Sault Ste. Marie’s top female high school athletes were honoured Wednesday at the 51st Annual Tenaris Female Athletic Awards.
Among award winners for 2024-25 was Abigail Jaremko of St. Mary’s College, who was named the recipient of the Percy Bedford Award as the female athlete of the year.
Jaremko, a Grade 12 SMC student who will graduate this month, is a multi-sport athlete who competed in badminton, basketball, cross-country running, volleyball, soccer, and track and field.
“It feels amazing to win this award,” Jaremko told SooToday after the ceremony held at Grand Gardens.
“When I was in Grade 9 I would never have imagined I’d be in this position tonight. It’s just amazing to have had all this support.”
Jaremko thanked family members, teammates and coaches in an acceptance speech.
Jaremko also won the female athlete of the year award in basketball at Wednesday's ceremony.
Throughout her high school career she was instrumental in guiding SMC female basketball teams to four city championships and three NOSSA titles.
She also won the Referee Award in 2024, honouring her athletic ability and her character.
“Basketball has been my favourite sport for as long as I can remember. In Grade 9 we lost some games but we still won the city championship. The memory of that one really sticks with me,” Jaremko said.
She played for four consecutive city championship-winning SMC female volleyball teams, excelled in hurdles at this year’s city track meet and, as captain of SMC’s female soccer team, led her squad to city and NOSSA championships in 2025.
“Sports have been a part of my life since I learned to walk," Jaremko said. "Sports are a place where I go to escape. If I'm having a hard day, if I have a test at school, it's like a little break. Playing sports is something I love to do."
Jaremko remained on SMC’s academic honour roll with distinction status throughout high school and plans to study nursing at the University of Ottawa beginning in September.
Other individual sport award winners from Wednesday’s ceremony included:
- Cross-Country Running: Olivia Robinson (St. Mary’s College)
- Nordic Skiing: Kate De Beer (Superior Heights)
- Volleyball: Lauren Doyle-Moran (Superior Heights)
- Curling (Bob Faught Award): Ada Speck (Korah)
- Wrestling: Emma Walker (St. Mary’s College)
- Hockey: Cassidy Cooke (Central Algoma Secondary School)
- Badminton: Niyati Patel (Korah)
- Track and Field (Hazel Morrison Award): Emily Bateman (Korah)
- Soccer: Tru Toms (St. Mary’s College)
Six athletes received the Harvey Morrison Award, which goes to student athletes for outstanding contributions to high school girls athletics. This year’s recipients included Addison Hopkins of White Pines, Tate Turco of Korah, Olivia Rutledge-Oliver of Notre Dame-du-Sault, Emilia Gutierrez of Superior Heights and Nyah Pedinelli and Vanessa Carota of St. Mary’s College.
Claire Gould of Superior Heights earned the Tenaris Award in Academic Excellence for being the graduating female athlete with the highest marks in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), needed to enter a STEM post-secondary program. The award aims to encourage females to consider engineering as a profession.