Orienteering Nova Scotia 2025 Annual Awards Voting
January 31st 2026 11:00pm - February 5th 2026 11:59pm
Online voting is now open for the 2025 Orienteering Nova Scotia Awards. All 2025 members are eligible to vote. Winners will be announced at the Annual General Meeting, taking place in Bedford on February 7th, 2026.
Below are the nominations in each category. (A number of categories had duplicate, unanimous nominations, thus no vote required).
To vote, go to the link below and make your selections by midnight on February 5, 2026.
Click Here to vote for 2025 ONS Awards!
2026 Orienteering NS Award Nominees:
Senior Female Athlete of the Year
Sophie Kent-Purcell: Sophie was the overall winner of the 2025 NSOS point series, winning all eight events she participated in. Moving into the Elite category, she placed 6th in the middle distance and 7th in both the long and sprint at the Canadian Orienteering Championships while managing an injury, and also attended the Western Canadian Championships in Alberta. She was a member of the Team Canada Senior Development Team and was selected in December to represent Canada at the 2026 World University Orienteering Championships in Portugal, as well as two World Cup events in 2026. Sophie consistently demonstrated enthusiasm for the sport, actively seeking improvement and advice. In addition to her athletic achievements, she contributed extensively off the course by managing social media, volunteering at many events, serving on the ONS Board of Directors, and achieving her O100 official level.
Cheryl Smith: Cheryl was the third female overall in the NSOS series, and was first in the F45-54 category for the series. Cheryl also ran in the elite F21 class for the Western Canadian Championship and Canadian Championship sprint events, placing 3rd and 6th, respectively.
Meghan Woszczyński: Meghan was the top athlete in the 35-44 age class in the 2025 NSOS point series - 6th overall - in a field including former and current national team members. She is a consistent competitor, missing only two events this season, and has steadily built her navigation skills and her placings over the past few seasons. She placed second in this year's Bluenose Classic Provincial Championship event.
Senior Male Athlete of the Year
Mats Wallberg: Mats was the top male and winner of the 2025 NSOS point series, placing first in all but one event he attended, and winning six to seven of those events. He finished just one point behind the overall series leader and demonstrated consistent navigation and speed throughout the season. In addition to his competitive results, Mats contributed off the course by serving on the ONS Board of Directors, participating on the organizing committee for the 2026 Canadian Orienteering Festival, volunteering at events, and engaging with other athletes to discuss technique and route choices.
Junior Female Athlete of the Year
Sophia Vitkin: Sophia was the top junior female in the 2025 NSOS point series.
Junior Male Athlete of the Year
Kaiden Brown: Kaiden was the top junior male in the 2025 NSOS point series and finished within the top 10 overall. He was the only Nova Scotia junior to compete at the Canadian Orienteering Championships, attending his first nationals in Alberta and placing 5th in the sprint and 7th in the long distance. In addition to his competitive results, Kaiden volunteered regularly at events and served as a member of the ONS Board of Directors.
Official of the Year
Paul Bottomley: Paul organized or helped organize six of the twelve NSOS-eligible events in 2025. He mentored a new course planner and contributed extensively through his role as ONS President, involvement in mapping and ONS projects, and participation on the organizing committee for the 2026 Canadian Orienteering Festival.
Andrea Friars: Andrea directed one ONS event this season. She exemplifies 'behind the scenes effort', working registration at every Halifax event, in addition to supporting the board with activities as Board Secretary.
Mark Sypher: Mark was the course planner for this year's Bluenose Classic Provincial Orienteering Championships. This successful event took months of planning, as well as attention to exacting standards, as Mark was working towards his O300 Official certification with this event. He successfully achieved this certification, enabling him to act as a course planner for Canada Cup and National level events.
Bob Kaill Award/Volunteer of the Year
Andrea Friars: Andrea has served on the ONS Board of Directors for the past 5 years. Her patience, consistency, organization and willingness to get involved in many aspects of operation are vital. Andrea has volunteered and officiated at events, developed and delivered curriculum for orienteering instruction, organized apparel orders, worked in the background on our AGMs, contributed insights and ideas to our annual planning, and made sense of detailed discussions through her clear, concise minutes.
Cheryl Smith: Cheryl organized four events in 2025 including a Knockout Sprint. She continues to work on a number of ONS projects, including initiatives such as the Asitu’lsk project. Her efforts as Event Director for the 2026 Canadian Orienteering Championships have been highlighted as particularly noteworthy, including managing meetings, volunteers, and mapping.