After winning a pair of medals at the Canada Winter Games in Prince George, Surrey’s Michele Garceau was selected as the flag bearer for Team BC for Sunday’s closing ceremonies.
Garceau won a gold medal in female squash, and added a silver medal in team competition, and was named flag bearer Saturday night.
“I am very happy and honoured to represent Team BC as the flag bearer,” said Garceau. “This has been the most ideal set up for squash at the Games with the glass courts and crowds out supporting us. It is a wonderful way to end a great Games.”
After losing the first game, Garceau won three in a row to clinch the gold medal match 3-1 in the knockout singles tournament.
Garceau, 18, defeated Madlen Shea O’Connor of Ontario 9-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-4 in Wednesday night’s final.
“I came into the competition seeded fourth so in my mind, just keeping my seeding would have been a great result,” said Garceau. “To win the gold, I’m just ecstatic. I don’t know what to think.”
The B.C. junior provincial champion from Surrey won a first round match in straight games, allowing her opponent just 12 points in the three matches. She then edged Quincy Beck of Prince Edward Island 3-2 in the quarterfinal, Garceau’s most difficult match of the competition. She won the first two sets, then lost two in a row, before prevailing 11-3, 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5.
“I knew I had to wait out the points,” she said of the fifth game. “My plan was to play aggressively but in a way that I made sure I didn’t make mistakes. I was very patient and stayed focused and waited for my opponent to make mistakes.”
In Tuesday night’s semifinal against Sophie Mehta of Ontario, Garceau lost the first game 8-11, but swept the next three by scores of 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 to eliminate the nation’s top-ranked player.
Garceau, a member of the Ivy League’s Cornell Big Red squash team, also won a silver medal as a member of Team BC in team competition. With Garceau winning five of seven matches, Team BC went 5-0 in pool play, defeated Manitoba 3-1 in a semifinal match, then lost 4-0 to Ontario in the gold medal match.
Garceau, a graduate of Ecole Gabriel-Roy, has been at Cornell in Ithica, New York since August. In Prince George, she earned her two medals with her father in the stands.
“My dad flew up and it was so great to have him here,” she said. “Whether or not I won, I was so happy to see him. He told me from the very start that he believed in me and that I could win. It really meant a lot to have him there.”
– Special Olympian Stephanie Divin earned a bronze medal in Level II figure skating. The Surrey resident was first after the elements portion of the competition staged last Tuesday. Divin placed fourth in Thursday’s free skate.
– Michael Rasmussen of Surrey skated with Team BC in the men’s hockey tournament. and placed sixth.
Rasmussen recorded a goal and an assist with a pair of minor penalties in six games. Team BC won once and lost twice in the round robin to place third in their group, and then lost 6-3 to Quebec in a quarterfinal game Thursday. After a 5-3 win over New Brunswick, Team BC closed out the tournament with a 3-2 loss to Nova Scotia.
– Sarah Daniels of North Delta skipped Team BC to a fifth place finish in female curling. Team BC went 5-1 record in pool play to advance to the quarterfinal playoff, where they were upset 9-4 by New Brunswick. They then edged Alberta 9-8 Saturday morning.
