Pan Am medallists lead Kitchener-Waterloo athlete of the year list of nominees

KITCHENER — Brandon Horn isn't sure what it would take to top his banner season. But he intends to find out.

Horn, who captured gold medals at the pinnacle of his sport with the Canadian softball teams at the Pan American Games and the International Softball Federation world championship last summer, was one of 10 finalists announced Tuesday for the 2015 Kitchener-Waterloo and area athlete of the year award.

The field is one of the strongest in recent memory. It includes a two-time defending Pan American champion boxer (Mandy Bujold), a National Football League running back (Tyler Varga of the Indianapolis Colts), a pair of world champion lacrosse players (Ryan Benesch and Dhane Smith of Team Canada and the Buffalo Bandits) and a potential National Basketball Association first-rounder (Jamal Murray of the University of Kentucky).

Horn, a 30-year-old Waterloo native and local plumber, quietly made a name for himself as one of the world's top infielders.

He helped Canada to a 2-1 win over Venezuela in the gold-medal game at the Pan Ams in Toronto last summer, just weeks after Horn's Canadian squad undid 23 years of futility on the world stage in Saskatoon where it toppled the defending ISF champs from New Zealand.

"Those tournaments (the Pan Ams and the ISFs) are the tournaments you dream about winning as a kid, so I'm ecstatic to say I was a part of that," said Horn, a Waterloo Collegiate grad.

"To put Canada back on the map was our goal. We knew we could do it."

After spending the past couple summers with the now-mothballed former world club team champion Kitchener Hallman Twins, Horn takes his ball and glove to their rivals, the Toronto Gators, this summer.

He'll still be around area diamonds, though. Horn's intentions are to see action with the Kitchener Cubs of the South Perth Men's Fastball League this summer, too.

"And the Pan Am Games will roll around again in 2019, so that's a long-term goal."

Other nominees for the athlete of the year award announced at Tuesday's news conference included swimmer Alec Elliot; Mike Hoffman, a forward with the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators; Sarah Pavan, beach and indoor volleyball pro; and runner Leah Robinson.

The winner will be announced on May 17 at the Edelweiss Sports Bar Banquet Hall.

Past winners of the award include former world heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis in 1999, and ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje in 2014.

Also on Tuesday, awards of excellence were handed out to longtime sports volunteer Gord Dearborn, Civitan Sports Waterloo Region, and the under-15 Kitchener Spirit minor soccer team.