REGINA — Over 200 athletes attended the Prairie Divisionals Regatta in Regina on July 26 and 27 and nine of those athletes were from Yorkton Canoe Kayak Club.
Vaida Kuntz, Brecklyn Baluk, Zisu Yang, Liam Hellegards, Brayden Schellenbaum, Shennae Ethier, Brynlee Baluk, Ollie Kuntz, and Greyson Hellegards raced hard over the two-day event against competitors from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and Yukon.
Saturday morning began with the 1000m races for the U14s where L. Hellegards placed ninth, Brecklyn and Zisu finished fourth and seventh. V. Kuntz was looking to receive second in the race, but unfortunately flipped her boat only 20m before the finish line, therefore receiving a DNF.
Brayden and Liam raced together in the U14 Men's K2 500m achieving fourth in a seven-boat race.
In the U12 500m, Ollie and Greyson finished fifth and 10th respectively. Shennae and Brynlee finished fourth and sixth.
Shennae raced up a category to compete with Zisu in the U14 women's K2 500m, where they won a bronze medal. Vaida and Brecklyn, unfortunately, flipped during the race.
In the U14 men's K2 1000m, Brayden and Liam paddled hard to receive a bronze medal.
Brecklyn teamed up with a Saskatoon athlete, while Vaida and Zisu raced together in the U14 1000m. Both crews tied and received the bronze medal.
Shennae and Brynlee raced together to receive bronze in their U12 K2 500m.
The July 27 event also saw no shortage of medals and great placements.
Brynlee and Shennae raced first with two Regina paddlers and won second in the U12 women's K4 500m. Greyson and Ollie merged with a Manitoba paddler and an Edmonton paddler to also bring home silver in the U12 men's K4 500m.
In the U14 500m K1 finals, Vaida won silver and Brecklyn and Zisu received fifth and eigth.
Vaida raced up a category and received fifth in the U16 women's 200m Heat 2.
S. Ethier, Br. Baluk, Va. Kuntz and Zi. Yang raced together to bring home gold in the U14 K4 200m final.
In the U12 K1 200m finals, Ollie Kuntz placed fifth, Shennae won Bronze and Brylee placed 6sixth.
B. Schellebaum joined three Edmonton paddlers and raced hard to bring home a silver medal in the U14 men K4 200m. L. Hellegards raced with the same three paddlers earlier in the day to bring home silver in the U14 men K4 500m.
In the U14 200m, Liam placed seventh, Brecklyn won silver - only one second behind first place - and Zisu got fifth.
The final races for YCKC were the men's U12 K2 200m. Greyson and Ollie got fourth. Brynlee and Shennae dug deep to get bronze in their last race of the weekend.
The YCKC athletes are training for one more competition this season, the Yorkton Developmental Regatta on Aug. 16, which the club hosts for the province. Competitions aren't mandatory and the racing program is always looking for new recruits. For more information on the summer programming at YCKC, please visit https://yorktoncanoekayakc.wixsite.com/yckc
