2016 was a big year for sports in Yorkton. Narrowing the biggest moments down to ten was difficult. The top ten most notable have been decided. Below is the first half of the list. The second half (the top five) will be in next week’s edition.
10. Kade Johson’s success
Kade Johnson is an 18-year-old golfer from Yorkton. He grew up playing the holes at Deer Park. This year he saw a lot of success and took some big steps forward in his golfing career. In July, Johnson was crowned the 2016 U19 Saskatchewan Junior Men’s Champion. This win secured him a spot as captain for team Saskatchewan at the Canadian Junior Boys Championships, which were held in St. John’s, Newfoundland at the beginning of August. This was Johnson’s third time competing at the national competition, so he knew what to expect. Although nationals didn’t turn out as he had hoped, he found unexpected successes at other tournaments. Johnson came fifth at the Saskatchewan Amateur Men’s Championship, qualifying him for the Canadian Men’s Amateurs. He made the cut for the finals there, and finished 75th overall. In August, Johnson started university classes at Southern Arkansas University, where he received a partial scholarship to golf on their golf team. He had a solid freshman season with the team.
9. Cheerleading wins
A pair of local cheerleading teams – the Youth Level One All-Star team and the YRHS Raiders cheerleading team – found a plethora of success throughout the 2016 cheer season, constantly finding themselves on the podium as well as taking several Grand Champion Awards in 2016. The youth team, comprised of girls aged seven to 11, competed at three competitions throughout the season, opening the year up with a second place finish at the Warman Cheer Classic. They then made their way to the Alberta Cheerleading Association Championships at the West Edmonton Mall where they took first overall, beating ten other teams for the gold medal in the youth one category.
The Youth team then competed at the 2016 Saskatchewan Provincial championship where the finished third overall with a Provincial bronze medal to cap off a strong youth season. On the Raiders’ side of things, they too kicked off their season in Warman. The Raiders took first place, and took home the Grand Campion award in the senior level two division. The second competition of the season for the Raiders also took them to Edmonton and the ACA Championships, where they finished fourth overall.
They then competed at the University of Regina Cheer Competition on March 12 where they regained their early season form, finishing in first place. The Raiders promptly followed their Regina success up with their second consecutive provincial gold medal and second Grand Champion Award of the season to end their 2016 campaign on a high.
8. Brett Kemp represents Canada
Brett Kemp of Yorkton was one of only 66 players chosen from across Canada to represent the country at the 2016 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. Kemp was the only Yorkton athlete at the tournament, and one of only two players from Saskatchewan. He played on team Canada Black – the Canadian team with the most successful performance at the tournament. Other countries who competed in the tournament include Finland, Russia, Sweden, the United States and Czech Republic. Kemp’s hockey career started in Yorkton as he climbed the ladder through minor hockey. He spent one year on the RawTec Maulers AAA midget team and is now playing for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL).
7. Yorkton Cardinals sign new coach and break records
Omaha, Nebraska, native Bryn Biancalana became the new bench boss for the Cardinals in 2016, taking over for former Cardinal player and coach Kameron Mizzell. Biancalana came with a baseball pedigree as his father, former Major League infielder Buddy Biancalana, spent parts of six seasons in the MLB with Kansas City and Houston, winning the World Series in 1985 as a member of the Royals. He also had experience in the Western Major Baseball League, previously coaching the Edmonton Prospects (2011) and Saskatoon Yellow Jackets (2012). The Yorkton Cardinals went on to complete the 2016 Western Major Baseball League season with the best record in franchise history, with a 28-19 record. The record left the Cardinals in second spot in the WMBL East four back of front-running Swift Current, and 1.5 games up on third place Regina. Another record was set by Cardinals player Luke Wilkinson was able to hit a rare grand slam in the seventh inning in a game the Cardinals played against Regina in July, etching his name in the Cardinal record book twice.
6. Xerox Terriers threepeat as SBAAHL champs
The Yorkton Xerox Terriers won their third consecutive SBAAHL title with a 5-2 Game Two victory over the Sask Valley Vipers in March. This win came at the end of an incredible season for the Xerox Terriers, who finished with a record of 25-1-4, giving them 54 points. With the series win and third straight SBAAHL crown, the Yorkton Xerox Terriers were headed to yet another Western Canadian Bantam ‘AAA’ Hockey Championship. There, The Bantam Terriers ran into some stiff competition, picking up just one point over four round-robin games to finish fifth overall at the Westerns with a record of 0-3-1. Nonetheless, it was an impressive season for the Xerox Terriers, who are en route to another strong season this year.
