Athletes return from successful winter games

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

Athletes from Wheatland County are showing well at the biennial Alberta Winter Games in the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Strathmore and its surrounding communities fall under Zone 2, which wrapped up an incredibly successful three-day event with 54 medals – 15 gold, 20 silver and 19 bronze – good enough to place second in the province-wide standings.
Bringing home one of those 15 gold medals was Strathmore’s Kaia Gron, who was part of the Zone 2 squad that shaved Zone 6 in the final 3-2 on Feb. 19 in the female hockey tournament at the Casman Centre.
The Zone 2 unit opened the tourney with a slow start, as they tied Zone 5 (Yellowhead area) 1-1 Feb. 17. They built off the draw by picking up a 3-1 victory over Zone 6 (Edmonton), and cooled off Zone 7 (North Eastern Alberta) 4-1.
In the semifinal Feb. 19, Zone 2 clipped Zone 3 to earn a spot in the gold medal game with a 3-1 win.
The strongest collation of local products teamed up in ringette. They also picked up a medal, bronze, when they blasted Zone 3 on Feb. 19 with an 8-3 win at the Anzac Recreation Centre.
McKenna Blades, Cayley Boschee, Camille Gauvin and Grace Olson made up the Strathmore portion of the team. They were joined by Rockyford’s Hailey Kenney and Standard’s Madison Wheeler.
For a few of the girls, this was redemption from losing out in the bronze game 4-3 to Zone 6 two years ago in Medicine Hat.
“It was a little upsetting at first, knowing we were so close to gold, but anytime you can get a medal at an event like this is pretty special and a lot better than nothing,” said Blades, who was one of the returnees on the roster. “We trailed 1-0 in the bronze medal game, so we needed a pretty solid comeback to pull this off. It was great to see everyone playing hard and giving it everything they had.”
There was worry about the competition level being slightly above their pay grade, with the northern programs being comprised of double-A players and only a handful of players on Zone 2 bringing any experience at the double-A level.
All Zone 2 did was run out and obliterate those stigmas, as they came within one goal of appearing in the gold medal game.
Zone 2 battled back to force overtime against Zone 6, but fell in overtime 5-4 on Feb. 17.
“We have a lot of girls without experience at this level. We started slow, but once they got a taste for the speed of the tournament, they adjusted really well,” said Zone 2 Head Coach Gareth McCullough. “We have gotten tremendously better as the tournament has gone on.”
It was a fitting way to end a successful weekend up north that saw Zone 2 open the tourney with a 7-6 loss Feb. 17 to Zone 5. They were able to bounce back with a slight 5-3 edging over Zone 5B and blew Zone 7 out 10-1.
More than 1,800 kids aged 14-17 made their way up north to compete in the Winter Games, which first took place in Banff in 1976.
During the 2016 Winter Games in Medicine Hat, Zone 2 placed third with 19 gold, 27 silver and 18 bronze medals.
Away from the rink, Noah Leece was the only male local product to compete, when he strapped on a pair of snowboarding competitions. After a couple of runs, Leece placed 20th in the U14 Boarder Cross and 18th in the Slopestyle event at Vista Ridge.
Gleichen’s Rylee Wilson skated in the figure skating competition and came out with a 14th place finish in the Star 6 women’s free skate at the Frank Lacroix Arena.
In archery, Alyssa Maucieri took aim in the 15-17 Cadet Compound female and Mixed Compound team competitions at the Shell Place Indoor Turf Arena.
The next chance for local athletes to perform at the provincial Games is set for July 19 to 22, when Grande Prairie hosts the 2018 Alberta Summer Games.