July 7
Local cowboy was ready to strap in for Calgary Stampede
Colby McCullough may have been a 14-year-old of few words, but that’s because he was already focused on when he would be getting strapped in to ride a bucking steer.
McCullough competed in Junior Boy’s Steering Riding at the Calgary Stampede on July 9.
July 7
Shuswap shuts down Jakes Pub in men’s fastball
Shuswap Defenders shutout Jakes Pub in a 7-0 victory in men’s fastball action on June 30.
The game marked the beginning of the final two weeks of the regular season for the 100 Mile Men’s Fastball League.
July 14
Local U16 fastball team wins gold in Surrey Provincials
“Going down there and winning it all was our game plan,” said 100 Mile N’ Hour U16 fastball coach Reg Hooper.
After plowing through the competition and winning gold at the Surrey Fastball Championship on July 2-3, the team was ready to make its first ever outing to the BC Summer Games on July 21-24.
July 21
Top men’s fastball teams duked it in best-of-three series playoff championship
Sanford & Dillman and the Shuswap Defenders went into the final game in a best-of-three series in the 100 Mile House Men’s Fastball League playoffs.
Sanford & Dillman won the playoff championships.
The finals arrived after a week of intense fastball full of chaotic weather, several makeup games and some great competitive ball.
July 21
Gymkhana drew one of the largest turnouts in years
“I haven’t seen this many people at this event in years,” said event organizer Dimps Horn.
The Watch Lake-Green Lake Gymkhana attracted one of the largest amounts of riders (50) and spectators the gymkhana had seen in many years.
July 28
Cariboo-North East won gold in BC Summer Games softball
Chalk up another incredible accomplishment for the 100 Mile N’ Hour U16 fastball team that took home gold for boys’ softball at the BC Summer Games on July 24.
A flawless victory over the Fraser River team was the cherry on top of an unbelievable run during the competition in Abbotsford.
July 28
Rowers were proud to compete against the best in the province
Four members of the South Cariboo Rowing Club (SCRC) got to compete for the very first time and it was at the BC Summer Games in Abbotsford, July 21-24.
Courtney Cave and Lydia Kinasewich rowed in the Women’s Singles and James Edge and Noah Betz rowed in the Men’s Singles.
AUGUST
Aug. 4
Interlakes Rodeo attracted bigger crowds July 30-31
More than 200 competitors put their talent on the line in an effort to take home cash prizes at the 26th Annual Interlakes BCRA Rodeo on July 30-31.
Some competitors did very well and went home with a little more jingle in their jeans. Others packed up their gear and horses, and headed for another rodeo the next weekend hoping for a little help from Lady Luck.
Aug. 4
Local ballplayers settled for softball silver
The 100 Mile N’ Hour U16 fastball team came up just short of winning the 2016 Western Canadian U16 Boys Softball Championships in St. Albert, Alberta on July 29-Aug. 1.
After winning gold at the Provincials and the BC Summer Games, the local squad was looking to take first place at the Westerns to claim the trifecta.
Aug. 11
Local hunter returned from Extreme Huntress competition
100 Mile House resident Candace Knudsen returned on July 16 after competing in the 2017 Extreme Huntress competition in San Antonio, Texas.
She and five other women had to battle through daily challenges and hunting trips from July 10 to 15. The tests included dealing with the desert heat and having a camera in their faces.
Aug. 18
Wranglers coach Dale Hladun was busy
100 Mile House Wranglers head coach and general manager Dale “Duner” Hladun was a busy guy this summer and he expected things to get busier with quite a bit of time being spent on the road.
With the Wranglers winning the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title, the British Columbia and the Western Canadian championships, Hladun expected to have a few holes in his lineup from last year.
Aug. 18
Long weekend fishing derbies were great
At the Deka Lake derby on July 30-31, 151 fish were reeled in.
The first-place rainbow prize went to Jim Kenward for his 2 lb. 3 oz. fish; he also had the second largest at 2 lb. 2 oz.
Mountain Spruce Community Centre Society’s (MSCCS) fishing derby at Hathaway and Sulphurous lakes on July 31 saw a total of 45 fish weighed in.
First place and the overall largest fish caught, a kokanee, came in with professional wrestler/promoter Kenny “Loose Cannon” Lush of Sulphurous Lake.
Aug. 25
100 Mile players fare well against Williams Lake
U-10 players, who were selected from the 100 Mile House & District Soccer Association, played two teams from Williams Lake at the 100 Mile House Soccer Fields on Aug. 13.
They tied their first game and won the second.
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1
Agility dogs put on a great show
Lumberman’s Park next to the arena in 100 Mile House went to the dogs on Aug. 26-28 – the agility dogs.
The local Cariboo Agility Team hosted its annual Dog Agility Trial, which is sanctioned by the Agility Association of Canada (AAC), so participants and their dogs earned points as they worked their way up the rankings.
Sept. 1
108 Ladies Club championship attracted 24 golfer
Twenty-four 108 Ladies Golf Club members had decent weather for their championship at the 108 Golf Resort on Aug. 27-28.
Sept. 8
Wranglers tied one and lost one in pre-season
The 100 Mile House Wranglers and the Port Moody Panthers played to a 4-4 deadlock at the South Cariboo Rec. Centre on Sept. 3, and followed it up with a 5-3 loss on Sunday afternoon.
Sept. 8
David Oshanek aced par 3 150-yard eighth hole at Marmot Ridge
Some golfers play for years and never get a hole-in-one, and others are frustrated from coming within inches of the cup.
Some golfers play for more than seven decades until they fly a ball off the tee and into the hole in one shot.
That was the case for longtime 100 Mile House resident David Oshanek, 85, who accomplished the feat on July 29 on the par 3 eighth hole at the Marmot Ridge Golf Course.
Sept. 15
Mitch Siniak won at Thunder Mountain
Mitch Siniak, #77, of 100 Mile House took home first place in the Day of Destruction hit-and-pass race at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Williams Lake on Sept. 11.
Siniak was clearly excited to have won in his first time racing on a circular track.
Sept. 22
Hladun: this year’s Wranglers will be more entertaining
After splitting the previous weekend’s games – a 7-2 away-game victory against the Sicamous Eagles on Friday and a 3-0 home-opener loss to the Osoyoos Coyotes on Saturday – Wranglers coach and general manager Dale “Duner” Hladun said he thinks the team is “coming along nicely.”
He noted the Wranglers had a lot of skill and speed up front and that boded well as the season progressed.
Sept. 22
Mt. Timothy Ski Area slid smoothly into season
Mt. Timothy Ski Area general manager Caroline Sherrer said work was gliding along smoothly at the hill as they prepare for the upcoming ski season.
Several new quality of life features, season pass sales and a new fundraising campaign were all underway, along with the organization and planning of multiple events throughout the season.
Sept. 29
Local carpet bowling teams won medals at 55+ BC Games
Two carpet bowling teams from 100 Mile House and the Interlakes mined gold and silver at the 55+ BC Games in Coquitlam on Sept. 21-24.
The Triples team from 100 Mile House, including Sue Pinkerton, Dot Verboom and Joyce Bueckert, came home with the silver medals around their necks.
The Interlakes team competed in the Fours and included Rose and Robert Magnusson from Deka Lake and Ed Van Gool and Marion Mickelsen from 100 Mile House.
They also met a lot of stiff competition at the games, as there were three teams that had won five of the six games they played, but they won the gold medals in points for and against in a countback.
OCTOBER
Oct. 6
100 Mile House lads were in every game but one
The Peter Skene Ogden (PSO) Eagles senior boys soccer team turned plenty of heads at the 16-team Sa-Hali Sabres Invitational Tournament on Sept. 29-30.
The tournament featured four Kamloops squads, teams from Quesnel, 100 Mile House, Kelowna, Summerland and eight Lower Mainland teams, including five Surrey squads, and teams from Delta, Burnaby and Chilliwack.
They finished in 12th place in the tourney with much larger school populations.
Oct. 13
Wranglers remain at top of Doug Birks Division
The 100 Mile House Wranglers had an amazing start to the regular Kootenay International Junior Hockey League (KIJHL) season, especially when you consider this was an extremely young team.
There were 14 rookies on the squad, with seven of them attending Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School this year.
So, this was a radically different squad than the one that took us on that magical mystery ride last season and won the division, conference, KIJHL, provincial and Western Canada championships.
Oct. 13
2016 Canim Lake Poker Face Adventure Race was successful
Canim Lake Band recreation co-ordinator Tish Diamond thanked all of the sponsors, participants, and volunteers who made the 15th Annual Poker Face Adventure Race a great success on Sept 25.
The event attracted many out-of-town participants from Ontario and Williams Lake, as well as local participants from 100 Mile House and many community members from Canim Lake.
Oct. 20
Local Peewee Rep Milers were growing as a team
The 100 Mile House Peewee Rep Milers were in action for a pair of games at home against the Salmon Arm Rep team on Oct. 15-16.
Goalie Kyle Harding made some amazing saves and never gave up while facing a lot of rubber.
The final was 10-4 for Salmon Arm.
On Sunday, Kyson Hopson put his team on the board first and then Salmon Arm got two goals.
Goaltender Joey Isaac kept his team alive in the third with heart-pounding saves. Hopson was able to deke the goalie out and bring his team within reach. The forwards and defence worked hard and played as a team. The game ended in a 7-5 victory for Salmon Arm.
Oct. 20
YBC program was to start on Saturday
Larry Richet is the co-owner of the Big Country Lanes in 100 Mile House and he was excited about introducing the Youth Bowling Council (YBC) program to the Family Bowling Centre.
He and his wife, Sherree, held an YBC open house on Oct. 15, and folks came in to check it out.
Oct. 27
Eagles flew home from Prince George with bronze
The Peter Skene Ogden Eagles Senior Boys soccer team pulled off a big upset to win the bronze medal at the five-team North Central AA Championships in Prince George Oct. 20-22.
The Eagles were the lone team from outside of Prince George participating as they along with four other Spruce City schools were vying for top spot and a berth to provincials.
Oct. 27
Three local cross-country runners represented PSO at the zones
Three 100 Mile House cross-country runners represented Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School at the Zone championships in Quesnel on Oct. 22 – Brandon Balbirnie, Tristan Warner and Darlyssa Chretien – and they all had good performances.
Balbirnie won the senior boys’ race at the North Central zones, and he moved on to the provincials.
Chretien ran 4.3 km in the junior girls at the zones and placed fourth for the Grade 8s. While she qualified for the provincials, she didn’t compete due to family commitments.
Warner didn’t qualify due to an asthma attack during the race.
NOVEMBER
Nov. 3
PSO girls volleyball was in full swing
Peter Skene Ogden Eagles senior girls volleyball team won their first two games.
The 100 Mile House squad had played twice against Williams Lake so far and won both times.
The Eagles hosted the first meeting and won two out of three games. Then they travelled to Williams Lake and won a five-game match by taking three out of five games.
Nov. 3
Free Press Atoms on top of Rec division
Scoring, which was spread throughout the team, was the key to the squad’s high-octane performance.
The undefeated 100 Mile House Free Press Atoms were sitting on top of the Okanagan Mainline Amateur Hockey Association (OMAHA) Atom Rec Thompson Cariboo Division with a record of four wins, no losses and one tie.
Nov. 10
Grade 12 PSO student placed seventh in cross-country provincials
100 Mile House athlete Brandon Balbirnie had a great showing in the provincial Cross-country Running Championships running against 230 competitors in Kelowna on Nov. 5
Balbirnie, who was representing Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) in 100 Mile House, finished seventh overall in the Grade 11-12 division.
Nov. 10
Crystal Dawn Langton and Tracy Moore achieved personal bests
Peter Skene Ogden teachers Crystal Dawn Langton and Tracy Moore competed in the Vancouver Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon on Oct. 23.
Both runners achieved personal goals in the race that attracted 3,000 participants, Moore says.
“It was my second Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. My goal entering was one hour and 45 minutes, but I managed to clock in at one hour and 43 minutes.”
It was Langton’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon. While her goal was two hours and 12 minutes, she managed to complete the run in two hours and four minutes.
Nov. 17
Old Stars held another successful three-day tourney
The Old Stars Tournament teams played hard for all the marbles at the arena in 100 Mile House on Nov. 11-13.
In the men’s division, the Brew Jays won first place in the Rec Division, while Canim Lake took second place.
In the 40-plus division, Salmon Arm took first place, while the 100 Mile Old Cats were second.
In the 55-plus division, the Kamloops Free Radicals secured first place and 100 Mile Old Stars took second place.
Women’s tourney
The Canim Lake Kodiak Bears went undefeated in the women’s division of the Old Stars tournament at Rolf Zeis Memorial Arena in Lac la Hache.
Second place went to the 100 Mile Shooters and third place went to the Quesnel Diggers.
Nov. 17
Four South Cariboo races produced great finishes at North Shore Invitational Regatta
Four rowers from the South Cariboo Rowing Club junior program competed in the 2016 North Shore Invitational Regatta held at the Deep Cove Rowing Club on Oct. 29.
Local rowers James Edge and Noah Betz competed in the men’s intermediate singles race.
Both rowers had great races placing second in their heats. Overall, Edge finished second and Betz placed fourth out of 10 competitors. Betz and Edge placed third in their men’s doubles heat.
Courtney Cave and Lydia Kinasewich raced in the intermediate woman’s doubles and had an excellent race and finished second against 11 other crews. Cave and Kinasewich both finished in the top 5 of 14 in the intermediate women’s singles races.
Nov. 24
Local curlers filled podium at mixed curling bonspiel
The 100 Mile House Curling Club hosted it’s annual Mixed Bonspiel that featured three days of intense but fun bonspieling, Nov. 18 -20.
Fourteen teams worked hard to grab a chunk of the cash that was up for grabs.
Although the Quesnel rink from Ashcroft won the A event 6-1, 100 Mile House quartets otherwise dominated the podium.
The Quesnel group from Ashcroft took first in the A event, with the Mitchell Rink from 100 Mile House (100) second.
Ed Ney rink (100) won the B event and the Pratt Rink (100) was second.
Duane Ney rink (100) won the C event and the Todhunter Rink (100) was second.
Nov. 24
Wranglers knocked off North Okanagan Knights 3-1 on Nov. 12
100 Mile House Wranglers head coach and general manager Dale Hladun was bang on the money with the previous week’s prediction about his squad’s game at home against the North Okanagan Knights, which the Wranglers won 3-1 on Nov. 19.
Every time we play them, the game is tight until right near the end of the game, he added.
“That’s what we told the kids between periods – just stay the course. We’re playing well; we’ll just keep rolling four lines; they can’t keep the case up forever against all of the talent we’re rolling.
“Sure enough, late in the game, [momentum] just started to shift our way.”
DECEMBER
Dec. 1
100 Mile Nordics were busy as beavers
The 100 Mile Nordics were very busy improving trails, installing trail signage, making some improvements to the lodge and getting geared up with new ski rental equipment thanks to some grants and some hard-working volunteers.
The cross-country ski and snowshoe trails received a lot of snow in 2016.
Dec. 1
Grade 7 volleyball tourney was hotly contested
Mile 108 Elementary School hosted a full day of Grade 7 volleyball from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 25.
The round-robin tournament culminated with the Horse Lake Elementary School’s top team and Mile 108 Elementary School’s top team going head-to-head in the championship finals.
The Horse Lake players gradually pulled ahead 26-18, demonstrating better ball control and defensive skills.
Dec. 8
PSO 1 dominated indoor soccer tourney
The Peter Skene Ogden Eagles Senior boys soccer team hosted Hope Secondary for an indoor soccer tournament on Dec. 2 at the PSO gym.
Each school fielded a pair of teams and the four squads played the other three in a round-robin format. PSO 1 dominated all three of its games posting convincing victories in all of them.
PSO 2 was composed of mostly junior players and were a pleasant surprise on the day, says coach Sean Glanville.
They finished with one win and two losses.
Dec. 8
Mt. Timothy opened Dec. 16
Mt. Timothy Ski Area was geared up for its winter opening and the mountain was to provide some new features on Dec. 16.
There was to be a newly refurbished lodge interior and snowboarders would enjoy the refurbished rails and boxes in the Terrain Park.
They hired a new cook, Jackie Paul, in their Mt. View Cafeteria.
Lifts would start running at 9 a.m. and closing around 3:20 p.m.
Dec. 15
Wranglers traded for size and experience
The 100 Mile House Wranglers made a couple of big acquisitions in hopes of shoring up the defensive corps, including picking up a No. 1 goalie.
Coach and general manager Dale Hladun went down to Vancouver earlier this week to bring back Jacob Severson – a 19-year-old goalie with a lot of experience in Junior Hockey.
“I feel that Clay Stevenson is an up-and-coming goalie, and it will be good for him to have somebody [with experience] he can chat with.”
The other big pickup for the Wranglers was getting defenceman Matt Clarke who brings some size to the blue-line corps.
“He’s definitely physical and a great teammate in the room. We need some push back with our youth on the back end. They’re young and I wanted to add a little age and some ‘compete’ and Matt definitely brings that.”
Dec. 15
Selling art to go to camp
Female players from Novice to Bantam divisions of the 100 Mile & District Minor Hockey Association put their artwork on display at a local business for a silent auction to help raise money.
The revenue would go to help send eight local girls to a BC Hockey Female High-Performance Program, U14 and U16 hockey camps to be held in Williams Lake, Jan, 6-8, said association female director Denise Balbirnie.
Dec. 22
Wranglers were in hunt for division title
The Wranglers split the final home-and-away series with the Sicamous Eagles, which sat in last place in the division.
The Wranglers laid an egg in game 1 in Sicamous – 5-3 loss, with goals by Justin Bond, Frazer Dodd and Nick McCabe.
However, the 100 Mile lads played much better in the second game, with a 5-1 victory.
They jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first on goals by Garrett Hilton, McCabe and Sam Bosek, who was back in the lineup, with two markers.
Dodd finished the Wranglers scoring in the third.
Newly acquired goalie Jakob Severson got the win in his first game between the pipes for the Wranglers, as he stopped 30 of 31 Eagles’ shots.
Dec. 29
100 Mile House & District Figure Skating Club was going strong
The 100 Mile House & District Figure Skating Club had been having a busy season.
The club finished its Facebook fundraiser on Dec. 10, said club president Danyelle Howard.
“The Facebook auction went very well and we made just over $1,700 with all the bidding of the public and the wonderful businesses that generously donated items to make this a wonderful end to 2016.”
Earlier in the year, the club held smaller fundraising activities, such as meat orders, bottles drives and selling chocolate covered pretzels.
If you’re interested in learning more about the figure skating club, visit its Facebook page www.facebook.com/100MileDistrictFigureSkatingClub.
