compete at Gold Coast this year.
She placed 10th in the British Seniors (63kg), second in the British Under-23s (63kg) and first in the Welsh Seniors (63kg), despite competing as a junior U21 lifter.
Knowles also placed second at British Universities Championship, taking first place in the British U23 (69kg) class.
Her best lifts to date, meanwhile, saw her clean and jerk 91kg and Snatch 74kg for Team Wales.
She trains out of Dominus Strength and Conditioning, who are based in York.
Anna Docherty
Having starting cycling aged nine in the Hempland Primary School playground with Clifton Cycling Club, she has steadily improved to the all-round rider she is today. Now a member of LIV Halo Cycling Club and picked for the Great Britain Junior Academy, she has won silverware at national and international meets.
Young Male Sportsperson
Harvey Fisher
Fisher competes for the X Martial Arts Kickboxing and, during the latter part of 2017, travelled to the USA to participate in the World Championships, where he won a silver medal in the 12-and-under category.
James Hendon
Nine-year-old York Sport Development swimmer Hendon qualified for the Yorkshire Swimming Championships and also plays football for York City.
Tom Carswell
The Tadcaster Swim Squad youngster won multiple titles and medals at the North-East and Yorkshire Championships.
He also finished in the top 10 at the British Championships and placed fifth in the English National Championships.
Young Female Sportsperson
Lucy Hadaway
Hadaway, of City of York Athletics Club, enjoyed a fantastic 2017, competing at a regional, county, national land international level, culminating in two call-ups to represent England.
She subsequently took silver in the long jump and bronze in hurdles at the World Schools competition in France, as well as a bronze for the former discipline at the Youth Commonwealth Games in the Bahamas.
Hadaway went on to earn an invite to last month’s British Indoor Masters.
Lucy Edmunds
York City Rowing Club’s Edmunds represented Great Britain and gained international honours three times in 2017, including a place in the Junior World Rowing Championships’ quadruple sculls team.
She has been guided by Phil Jones at York City RC and is a member of the GB select elite group that is invited for additional training at the national rowing centre in Caversham.
Domestically, Edmunds’ 2017 highlight was reaching the final of the Women’s Senior Double Sculls at Henley Women’s Regatta, with a sculler from Leeds.
She also finished fourth in the quadruple sculls at the Munich Junior International Regatta, the European Junior Championships and the World Junior Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania.
Edmunds has been offered a place, meanwhile, to study for a degree at Yale University in the USA, which runs one of the world’s top rowing programmes and is now training for selection for the GB U23 team.
Tia Molesbury
Kenshinkan Karate Club’s Molesbury entered competitions at both national and international level in 2017 and, from eight medal opportunities, claimed five golds, one silver and two bronze.
At the JKA National Championships, she retained her national title, finishing top for both kata (routine) and kumite (fighting).
Molesbury also boasts a 23-fight unbeaten record at national level, beating competitors from Germany, Norway, Scotland, England, Ireland and Malta.
She is now training with the JKA England squad and working hard towards the 2020 World Championships in Tokyo.
Young Disabled Sportsperson
Matthew Brough
York Disability Tennis Network’s Brough participated in a 24-Hour Tennis Marathon in London, where he playing against professionals, including ex-Davis Cup star Danny Sapsford and current British ace Marcus Willis
He also represented Yorkshire & Humberside at the Special Olympic National Games in Sheffield in August, where he beat the national champion to take gold.
Along with Laura Campbell, he struck gold again in the mixed doubles and complemented that with a bronze medal at the National Championships.
Lydia Wrightson
Brough's YDTN team-mate Wrightson competed at many of the Regional Blind and Visually Impaired tennis tournaments, where she had to play adults, as there are currently no junior competitions.
But, in her sight category B4/B5, Wrightson picked up the runner-up prize in all but one of the tournaments.
She also finished as winner or runner-up in the doubles tournaments and at the National Tennis Championships in Loughborough, was the beaten finalist again to her current nemesis and senior by 12 years.
Antonia Bunyan
Also competing as a visually-impaired athlete, York Goalball Club’s Bunyan is a member of the GB team who remain on path for Tokyo 2020 qualification, having finished sixth at the European 'A' Championships in Finland last year.
Student Sportsperson
Jessica Rumble
University of York Fencing Club’s Rumble is an ex-Canadian national team member, meaning she was rated a one of the sport’s top five competitors in the country.
She has fenced all over the world as part of the women's epee Y17 fencing team and is the women’s epee under-21 Canadian champion.
Rumble is now seeking dual citizenship to represent the GB international fencing team.
Joseph Smithers
University of York Kendo Karate Club ace rose to the ranking of British University men's dan grade Champion in 2017 and has represented the GB team.
His other achievements included winning the Men's Individuals National University Kendo Championships and captaining a second-place finish at the Dan Team's National University Kendo Championships.
Alex Botterill
The City of York Athletics Club runner has now been unbeaten over 800 metres in an under-20 age group championship final for two years.
At 18, he is quicker than legendary pair Seb Coe and Steve Cram were at his age, with a personal best of one minute 48.48 seconds ranking him third in the 2017 U20 UK list.
He also struck gold at the World Schools Games and the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Disabled Sportsperson
William Farrow
Farrow, of York Disability Network, won all the regional tournaments he entered in the early part of the year and, despite being deaf and having no speech, his enthusiasm and humour is infectious for everybody at the club.
He went on to represent Yorkshire and Humberside at the Special Olympic National Games in Sheffield and came away with two gold medals in singles and men’s doubles with Cameron Long.
Farrow also defended his title at the Learning Disability National Championships in Nottingham, as well as coming runner-up with Long in the doubles.
Laura Campbell
YDTN’s Campbell was another double-gold medallist at the Special Olympic National Games, following up singles success with mixed-doubles glory, partnered by Matthew Brough.
She went on to win two silvers at the National Championships.
Beth Moulam
Moulam is part of Jorvik Boccia’s Super League team, which competes against the other top-five teams in the country and finished third in 2017.
She won the Heathcoat Cup individual regional competition in November 2017 to progress to the national finals in April.
Moulam also had an England trial as a BC3 athlete, having previously represented her country at BC1 level before health reasons meant she had to stop throwing.
She is a City of York Athletics club member too and, in July, came third in the 60m at the World RaceRunning Championships in Denmark and has been selected as part of the England team for the CPISRA World Games in Spain this August.
Coach of the Year
Hannah Reeder
Special Olympic City of York Athletics’ coach Reeder started to run the disability group aged 16, whilst in her final year at school.
Ten years on, the group now has more than 20 members of varying needs and abilities.
She recently become Regional Athletics Coach for the Special Olympics and, last summer, took a large group to the Special Olympics National Summer Games as head coach for Yorkshire & Humberside.
Jill King
King, of York Disability Tennis Network, has achieved great results, particularly with her coaching of completely blind players.
She attended both the National Blind and National Learning Disability Tournaments to support players and to act as a volunteer in addition to the Special Olympic National Summer Games.
Ian Thomson
University of York Women’s Rugby Club coach Thomson has transformed the fortunes of the first team who, in 2017, went from a team that once lost a game 57-0 into one that won a match 111-0.
The first team are now unbeaten this season and the development team us also showing steady and impressive progress.
Thomson has bought the club training tops, match teas and awards with his own money too.
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