Paul Boots of the St. Clair Saints is the 2022 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Cross Country Coach of the Year.
St. Clair was a double provincial medalist at last month's OCAA Cross Country Championships, with the men's team taking gold and the women's team earning silver. In addition, Jacob Fitzpatrick (Tecumseh) and Tyler Jones (LaSalle) won individual silver and bronze for the Saints, respectively.
In seven seasons with the Saints, Boots has led the St. Clair men's and women's teams to three provincial silver medals each to go with two OCAA men's gold along with a national title in 2018.
Boots has helped St. Clair to another five individual provincial medals, two national team medals and another national individual medal. All told, there are eight provincial medals and four national medals on Boots' resume.
Boots, who is OCAA's nominee for national golf coach of the year, will now lead the Saints into the 2022 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Cross Country National Championships later this week in Medicine Hat, Alta.
A pair of Sheridan Bruins earned OCAA Rookie of the Year honours. Men's individual gold medalist Paulo Amotun Lokoro (Kenya) and women's individual bronze medalist Mette Siemens (Saskatoon, Sask.) both earned the award for being the first to cross the finish line in their respective races in their first year of OCAA eligibility.
All-Ontario Team honours are given to the top 14 runners in each race according to finish.
OCAA All-Ontario First-Team men's winners were Amotun Lokoro, Fitzpatrick, Jones, Sandy Freeland (Waterloo) of Fanshawe; Sam Cumming (Barrie) of Fanshawe; Rick Nepomuceno (Windsor) of St. Clair; and Ty Breedon (Barrie) of Fanshawe.
OCAA All-Ontario First-Team women's winners were Katie Rice (Ingersoll) of Fanshawe; Catherine Irwin (Kingston) of St. Lawrence; Siemens; Ava Snyder (Burlington) of Mohawk; Faith Nieson (Cambridge) of Laurier Brantford; Mya Palumbo (LaSalle) of St. Clair; and Sam Reidy (Bornholm) of Fanshawe.
OCAA All-Ontario Second-Team men's winners were Ethan Roche (London) of Fanshawe; Mason Biswas (Toronto) of Humber; Matt Lafleur (Kingsville) of St. Clair; Jaivir Sandhar (Brampton) of Humber; Matias Tessel (Guelph) of Mohawk; Ethan Kruiselbrink (Owen Sound) of Redeemer; and Robert Buck (Belleville) of Loyalist.
OCAA All-Ontario Second-Team women's winners were Rose Nathike (Kenya) of Sheridan; Ashley Lof (Beamsville) of Mohawk; Dianne De Boer (Guelph) of Conestoga; Jamie Kovacic (Thunder Bay) of Confederation; Frances Emery (Peterborough) of Fleming; Ainsley Taggett (Castleton) of Fleming; and Katie Funk (Bancroft) of Fanshawe.
2022 OCAA CROSS COUNTRY AWARDS
OCAA Cross Country Rookie of the Year
Women: Mette Siemens, Sheridan
Men: Paulo Amotun Lokoro, Sheridan
OCAA Cross Country Coach of the Year
Paul Boots, St. Clair
OCAA Women's Cross Country All-Ontario First-Team
Katie Rice, Fanshawe
Catherine Irwin, St. Lawrence
Mette Siemens, Sheridan
Ava Snyder, Mohawk
Faith Nieson, Laurier Brantford
Mya Palumbo, St. Clair
Sam Reidy, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Cross Country All-Ontario First-Team
Paulo Amotun Lokoro, Sheridan
Jacob Fitzpatrick, St. Clair
Tyler Jones, St. Clair
Sandy Freeland, Fanshawe
Sam Cumming, Fanshawe
Rick Nepomuceno, St. Clair
Ty Breedon, Fanshawe
OCAA Women's Cross Country All-Ontario Second-Team
Rose Nathike, Sheridan
Ashley Lof, Mohawk
Dianne De Boer, Conestoga
Jamie Kovacic, Confederation
Frances Emery, Fleming
Ainsley Taggett, Fleming
Katie Funk, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Cross Country All-Ontario Second-Team
Ethan Roche, Fanshawe
Mason Biswas, Humber
Matt Lafleur, St. Clair
Jaivir Sandhar, Humber
Matias Tessel, Mohawk
Ethan Kruiselbrink, Redeemer
Robert Buck, Loyalist
- OCAA -
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