June 28, 2009 - The recipients of the 2008 Athlete of the Year awards was announced today at the 2009 Canadian Baton Twirling Championships, being held in Edmonton, Alberta.

Each year CBTF presents Junior and Senior, Male and Female Athlete of the Year and Overall Athlete of the Year Awards.

Points are calculated from the Level A Championships at the Provincial, National and World events, including Level A Freestyle. The winner is the athlete with the greatest total points. In the event of a tie, the athlete with the highest placing at the World Championships will be declared the winner.

The CBTF Overall Athlete of the Year will be determined from the Junior and Senior Female and Male Athlete of the Year points. The athlete with the highest total is the winner. In the event of a tie, two or more athletes will be recognized.

CBTF also awards the Team/Pair of the Year. Ties in this category are not broken, and the recognition is given to all winners.

For the 2008 competition season, these award winners were:

• Junior Female Athlete of the Year: Kiera West
• Junior Male Athlete of the Year: Matthew Johnson
• Senior Female Athlete of the Year: Sara Thibeault
• Senior Male Athlete of the Year: Luc Guay
• Overall Athlete of the Year: Sara Thibeault
• Pair/Team of the Year: Alicia Larkin/Kiera West and Sara Thibeault/Kayla McKinnon

A list of all recipients for these awards is available.