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.
