More photos: Salmon Arm athletes bring home medals from BC Games

Shuswap athletes representing the Thompson-Okanagan Zone 2 in several different sports came home with great results.

Salmon Arm's Eliza-Jane Kitchen, centre, takes gold in the 3.5-km classic, Juvenile female category, at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.

Salmon Arm's Eliza-Jane Kitchen, centre, takes gold in the 3.5-km classic, Juvenile female category, at Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre.



Shuswap athletes are among B.C.’s best.

At the BC Winter Games in Vernon Feb. 23 to 26, local athletes brought home their share of medals.

In badminton, the Thompson-Okanagan Zone 2 team was made up of a record number of Salmon Arm residents. Eight of the 10 athletes were from the Shuswap, with two from Kelowna. In the final standings, the team brought home a bronze medal. Local team members were Garrin McDonnell, Samuel Kruk, Kael Amdam, Luke Wiebe, Hannah Whitehead, Chantel Holmes and Laura-Beth Moore, all of Salmon Arm, plus James Huntington of Enderby.

In the gold-medal match, the Mixed Doubles team of Garrin McDonnell of Salmon Arm and Kelowna’s Claudia Lauretta captured a silver medal, and in the Doubles Girls category, Hannah Whitehead and Laura-Beth Moore, both of Salmon Arm, also came home with a silver.

In curling, Salmon Arm’s Shayna Doll, playing third, helped her team capture a bronze medal in the Female Curling division final standings.

The Female Hockey division saw the Thompson Okanagan Zone 2 team lose in the bronze-medal game, coming fourth. Team members included three members of the Salmon Arm Midget Rep Silvertips: Hailey Haskell of Salmon Arm, former Salmon Arm resident Jenna Lazar (now from Vernon) and Ali Roine of Lumby.

In Judo, Ken Kosowick of Salmon Arm claimed a bronze medal in the men’s under 55-kg. division.

In the Cross-Country Skiing division, two teams took home medals. The ‘Hey Look a Squirrel’ team of Eliza-Jane Kitchen and Alexander Corbett of Salmon Arm, Elena Bruns of Mara, plus Gareth Williams of Kelowna, captured a silver in the 4 by 2-km mixed relay, while the Tropicana team garnered a bronze. Tropicana team members included Micah Bucher of Tappen, plus teammates from Revelstoke and West Kelowna.

Local individual winners in the Cross-Country Skiing division were Micah Bucher of Tappen with a bronze in the Individual Sprint Juvenile Girls 400-metre event, and Andrew Nash of Salmon Arm with a silver in the Individual Sprint Midget Boys 400-m, followed by Nelson Kleer of Celista with a bronze.

In the Individual Start Juvenile Girls 5-km division, Salmon Arm’s Eliza-Jane Kitchen sped to a gold medal, and Elena Bruns of Mara claimed a bronze.

For the Individual Start Midget Boys 3.5-km race, Salmon Arm’s Andrew Nash earned a gold medal, and Seth Van Varseveld, also of Salmon Arm, captured a bronze. In the Individual Start Midget Girls 3.5-km event, Miya Kosowick of Salmon Arm brought home a bronze medal.

In the Freestyle Skiing division final standings, Salmon Arm’s Brandt Adams earned a respectable fifth-place finish in the Big Air category.

In Speed Skating, Alyssa Skaalid of Enderby, who skates with the Salmon Arm Icebreakers Speed Skating Club, took home a bronze medal in the Final A division for the 400-m Girls race.

The Thompson-Okanagan Zone 2 Ringette team also fared well. Made up of Kaylinn Bihari, Sara Martin, Kairo Mair and Taigan Radomske, all of Salmon Arm, plus Amelia Kruk of Tappen, the team earned a bronze medal in the final standings.

Salmon Arm Observer