In today’s teenage text lingo, they are BFFs having a blast at the BCWG.
Translation: Samantha Krenus, Ali Vanier, Rachel Gauthier and Audrey Sturgess are best friends forever literally kicking up their heels at the B.C. Winter Games in Vernon.
The fun-loving members of Team Fraser Valley in ringette had 90 minutes to kill before their next game Friday afternoon at Civic Arena. In between applying touches of make-up while sharing a tiny dressing room mirror, they were giving encouraging shoutouts to other teams hitting the ice.
“Rachel, Ali and I are all from Langley and we’ve been playing together since we were five,” said Krenus. “Audrey is our goalie from Surrey and we haven’t known her all that long, but we love her.”
The Valley girls are bunking down in a Grade 2 class at Silver Star Elementary, where they are also feeling the love.
“They drew posters with first place written on them,” said Krenus. “We left them thank you notes. We all signed our names.”
In between games, are the girls checking out the male athletes?
“Hell yah,” deadpanned Gauthier.
“We’ve got some digits and we’re going to the dance at the Best Western Lodge tonight,” added Krenus, who brought a foamy to enhance her beauty sleep.
The Fraser Valley Zone was 2-1-1 going into Saturday afternoon play, losing 8-0 to their arch rivals from Zone 4, Fraser-River Delta. The gold-medal tilt goes today at 10:30 a.m.
The Thompson-Okanagan Zone 2 girls, including goalie Emily Olds, Teigan Moore, Dayce Knopf and Maddie Powls, were 2-1 after an 8-1 loss to Fraser Valley Saturday morning. Kiana Wong netted the Zone 2 goal.
Moore pocketed 2+1 Friday afternoon as the Thompson-Okanagan brushed back Vancouver-Squamish 6-3 before 200 raucous fans shaking cow bells and blowing fog horns.
Kiana Pak, Stephanie Russo, Taigan Radonske and Wong also scored for the Zone 2 girls.
“It’s nice having a noisy crowd; it makes it more fun,” smiled Moore. “I didn’t really have any expectations, but it’s really exciting being part of the Winter Games.”
Lights were out at 9:30 Thursday night at Silver Star School, and Moore and mates were up at 4:50 a.m. for a 5:30 breakfast at the rec centre.
“I thought we were the more intense team,” said Pak, asked what the difference was in Zone 2’s win. “We started getting some picks because we didn’t want do the same thing all game.”
Pak was one of the smarter athletes at bed time, doubling up some mats.
“I slept good. It was just hard to get to sleep because there were so many little noises.”
In female hockey, where Zone 2 has Vernon athletes Ali Roine, Jenna Lazar and Brooke Toop, the Thompson-Okanagan team was 1-1 going into Saturday action at Wesbild Centre.
Roine scored twice and Toop had 1+2 as the Zone 2 crew stuffed North West 5-0. Taylor Finnie of Kamloops and Cassie Laturnus of Kelowna scored in Zone 2’s 5-2 loss to Fraser River Delta.
“We worked hard, we just go play hard for the full 60 minutes and get more pucks to the net,” said Roine, an alternate captain.
For Toop, who plays Bantam Super League with and against boys, the Games competition was a challenge.
“It was really tough, but a lot of fun,” she said. “It was a very past pace and for my first game of the year against girls, things went pretty good.”
Toop’s male teammates from the DCT Chambers The Guys Plus One Bantam House league planned to cheer her on Saturday.
Alicia Voss of Fraser River Delta, whose team used an empty-net goal by Marisa Chau with 15 seconds left to seal the deal, was satisfied with her team’s play.
“I think we need to be more consistent,” said Voss, a Richmond product. “It was a good start. We’re getting to know everybody better. We all know where the open ice is and we have wheels.”
Figure skating fans were treated to some stellar performances at Priest Valley Arena.
Amanda Wright, 15, of the Oak Bay Figure Skating Club, sported a head band as she prepared for her short program to a song entitled The Race.
“I do a double lutz, double toe, lay-back spin and a footwork sequence,” said Wright, competing in pre-novice. “I’m really excited because I’ve been skating real well in practice.”
Connie Kapak earned Vernon’s first gold medal in the girls 400-metre speed skating event Friday. She finished in 42.76 seconds, a fraction ahead of Prince George’s Callie Swan (42.83).
In curling, Amy Edwards’ North Okanagan rink stole singles in ends six, seven and eight to upend Fraser River Delta 6-5 Friday morning at the Vernon Curling Club.
“That was a little bit scary, but the teams were evenly matched,” said Edwards, a Grade 11 VSS student who curls with third Shayna Doll of Salmon Arm and front enders Sydney Hofer of Vernon and Kylie Tokairin of Enderby.
Edwards is thrilled to be competing on home ice. She even gets to bunk in her school.
“It’s curlers, biathlon and archery at VSS – I feel very safe with the archers and biathletes there,” she laughed.
“I like being here. Definitely staying in the schools is a bonus. It’s my school, so I know where everything is. I feel at home here.”
Aside from opening with a huge comeback win, Edwards says the opening ceremonies have been the highlight so far.
“It was crazy. There were so many people and it was a great experience just watching the torch come in.”
On the boys side, Armstrong skip Brendan Cliff fell 8-5 to Travis Cameron’s Fraser River Delta crew in his Friday opener.
Cliff, a Grade 10 PVSS student, had a shot at a triple takeout for the win with his final stone, but was slightly outside on his line, and gave up a deuce.
Regardless of how the weekend goes, Cliff, who watched from the stands as an alternate at the 2010 junior provincials, is just happy to be competing.
“Just to be here with my own team this time, in a provincial setting, is pretty exciting,” he said. “If we don’t win gold, it would just be cool to win a medal.”
Cliff is backed by third Brendan Chapple and a front end of Deven Schmidt and Matthew Young.
The Richmond-based Cameron rink is pretty hard to miss on the ice, as their bright neon orange toques can probably be seen from space.
“We were supposed to wear orange for Zone 4, so we decided to go with orange toques,” said lead Maverick Kilbride. “I’m happy we went with them because that’s what everyone knows us for now.”
Zone 4 third Chris Coulson said Friday’s win was a big confidence booster.
“It was a good game; both teams played really well. The fact that we came out on top against a team we thought was pretty good was quite a morale booster,” said Coulson.
Added lead Daniel Gao: “We’ve been looking forward to this ever since we made it in December. We’ve been pumped up the entire time.”
From sweeping brooms and throwing rocks at the curling club, over at Kal Secondary, spectators were treated to an endless succession of leg sweeps and hip throws in judo action Friday.
Hayley Timmerman, a Grade 8 VSS student who trains with the Vernon Judo Club, was beaming after she claimed silver in her weight class.
“My first match, I was holding down a girl who was older and a higher belt, so that was a big accomplishment for me,” said Timmerman, who joked she probably would have preferred to sleep in her own bed.
“Sleeping in the classrooms on the floor…is not comfy at all,” she grinned. “I got up at four this morning. There were a lot alarms going off. Kind of hard to sleep.”
Timmerman doesn’t mind a little sleep deprivation given all the new friends she is meeting.
“When you come here, you get to know a lot of people…a lot more Facebook friends.”
Devin Dunlop, a Grade 9 Seaton student, is loving the judo slumber party at Kal.
“The opening ceremonies were pretty fun, but it’s probably the pillow fights you have in your dorms,” he replied, when asked about his favourite part of the Games so far.
Dunlop and fellow Vernon Judo Club member Jason Holmes, a 15-year-old Kal student, were both 1-1 in their opening matches Friday. Holmes had 15 other competitors in his division alone.
“It’s pretty stiff,” said Dunlop, when asked about the talent level.
Like most of the host athletes, Holmes appreciates the familiarity of competing on home soil.
“It makes me feel quite relaxed because I’m at home. I have friends and family here,” he said.
