April 18, 2024 – The Lethbridge College Kodiaks hosted the annual KODI Awards Wednesday night, bringing together teams, employees, college officials and supporters to celebrate the athletic and academic achievements of the Kodiaks student-athletes in their 2023-24 season.

The awards capped another strong season for Kodiaks Athletics, earning over 50 ACAC and CCAA individual and team recognitions. Kodiaks Athletics and Recreation Services Director Todd Caughlin says overall the season was a great success. 

“What an amazing way to bring to a close another good season for the Kodiaks,” says Caughlin. "The fact that the ACAC conference won four national championships this year which shows the competitiveness of our conference and that we continually have our teams in the hunt for conference titles says a lot about the culture of Kodiaks Athletics. Proud to say I’m a part of it and proud of the student-athletes and coaches commitment to that culture.”

The three pillars of Kodiaks Athletics – academic accountability, athletic excellence and the student-athlete experience – steered the voting on all awards. Awards are selected by members of the Kodiaks Athletics administration team and coaches and factor in the results of a public vote that had 753 participants, setting a new KODIs record.

The women’s soccer/futsal team was named the Val and Flora Matteotti Kodiaks Team of the Year. The team had a successful year in both sports, with soccer finishing the regular season first in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) south division and tying the college’s best season record of 11-1, which has stood since the program’s inaugural year in 1994. The women’s soccer team also picked up Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards and had four players named to the All-Conference team. In futsal, the team earned a silver medal at the ACAC championship while having three players named to the All-Tournament team and one to the All-Conference team. 

Hannah Helton and Owen Stewart were recognized as the Tim Tollestrup Leadership Student-Athletes of the Year. Helton earned the women’s honour after a strong finish to her collegiate career, where she was named to the ACAC All-Conference First Team and a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian. She also took on a significant leadership role on the team and contributed to the Kodiaks finishing the regular season as the top seed in the conference. Stewart earned the men’s honour after an impressive year where he was named to the ACAC All-Conference Team for both cross-country and indoor track, and also named Indoor Tracks Men’s Runner of the Year and a CCAA Academic All-Canadian. He played a significant role in the team’s bronze medal ACAC conference win in cross country and gold medal ACAC conference win in indoor track.

Dr. Simon Schaerz earned the Electrical Solutions Inc. Kodiaks Coach of the Year award. Schaerz, who was named the ACAC Indoor Track Coach of the Year for the second time in a row, led his men’s indoor track team to an ACAC championship while breaking records along the way. He also led the women’s indoor track team to a silver medal, which was its highest finish in college history.

Student-athletes Rayanne Hoeflicher and Gunnarr Gibb were named winners of the Calgary Flames Foundation Leadership Scholarships, recognizing student-athletes who excel in leadership, community involvement and academics – the “unsung heroes” of Kodiaks Athletics.

The full list of KODI award winners is below. Photos from the event can be found on the Kodiaks Flickr account.

KODIs major awards:

• Tim Tollestrup Leadership/Athlete of the Year (Male) – Owen Stewart (men’s cross-country/indoor track)
• Tim Tollestrup Leadership/Athlete of the Year (Female) – Hannah Helton (women’s basketball)
• Val and Flora Matteotti Team of the Year – Women’s soccer/futsal team
• Electrical Solutions Inc. Kodiaks coach of the year – Simon Schaerz (men’s and women’s cross country and indoor track coach)
• Calgary Flames Foundation Leadership Scholarship (female) – Rayanne Hoeflicher (women’s indoor track)
• Calgary Flames Foundation Leadership Scholarships (male) – Gunnarr Gibb (men’s indoor track)
• Best championships performance – Men’s indoor track winning ACAC championships.
• Best upset – Men’s basketball. In a must-win to keep playoff hopes alive, the Kodiaks took on the defending national champions, SAIT Trojans, on the road and upset the Trojans 95-92.
• Best comeback – Montana Berezay (women’s basketball). Late in the first semester, Berezay went down in a practice with a season-ending injury. She suited up for the last minute of her senior night where she was able to sink a three in her final send off as a Kodiak.

KODIs special awards:

• Lethbridge Sports Legacy for soccer/futsal – Ben Knight and Nikki Stahl
• Alvin Tietz/Knud Petersen Award for soccer – Jaxon Uhl and Jayna Timinski
• Alvin Tietz/Knud Petersen Award for futsal – Slade Wiese and Taylor Hrycun
• Haylie Shoults Memorial Award – Jake Marshall and Sammy Burgis 
• Lethbridge Sports Legacy for cross-country/indoor track – Orin May and Hannah Smith
• Gerry and Brian Stewart Memorial Award for cross-country – Owen Stewart and Katrina Smith
• Lethbridge Sports Legacy for esports – Garet Burton
• Simulacrum Interactive Inc. Esports Leadership Award – Bradley Pike and Nate Lapointe
• Lethbridge Sports Legacy for volleyball – Cole Hemmerling and Eryka Woods
• Alvin Tietz/Knud Petersen Award for volleyball – Shaye Wall and Taryn Bach
• Emmalee Cherweniuk Memorial Award for women’s volleyball – Trinity Walton
• Lethbridge Sports Legacy for basketball – Mason Hoffman and Jocelyn Nielson
• John Jasiukiewicz Award for basketball – Filip Karanovic and Hannah Helton

KODIs pillar awards

• Men’s soccer
  • Pillar award: Julio Vega
  • Outstanding player: Jake Marshall
  • Newcomer: Ryder Skolka  

• Women’s soccer
  • Pillar award: Shelby Bach
  • Outstanding player: Nikki Stahl
  • Newcomer: Kyra Piekema

• Men’s futsal
• • Pillar award: Brandon Francis
  • Outstanding player: Trey Lukye
  • Newcomer: Nikola Baljak

• Women’s futsal
• • Pillar award: Sammy Demchuk
  • Outstanding player: Megan Morrison
  • Newcomer: Gracee Valgardson

• Men’s cross-country 
• • Pillar: Justin Fisher
  • Outstanding runner: Owen Stewart
  • Newcomer: Ethan Grasmeyer 

• Women’s cross-country 
• • Pillar: Hannah Smith
  • Outstanding runner: Katrina Michel
  • Newcomer: Kate Block

• Men’s indoor track 
• • Pillar: Hunter Graves
  • Outstanding runner: Owen Stewart
  • Newcomer: Ethan Grasmeyer 

• Women’s indoor track 
• • Pillar: Kristell Perez Mejia 
  • Outstanding runner: Katrina Michel
  • Newcomer: Ta'merra Hart

• Esports: League Of Legends
• • Pillar: Levi Harasem-Mitchell
  • Outstanding player: Kieran Hardial
  • Newcomer: Timothy Carlson 

• Esports: Rocket League
• • Pillar: Nathan Haberstock
  • Outstanding player: Ty Hubka
  • Newcomer: Brandon Rempel

• Esports: Valorant
• • Pillar: Bradley Pike
  • Outstanding player: Kyle Ayson
  • Newcomer: Tyson Giroux

• Men’s volleyball 
• • Pillar: Dario Gentile
  • Outstanding player: Nolan Moes
  • Newcomer: Kohlbe Anderson

• Women’s volleyball
• • Pillar: Lauren Barker
  • Outstanding player: Aideena Wickstrom
  • Newcomer: Reanna Gage

• Men’s basketball
• • Pillar: Declan Peterson
  • Outstanding player: Mason Hoffman
  • Newcomer: Rhett Lewis

• Women’s basketball
• • Pillar: Courtney Deemter
  • Outstanding player: Hannah Helton
  • Newcomer: Brooklyn Hardy