FROM THE ARCHIVES: SIEMON NAMED OCAA ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
April 11, 2012
TORONTO, Ont -- The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is pleased to announce that Humber College fifth-year cross country student-athlete Vicky Siemon is its 2011-12 female athlete of the year.
Siemon drastically improved on her results from the previous season, resulting in Humber's best OCAA cross country campaign in five seasons. The former track and field athlete at Western joined the Humber program in the 2010-11 season, having to adjust to running the longer 5km distance. Siemon finished in 12th place at the 2010 OCAA championships in a time of 20:45.
During the off-season, Siemon committed to bettering herself in her new sport. It resulted in her shaving not just seconds, but minutes off her personal best times. She was immediately rewarded for her efforts at the opening race of the 2011 OCAA season, fittingly on the same course that hosted provincials 11 months earlier. Siemon improved her previous result by 98 seconds, winning in a time of 19:07, almost a full minute ahead of runner-up and defending OCAA silver medalist Richelle Moore of St. Lawrence-Kingston.
Siemon proved that this result was not a fluke at the 2011 OCAA championships. She won the women's individual gold medal in a time of 18:06, forty-one seconds ahead of two-time OCAA bronze medalist Erika Houde-Pearce of George Brown.
“It’s a great honour to be recognized as one of the best,” says Siemon. “It was a challenge for me to run longer distances, so I started focusing and running every day. It was about dedication and trying to improve. I think that is what distinguished me for this award.”
Siemon's teammates got caught up in the wake of her success, also improving on their individual times throughout the season. This resulted in Humber winning its first OCAA women's and overall team titles in four seasons. The men's team placed second, Humber's best finish since 2006.
At the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) nationals, Siemon was just seconds away from adding another individual gold medal to her collection. She led the race for the first two laps, but on the final lap, Red Deer's Jodi Sanquin overtook Siemon in a dramatic finish. Only three seconds separated the two runners at the finish line, as Siemon was forced to settle for silver. It marked Humber's best-ever individual result at nationals.
Siemon was still rewarded with a national gold medal, however; as the Humber women's team won its first-ever national title. The OCAA as a conference swept both men's and women's crowns.
Humber’s cross-country head coach Monique Hann says that Siemon “is a focused athlete both on and off the running course. She is a strong leader who motivates her teammates to strive for the top, which demonstrates to the other athletes that hard work and dedication to the sport pays off.”
Humber honoured Siemon as its co-female athlete of year as well as its cross country MVP.
