Kootenay Zone athletes claim medals at BC Winter Games
By Lone Sheep Publishing
Organizers at the Lhtako Quesnel 2024 BC Winter Games were in scramble mode leading up to last week’s event as a lack of snow forced cancellation of some of the events and moving the Cross Country Skiing races to Bakerville, approximately one hour driving time east of the Central Interior City.
However, the move shift did not seem to bother Dawson Abraham as the Nelson Nordic skier earned a pair of medals at the provincial games this past weekend in the Central Interior.
Abraham, competing for the Kootenay Zone, won the gold medal in the Cross Country Skiing Classic Technique Boys as well as a silver in the Cross Country Skiing 2009 Boys event.
The Kootenay Zone finished seventh overall at the Games with 22 medals.
Other multiple winners from the Kootenay Zone included Ella Fuller of Fernie in Cross Country Skiing; Austin Marasco of Fernie in Archery; Gianna Zezel of Castlegar in Rhythmic Gymnastics, Soleil Bitting of Rossland in Cross Country Skiing, Mikaela Garlock of Fernie in Archery and Adelie Albert of Cranbrook in Cross Country Skiing.
Vancouver-Coastal took the overall title with 91 medals, two more than Fraser Valley.
Vancouver Island-Central Coast finished third with Thompson-Okanagan fourth.
Individual medals winners included:
Gold
- Adrian Payten — Artistic Gymnastics Floor, Cranbrook
- Adelie Albert — Classic Technique Cross Country Skiing Girls 2010, Cranbrook
- Ella Fuller — Cross Country Skiing Classic Technique Girls, Fernie
- Austin Marasco —Archery Boys Day 2 Aggregate Compound Sighting and Match Play Compound Sighting, Fernie
Silver
- Emerson Mandseth — Artistic Gymnastics Vault, Nelson
- Elisha Moore — Judo Girls 63 Kg, Creston
- Kaitlyn Sandoval — Judo Girls 52 Kg, Creston
- Soleil Bitting — Classic Technique Girls Cross Country Skiing and 2010 Girls, Rossland
- Ella Fuller — Cross Country Skiing 2009 Girls, Fernie
- Gianna Zezel — Rhythmic Gymnastics Provincial Stream 10-11 years Individual Free and All Around, Castlegar
- Mikaela Garlock — Archery Girls Day 2 Aggregate Compound Sighting and Match Play Compound Sighting, Fernie
- Damian Fisher — Curling, Sparwood
Bronze
- Rebecka Van Hellemond — Artistic Gymnastics Beam, Nelson
- Gianna Zezel — Rhythmic Gymnastics Provincial Stream 10-11 years Individual Choice, Castlegar
- Adelie Albert — Classic Technique Cross Country Skiing Girls, Cranbrook
Organizers spent the past 18 months preparing for the BC Winter Games, with more than 1,300 locally volunteering to guarantee smooth sailing for the 1,200 participants.
The BC Games now shifts to Maple Ridge for the Summer event, July 18-21.
