Saanich Peninsula teens help Island to top finish at B.C. Games

Peninsula athletes bring back bling from B.C. Summer Games in Surrey

Abby Speirs, 13, competes in the Victoria Youth Triathlon at the University of Victoria earlier this summer. Speirs won bronze medals in girls triathlon, duathlon and aquathon.

Abby Speirs, 13, competes in the Victoria Youth Triathlon at the University of Victoria earlier this summer. Speirs won bronze medals in girls triathlon, duathlon and aquathon.

Vancouver Island (Zone 6) took the top spot in the medal standings with 38 gold, 32 silver and 32 bronze for a total of 102 medals at the 2012 B.C. Summer Games last weekend.

Peninsula athletes had impressive finishes in several events.

Equestrian vaulters Charlotte Galbraith and Courtney Cook finished well in their classes. Galbraith placed fourth in the first two days of competition and fifth in the final day, and Cook finished fifth in the first two days of competition and fourth in the final day. With only four tenths of a point separating the first and fifth place finishers, Carol Whitehouse, Galbraith’s mother, said the competition was stiff.

“It was a very, very exciting event for the girls,” she said. “The competition was so tight and it was great experience for them.”

Peninsula golfer Andrew Funk finished 10th with 152 points in the boys golf event.

Athletics events were also represented by Peninsula teens Kaelen Smith, Michael Giles, Jacqueline Gaby and Amelia Casciola.

Smith took eighth in boys high jump and second in the 100 m hurdles; Giles took fourth in the 100 m hurdles; and Gaby took 12th and Casciola 11th in the girls 1,500 m steeplechase.

Brentwood Bay’s Abby Speirs took third in girls triathlon, duathlon and aquathon.

Team sports during the B.C. Summer Games were also dominated by Zone 6.

Both undefeated in their preliminary games, Vancouver Island-Central Coast (Zone 6) and Fraser Valley (Zone 3) field lacrosse teams met in the gold medal final during the last day of competition and after an extremely even first half, Fraser Valley took command and beat out Zone 6, including Peninsula team members Colton Merilainen, James Thompson and Kurtis Young, for the gold.

Brentwood Bay’s Isabella Kennedy and Alexander Va’a also took home silver medals with their teammates from Zone 6 in girls softball and boys rugby, respectively.

Other sports represented by the 18 Peninsula athletes who competed included inline hockey, rowing, soccer and basketball. Visit www.bcgames.org for full results from the weekend’s events.

The B.C. Games cauldron will be lit again in 2014 in Mission for the B.C. Winter Games and in Nanaimo for the B.C. Summer Games.

sports@peninsulanewsreview.com

Peninsula News Review