Strathmore shines at Alberta Summer Games

Brad Everett
Times Contributor

 

Whether it was picking up medals or demonstrating a genuine love of their sport, Strathmore’s athletic stars shone bright competing for Zone 2 at the Alberta Summer Games July 14-17 in Leduc.
It was the pool where Strathmore and area athletes picked up the most hardware, with four swimmers from the Strathmore Silver Sharks in attendance at the games.
“We had some great competition in zones so the fact they qualified was great and then that all four medalled was something we hoped for but certainly didn’t expect,” said Sharks coach Jen Mertz.
Boris Kuljanin picked up three gold medals and four bronze, while Madison Laycraft won three gold and a bronze. Competing in her first summer games, Megan Mertz swam in seven different races with her best finish being fourth in two of them.
Rayanne Laycock was the fourth member of the Silver Sharks to compete in the summer games. However, while she qualified in both swimming and triathlon, athletes can compete in only one sport. Laycock opted to compete in the triathlon where she brought home a silver medal. She completed the 500 metre swim, 10 kilometre bike ride and four kilometre run in a time of 47:32, just a few seconds behind the winner.
The U16 girls softball team lost a hard-fought championship game to bring back silver.
“I’m very happy with the way the girls played in the final,” said coach Jason Sauve. “We lost 10-8 to Zone 4 (central Alberta), but they beat us 14-2 in the opening game of the tournament so we did well to keep it that close.”
The Strathmore girls who played on the Zone 2 team were: Mikayla Chanut, Kate Dubois, Natalie Funk, Karissa Hammond, Brooke Kennett, Kelsey Kennett, Kaylin Larson, Ainsley Olson, Camryn Riley and Ann Sauve.
The boy’s football and baseball teams both placed sixth out of eight teams, but the coaches of both teams commended their players for how they conducted themselves on and off the field.
“We fell short of our goal to win a medal,” said U15 baseball coach Geoff Hall. “We came out nervous in our first game and didn’t play very well, but then the rest of the tournament we played better,” he said. The sportsmanship of the players was noticed both on and off the field.
Joseph Furfaro and Kaden Zarowny were the two Strathmore players on the team. Furfaro played left field, third base, second base and catcher over the course of the tournament, while Zarowny was only one of two first-year players to make the squad.
The Zone 2 football team played three games in three days, which is almost unheard of in the sport.
“Three games in three days takes a lot out of you,” said defensive back coach Willy Snypes. “But the kids did well overall with all the games being fairly close. We had a great group of kids – a team of leaders.”
The Strathmore players who were included on the 35-player roster were: Kevin Agboro, Noah Desjardins, Reid Jensen, Noah Leys, Zach Palardy, Sean Seafoot, Max Sims and Riley Southern.