BARRIE, Ont. - The top badminton players and coach in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) were honoured Friday morning as part of the 2017 OCAA Badminton Championships presented by belairdirect being hosted by Georgian College.

Two-time OCAA men's singles and 2015 national champion Owen Kurvits (Hamilton) of Redeemer University College is the OCAA men's player of the year for the third straight season. The fourth-year athlete went undefeated at west regionals, and is looking this weekend to win his third OCAA gold medal, and fourth overall, in four seasons. Kurvits is once again an OCAA all-star, a Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) all-Canadian, and a nominee for the national men's player of the year.

Reigning two-time OCAA and CCAA women's singles gold medalist Olivia Lei (China) of Humber College is the OCAA women's player of the year for the third straight season. Lei did not lose a set at west regionals. The third-year athlete is looking to become just the third person to win three consecutive OCAA women's singles titles. Lei is once again an OCAA all-star, a CCAA all-Canadian, and a nominee for the national women's player of the year.

Conestoga College head coach Mason Shantz is the OCAA coach of the year. Four of his student-athletes in three disiplines earned a berth to provincials this year, including women's singles player Victoria Duong (Kitchener), men's singles player Yizhi Zhang (China) and mixed doubles teammates Roselyn Bevis (Halifax, N.S.) and Derek Lenos (Kitchener). Shantz is the OCAA's nominee for CCAA coach of the year.

Individuals who finished in first place at east and west regionals are named OCAA all-stars. In addition to the aforementioned Kurvits and Lei, George Brown's Alex Chao (Ottawa), Yunji Kim (Togo) and Ben Wong (Mississauga); Humber's Ryan Chow (Mississauga), Adam Dong (China), Christina Duong (Kitchener), Cameron Lai (Mississauga), Phuthita Nilyok (Thailand) and Chloe Rowe (Newcastle); and Seneca's Nicky Aung (Myanmar), Christine Nguyen (Whitby) Rachel Nham (Vietnam), Vinson Wong (Toronto) and Yan Zhou (China) were all honoured.

Team champions at OCAA regionals were also honoured. Seneca won both men's and women's team titles at east regionals, while Humber swept both team titles at west regionals.

2016-17 OCAA BADMINTON MAJOR AWARDS

OCAA Regional Men's Team Champions
East: Seneca Sting

West: Humber Hawks

OCAA Regional Women's Team Champions
East: Seneca Sting

West: Humber Hawks

OCAA Men's Player of the Year
Owen Kurvits, Redeemer

OCAA Women's Player of the Year
Olivia Lei, Humber

CCAA All-Canadians
Owen Kurvits, Redeemer

Olivia Lei, Humber

OCAA Coach of the Year
Mason Shantz

OCAA All-Stars
Nicky Aung, Seneca
Alex Chao, George Brown
Ryan Chow, Humber
Adam Dong, Humber
Christina Duong, Humber
Yunji Kim, George Brown
Owen Kurvits, Redeemer
Cameron Lai, Humber
Olivia Lei, Humber
Christine Nguyen, Seneca
Rachel Nham, Seneca
Phuthita Nilyok, Humber
Chloe Rowe, Humber
Vinson Wong, Seneca
Ben Yong, George Brown
Yan Zhou, Seneca

- OCAA -

ABOUT ONTARIO COLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is the recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student-athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 29 members sponsoring 12 varsity sports.

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Josh Bell-Webster
Marketing and Communications
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
Tel: 416-426-7041
Fax: 416-426-7308
E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com