(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the latest results from the rowing competition, bringing the total number of medals won by Delta athletes from 23 to 27.)
Delta athletes brought home an impressive 27 medals at the 2018 BC Summer Games.
Nearly 2,400 athletes along with 452 coaches, 264 officials and thousands of parents, sports fans and volunteers from across the province travelled to Vancouver Island and the Cowichan Valley from July 19-22. They came to either take part in or watch 18 sports inside gymnasiums and aquatic centres or on athletic fields, riding arenas and local lakes or ocean.
Delta sent 53 of its young athletes to the games, plus 17 coaches, officials and adult supervisors, and they returned home with nine gold medals, 10 silver and eight bronze.
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Paddler Kenjiro MacMartin lead all Delta athletes, winning five gold medals in canoeing. He won two solo races, the boys C-1 500 metre Train to Train and boys C-1 2,000 metre Open and another two with his Vancouver-Squamish teammate Danylo Korsei of Vancouver, the boys C-2 500 metre Train to Train and boys C-2 2,000 metre Open.
MacMartin and Korsei then took home gold in the boys/girls C-4 500 metre Open with Vancouver’s Lauryn Clague and Keisa Bleiler. Noah MacMartin, meanwhile, took home bronze in the boys C-2 500 metre Learn to Train with Vancouver-Coastal teammate Iain St Arnault of Vancouver.
Runner Madelyn Bonikowsky won the second most medals of any Delta athlete, winning gold in the girls 1,200 metre, silver in the girls 2,000 metre, bronze in the girls 1,500 metre steeplechase and bronze in the girls 4×400 metre relay with Vancouver-Coastal 5A teammates Skye Higgins and Ella Symon of Vancouver and Claire Bosma of Richmond.
Bonikowsky’s twin brother Jacob also medalled at the games, earning silver in the boys 1,200 metre and 4×400 metre relay, competing with fellow Deltan Alexander Lamyin and Vancouver runners Terence Cheung and Miller Cumming.
Harvir Panesar took home bronze in the boys 200 metre and silver in the boys 4×100 metre relay with Vancouver-Squamish teammates Thomas Ma of Vancouver, Lenny Bonduau of North Vancouver and Bruce Jones of West Vancouver.
In baseball, team Vancouver-Coastal edged Fraser Valley in a tight all-Lower Mainland gold medal game 3-2, earning medals for eight Delta players: Jordan Bach, Ryan McCarthy, Tanton McNeill, Nate Rosser, Carter Spencer, Noah Thomas, Boston Warkentin and William Wilson.
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Not to be outdone, the Vancouver-Coastal girls beat their Thompson-Okanagan counterparts 7-1 to claim softball gold. Seven of the 12 girls on the team are from Delta: Amy Hendrickson, Taylor Kelly, Camryn Milley, Hayley Reid, Sophie Schuurman Hess, Nicole Sparrow and Bianca Tomlinson. As well, head coach Jake Geboers, assistant coaches Crystal McKenzie and Scott Stoilen, and adult supervisor Kyra Lafond are all from Delta.
Vancouver-Coastal took second place in both boys and girls volleyball, earning medals for Sebastian Kler, Anton Knos, Jonathan Saxon and Zoe Arca.
Five Delta rowers medalled at the games. Hana Anderson took home gold in the girls W1X Skills and silver in the girls W1X 1,000 metre. Duo Ellie Gach and Eve Morton took second in both the girls W2X 1,000 metre and girls W2X Skills. Rachel Mehling, Elijah Brown and Quinn Torok each won bronze, in the girls W1X 1,000 metre, boys M1X 1,000 metre and boys M1X Skills, respectively.
Anderson, Mehling, Torok and Vancouver’s Connor Demens also took home silver in the mixed quad.
On the pitch, Vancouver-Coastal took down Vancouver Island-Central Coast 5-1 to claim third in boys soccer, sending James Proctor and Lucas Radstaak home with bronze medals.
2018 marked the 40th anniversary of the BC Games, which began in Penticton in 1978. Fort St. John will be hosting the BC Winter Games in 2020.
— with files from Ragnar Haagen
WATCH: A look back at the 2018 BC Games
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