Bull continued her dominance on the water claiming her second straight World Waterski Slalom title in the fall of 2023.

Bull defended her title battling through some challenging conditions at the 2023 International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) World Waterski Championships held in Groveland, Florida in mid-October.

Her memorable year included five first-place finishes in the Waterski Pro Tour in 2023 as well.

"I’m honoured to have been selected as 2023 Sports Story of the Year," Bull told BayToday.

"I’m very happy with how my year went and it always great to have the support of North Bay! It’s awesome to see how many great Sports Stories there are coming out of North Bay and I’m sure there are more that have flown under the radar. Congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments!"

See related: What is the 2023 Sports Story of the Year?

Others in consideration included North Bay wheelchair tennis player Rob Shaw who had a memorable visit to England as Shaw and his partner Heath Davidson finished second in the quad doubles final at Wimbledon.

The North Bay Battalion's run to the Eastern Conference Finals and a second straight trip to Nationals for the Nipissing Lakers Varsity Women's Hockey team were other great stories.

We cannot forget about Corbeil's Ben Gaudreau who won a gold medal in early 2023 with Canada's World Junior Hockey team.

Astorville's Briir Long has had an exciting 2023, and he earned the top reader votes as the 16-year-old hockey player was selected in the 10th round by the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL, and his great start in Jr. B with the St. Thomas Stars led the skilled forward to get signed during the Christmas holidays by the Bulldogs.

The selection process was conducted by BayToday staff and our sports freelancers aided by the reader poll results.

Our friends at North Bay Echo will air a 2023 Sports Story of the Year podcast on Tuesday, January 9 which includes BayToday's Chris Dawson.