Mission’s Justin King was officially fitted for his well-deserved crown at the 2018 Cowichan BC Summer Games over the weekend.
King dominated in the pool, winning six gold medals in Special Olympics swimming events.
He won top spot in male 50 metres freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke, 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke and 200m freestyle.
King’s teammate Matthew Burns also excelled in the pool, winning bronze in both the male 800m and 100m Special Olympics swimming races. Burns narrowly missed medalling in the 200m, 400m and long jump Special Olympics athletics events, finishing fourth in all three. He also finished sixth in the Special Olympics shot put and sixth in the 60 kilogram boys wrestling division.
Mission also had strong representation in a number of team sports in Cowichan, with several locals helping their respective teams to glory.
The Fraser Valley girls rugby team, with Mission natives Alancia Jeffrey and Kira Katan, dominated in the round robin stage, beating Kootenays 45-0, North West 45-5 and Vancouver Island-Central Coast 36-5. They then beat Fraser River 17-5 in the semi-final, but lost 42-5 to Vancouver Island-Central Coast in the gold medal game to earn silver.
The Fraser Valley baseball team, with Mission’s Josh Pilgrim, had a strong tournament, compiling a 2-1 record in round robin play and beating Fraser River 2-1 in round one of the playoffs to advance to the gold medal game on Sunday. The final game saw Vancouver Coastal edge Fraser Valley 3-2 to see the locals finish with silver.
The Fraser Valley 5-on-5 girls basketball team also scored silver. The team went 1-1 in round robin play, but then got hot in the playoffs with wins over North West and Vancouver Coastal to reach the gold medal game. Thompson-Okanagan defeated Fraser Valley 41-30 in the final. Mission’s Maggie Hampton was the local representative on the team.
Mission’s Ryder Bremner and Trase Recsky were also a part of the bronze medal winning Fraser Valley box lacrosse team. The team opened with a 12-3 win over Team Indigenous and followed that up with a 12-0 win over Kootenays. Thompson-Okanagan defeated the club 5-2, which shifted the Valley team to the bronze game where they beat Vancouver-Coastal 8-3.
The Fraser Valley team finished fourth overall in the medal standings at the Games, winning 35 gold, 22 silver and 27 bronze medals.
For complete results from the event, visit bcgames.org/Games/Results-and-Participant-Lists.
