With the winter Olympics taking up the airwaves across the world, athletes from Saskatchewan descended upon North Battleford for the Saskatchewan Winter Games, Feb. 18-24.
Local athletes were well represented at the games, with 54 athletes competing in 15 different sports.
While local athletes accounted for just 54 slots, those athletes enjoyed a solid amount of success claiming a gold, four silvers, and four bronzes, along with nine other top five finishes.
Prairie Central led the way for the Humboldt athletes claiming the gold, four silvers and two bronzes.
The most successful sport for local athletes came in judo where they combined for two silvers, and a bronze.
Rowan Hunter captured one of the two silver medals, finishing second in the 45kg male event, and added a fourth in the 50kg skills competition.
Joining Hunter on the second step of the podium was Jurnee Roszell who claimed silver in the 53kg+ women’s competition, and added a seventh in the 53kg+ skills competition.
Just missing out on making it a trio of Prairie Central judokas on the second step was Terri McNab, who finished third in the 53kg+ women’s event, and tenth in the 53kg+ skills competition.
The best of Prairie Central’s finishes came in the girls hockey competition where they claimed gold.
The group of Nicole Girolami, Lauren Hinz, Cassadi Klapak, Kiana Leicht, Sydney Martin, Bridgette Vedress, and Drew Vipond and the rest of their team enjoyed a tremendous amount of success as they rolled through the tournament compiling a perfect 4-0 record, which saw Prairie Central outscore the opposition 27-7 in the process.
With the girls hockey team claiming gold, their Prairie Central teammates on the boys side, including Castor Berezuik, just narrowly missed out on the top step of the podium, losing 6-4 to Saskatoon in the final.
The final of the silver medalists came in gymnastics, where Raya Wacker, Owen Whitrow, Taylor Possberg, and Tristan Marquis combined to help Prairie Central finish second in the mixed team event.
Marquis also added a bronze on the horizontal bar, fifth in the floor routine, and eighth in the all around competition.
Wacker meanwhile, just missed out on the podium finishing fourth all around, fifth on the vault, and seventh on the beam.
Whitrow and Possberg competed in just one event finishing 12th and 16th respectively in the all around competition.
While Prairie Central was busy claiming a bunch of medals, Team Lakeland came through with some of their own, as the boys hockey team claimed a bronze medal after knocking off Team South East 3-1 in the bronze medal final.
Joining the boys hockey team on the third step on the podium is Madilyn Brophy, who helped Team Lakeland claimed third in the mixed team gymnastics competition.
Brophy’s other finish came in the all around competition where she claimed 21st overall.
Other Finisihers
Men’s Alpine Skiiing
Spencer Lorenz – 6th: U14 Slalom, 7th: U14 Ski Cross,
Synchronized Swimming
7th: Team
Amelia Both – 55th: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 7th: Synchronized Swimming Duet Co-ed
Ashley Hinz – 60th: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 15th: Synchronized Swimming Solo Co-ed
Emma Knight – 61st: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed
Raea Lamont – 56th: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 7th: Synchronized Swimming Duet Co-ed
Sabrina MacLean – 62nd: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 12th: Synchronized Swimming Duet Co-ed
Peyton Madigan – 45th: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 6th: Synchronized Swimming Solo Co-ed
Katherine Possberg – 63rd: Synchronized Swimming Figured Co-ed, 12th: Synchronized Swimming Duet Co-ed
Badminton
6th: Team
Taevan Athmer
Landon Linnen
Rylan Marianchuk
Kara Miskolczi
Seth Schuler
Special Olympics Bowling
7th: Mixed Team
Jessica Her
Jocelyn Ehr
Samantha Fisher
Ryan Michel
Target Shooting
Inez Blind – 9th: Target Shooting Super Final Air Rifle Female
Nibahnia Blind – 10th: Target Shooting Super Final Air Rifle Female
Cross Country Skiing
Ethan Fleischhacker – 11th: 250m Free Technique Sprints Junior Male, 13th: 5km Interval Start Classic Junior Male, 6th: Junior Male Relay
Claire Gullacher – 8th: 250m Free Technique Sprints Junior Female, 5th: 5km Interval Start Classic Junior Female
Brayden Nivon – 10th: 250m Free Technique Sprints Junior Male, 6th: 5km Interval Start Classic Junior Male, 6th: Junior Male Relay
Figure Skating
Sydney Hrushka – 14th: Free Skate Class 3
Heidi Klettberg – 16th: Free Skate Class 2
Vada Magnusson – 13th: Free Skate Class 3
Tia Sturkoff – 17th: Free Skate Class 1
Snowboard
Timothy Baker – 13th: U14 Male Snowboard Cross, 14th: Overall
Men’s Curling
5th: Team
Jayden Bindig
Braden Fleischhacker
Ethan Nygaard
Nathen Pomedli
Bowling
Ben Weninger – 39th: Individual, 5th: Team
Women’s Curling
4th: Team
Rebecca Fitzsimmons
Marlyse Steckler
Women’s Hockey
5th: Team
Penny Bellfontaine
Taylor Medernach
