(Thornhill, Ontario) -- The TnfNorth editors looked back at the year that was in 2010 to honour those whose contributions in the sport went above and beyond their peers. There were tough decisions almost every step of the way especially when one considers those we had to overlook -- a high school coach in British Columbia whose athletes finished 1-2 to lead his team to a provincial championship, a Rwandan refugee who took the Ontario high school cross country scene by storm, a college coach in Tallahassee whose team was less than twenty points from capturing the NCAA Cross Country Championships, a Villanova runner who won the individual NCAA title, the coach of the world leading hurdler, and either the harrier who was 13th at the World Cross Country Championships or the Commonwealth Games gold medallist in the shot put. Anytime such hard decisions need to be made are a measure of the achievements of Canadians. The following deserve recognition for a job well done in 2010.
HIGH SCHOOL COACH OF THE YEAR-- David Scarrow (Vincent Massey High School)(Windsor, Ontario)
The only thing better than winning a fifth straight OFSAA Cross Country Championship for the boys was having his senior girls join in the act in 2010. VIncent Massey achieved the rare sweep of the senior division at the OFSAA Cross Country Championships in 2010 despite losing some of their best athletes to graduation.
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OF THE YEAR-- Rob Denault (Aurora High School)(Aurora, Ontario)
After victories in the 1500m at the OFSAA Championships and the Canadian Youth/Legion Championships this past spring and summer, only the unexpected emergence of Rwandan refugee Yves Sikubwabo stood in the way of Denault capturing the OFSAA Cross Country title.
COLLEGE COACH OF THE YEAR-- Dave Scott-Thomas (University of Guelph)(Guleph, Ontario)
Six-straight CIS womens titles and five-straight CIS men's titles in cross country would have been almost unthinkable at one time but the Gryphons made it look easy throughout the season with a mixture of youth and veteran talent.
COLLEGE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR-- Sam Effah (University of Calgary)(Calgary, Alberta)
After dominating the short sprints at the CIS Indoor Championships, Effah ran the fourth fastest time in Canadian history over 100m (10.06) at the NACAC Championships before making the final of the 100m at the Commonwealth Games in India this fall.
COACH OF THE YEAR-- Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk (Kamloops, British Columbia)
Four Canadian records, two Commonwealth Games records, and two Commonwealth Games gold medals from Dylan Armstrong and Sultana Frizell is impressive enough before considering Megann Rodhe and Crystal Smith also made the Commonwealth finals in the hammer throw.
ATHLETE OF THE YEAR-- Priscilla Lopes-Schliep (Whitby, Ontario)
After a podium finish at the World Indoor Championships, Lopes-Schliep stepped things up outdoors with the three world-leading times in the 100-meter hurdles and capped things off with a Diamond League championship in her marquee event.