Another year has come to a close. 2024 provided some exciting moments in the Windsor-Essex County sports community. Here's a look at our Top 10 stories of the year.
#10- Let's start on the high school scene where the Sandwich softball team took OFSAA gold beating Kingsville in the final. A testament to the quality of ball being played in Essex-County.
#9- A grade 9 comes in at number 9. L'Essor's Madalaine Beck was happy to qualify for OFSAA but the 14-year old shocked the field with a 2 day total of 167 to win silver.
#8 is an event that has an impact in our community. Play For A Cure. Jeff Casey's passion to help advance cancer research helped raise over 400-thousand dollars pushing their four year total to 1.6 million dollars.
A lot of fun was had along the way starting with the draft featuring former NHL'ers like Adam Graves and Gary Roberts along with female stars like Meghan Agosta and the legendary Angela James.
#7- The Windsor Spitfires landing the top pick in the OHL draft and selected Ethan Belchetz.
General manager Bill Bowler called 6'5 230 pound forward an easy choice. The 16-year old has helped the Spits rebound from second last in the league a year ago to 2nd overall.
#6- The Tecumseh Thunder took a swing at hosting the 2024 Baseball Canada senior men's national championship tournament. After losing a heartbreaker in the semi-finals, the Thunder came back to win bronze as Roberto Duncan launched a game-winning 3-run homerun to help beat Alberta 3-2.
#5- The University of Windsor men's golf team captured the provincial championship for the first time in 30 years. Jarrod Smith and Alek Mauro earned individual silver while head coach Adam Wagner was named OUA mens' coach of the year.
#4- The Lakeshore Canadiens won their second Schmalz Cup title in three years to be the last team standing in the PJHL playoffs. They beat Clarinton 4 games to 1 and bring home the championship.
#3- The NFL Draft was held in Detroit and drew a record 700-thousand fans, many from this side of the border. Windsor's Theo Johnson was chosen in the 4th round by the New York Giants.
#2- Belle River's Aaron Ekblad won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Florida Panthers. Ekblad brought the cup to Lakeshore on August 17th.
#1- The St. Clair College football team became their first team from Ontario to win the Canadian Junior Football League championship since 1999. The 25-year drought was ended thanks to an MVP performance by quarterback Maurice Sodja who scored three rushing touchdowns and threw another to Tai Colquhoun leading the Saints to a 37-22 win at home.
Check out the video recap of 2024's Top 10 list below.
We give a special mention to the St. Clair College men's golf team led by head coach Kevin Corriveau. The Saints won the provincial title for the first time in school's 57 year history. Corriveau was also named OCAA and CCAA coach of the year.
The St. Clair men's baseball team also won their 4th consecutive OCAA title.
Happy New Year. See you in their field in 2025.
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