Young Langley athletes from Langley brought home several medals from the B.C. Winter Games, which were held from Feb. 22 to 25 in Kamloops.
Overall, the Fraser Valley zone, which includes Langley, won 50 medals. The sports were wide-ranging, from traditional winter sports like skiing and skating events, to badminton, archery, diving, gymnastics, and judo.
Langley’s own Kayla Halliday is back home with a gold medal in figure skating.
Halliday won the Games’ juvenile women’s figure skating event.
The 12-year-old French immersion student at Noel Booth Elementary has been skating for five years, said her proud mom Carla Halliday.
This was a big event for Kayla, because it was her first competition without her coach by her side. She was also a little more independent than at the typical games, because she was travelling, sleeping, and eating with her fellow young athletes, instead of her parents.
Kayla is currently the 2018 BC Sectionals champion for U14 women, which earned her the invite to the B.C. Winter Games.
It was also a big year for gymnasts from Langley.
Seven Langley Gymnastics Foundation athletes attended the 2018 BC Winter Games, with several taking home medals.
Among the top scores were:
• Blake Morfitt
2nd place on parallel bars
5th place all around
• Griffin Wallan
11th place on rings
• Cam Johnston
11th place on vault
• Josh Holmes
12th place on vault
• Josh Carroll
9th place on rings
• Grace Hernberg
4th place on bars
5th place on vault
5th place all around
6th place on floor
• Brooke Miller
2nd place on vault
3rd place on beam
4th place all around
“All LGF coaches are very proud of our athletes who represented us at BC Winter Games,” said gymnastics coach Nikki Jarvis. “These athletes worked very hard to secure spots at the games and were able to compete at their best.”
“Being away from home for the first time can be hard, but these athletes were able to perform at their best even with a lack a sleep, and in an unfamiliar surroundings,” Jarvis added.
“We had a fun time this year at B.C. Winter Games,” said coach Nori Hori. “All the athletes and coaches traveled together and spent a lot of time altogether, which helped strengthen our friendship! We are a great team, and I am so proud of it.”
Several other sports saw a few medals for Langley residents.
In Karate, Cole Maclean took bronze in intermediate boys kata.
Karan Jangra took silver and Aryan Kaul took bronze in intermediate kumite 2 for boys. Jangra also took bronze in advanced kumite open weight.
Chloe Ireland won silver in intermediate kumite 2 for girls.
In diving, Jayden Pool took silver in group B boys 1 metre, and gold in 3 metre.
Paige Bush won gold in C group girls 1 and 3 metre dives.
Langley’s Navid Aliakbar won a bronze in boy’s archery competition.
