TEAM ALBERTA EARNS FIRST MEDALS AT CANADA SUMMER GAMES
Team Alberta – Gold and Bronze for Team Alberta as it continues to deliver strong performances
(Winnipeg, MB) Alberta secured its first medals of the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg: a gold medal in the 3m Synchro Diving produced by Ashley McCool (Cochrane, AB) and Margo Erlam (Calgary, AB) and a bronze medal courtesy of Meghan Lim (Edmonton, AB) in the women’s pole vault event of Athletics.
The Diving duo was thrilled with securing Alberta’s first gold medal. “I think it’s quite the privilege to represent Team Alberta and winning the gold medal. I know we put it a lot of hard work and it paid off. I know we didn’t dive necessarily our best, but it was enough for a gold medal,” said Ashley McCool.
Teammate Erlam was on cloud nine after the dive. “I would honestly describe it as indescribable. It’s remarkable. I never thought I would win a medal at the Games, let alone a gold medal. We did lots of dryland training and did lots of mental training to prepare.
Pole vaulter Meghan Lim was the first Alberta medal at these games, a bronze medal: “I’m really proud, and I’m really happy to be here representing Alberta. It’s really awesome to be able to put someone on the podium on the first day [of Athletics], and I am really excited for us because I know we have some really awesome athletes coming up in the next couple of days that I am excited to see them perform.”
Lim, who started vaulting four years ago, will enjoy the rest of the Games as she only competes in the pole vault. Ontario’s Makiah Hunt won the event setting a new CSG record of 4.02m. Alberta’s Rachel Hyink also jumped 3.70m and finished fourth on the countback.
Backed up against the wall and facing an early exit from the men’s basketball tournament, Alberta faced Newfoundland and captured an important 94-68 victory against Newfoundland. At halftime, Alberta led 50-32 and continued to excel adding 42 more points in the second half to secure the win. Rele Orimalade led Team Alberta with 17 points and a team high 7 rebounds. The resilient team will face a rowdy home crowd tomorrow as they face Team Manitoba at 5:15pm tomorrow in the quarterfinals round.
The men’s baseball secured a spot in the playoff round thanks to a strong 12-7 win against British Columbia. The squad led by Manager Dwayne Lalor hit two home runs in the game to take the win against BC. In their evening match, Alberta faced the mighty team from Saskatchewan. Alberta controlled the match limiting their opponents to two runs while scoring six. They now stand in first place of the SuperPool standings with a 4-1 record. The team will play once more in round-robin action, tomorrow evening against Quebec (1-4) at Shaw Park.
In beach volleyball action, the duo of Matthew Saly (Calgary) and Brendan Vanderlinem (Sherwood Park, AB) faced off against Team Quebec and managed to steal the victory in two straight sets (21-18, 21-16). Later in the evening, the two Alberta men took on the strong squad from Team BC for a battle of the first place in the standings. After a passionate match, it’s Alberta who stormed away with the two-set victory (21-19, 21-11) to remain undefeated after three of four round robin matches.
Beach ladies Olivia Furlan (Calgary, AB) and Kate Pexman (Calgary, AB) played only one match today, but it proved to be an important one. The ladies faced off against British Columbia, who stood tall and offered a challenging game to the Calgarian duo. In a match that required three sets, Alberta took the nail-biting victory in extra points. Alberta lost their first set 17-21 but preserved to take the second and third sets 21-17 and 16-14. Alberta remains the only undefeated team in their pool, standing in first place with one match to go before going into the medal rounds.
The individual events of the triathlon were featured today at Birds Hill Provincial Park. Involved in a nasty crash that took 6-8 riders out of the race, including Alberta’s Emma Skaug (Calgary, AB), two Alberta girls finished the race despite battling through injuries. Hayley Basterash (Edmonton, AB) finished as Alberta’s top finisher in sixth place. Alberta placed two riders in the Top 10 of the men’s triathlon race, with Chris Gregor (Calgary, AB) taking the seventh place followed by Aidan Comeau (Edmonton, AB).
After a difficult draw against the squad from Newfoundland & Labrador yesterday, the women soccer team faced the strong team from British Colombia. The pressure was on for Team Alberta who needed either a win, a tie or a loss while scoring at least one goal to advance to the second round. The ladies answered the call of duty and went on to easily take a 3-0 win in the battle of the Rockies, with Caleigh Boexkx, Tanya Boychuk and Megan Duro scoring goals. Team Alberta will face the home team of Team Manitoba tomorrow at 4:30pm.
In Gimli Yacht Club hosting the sailing events, lightning and strong winds made it very difficult to get a complete set of races in. In the men’s single-handed Laser boat category, Connor Weicht (Calgary) currently sits in seventh place after two races. Rachel Kortbeek (Edmonton, AB) sits in sixth place of the singlehanded Laser Radial category. Para-sailor Wendy Frazier (Calgary) is currently sixth of the 2.4 m Para-mix boat, while the doublehanded 29er crew of Brianna Brand (Calgary, AB) and Sasha Mischenko (Calgary, AB) sits in sixth place. In the men’s doublehanded 29er boat, the crew comprised of Devinn Doering (Strathmore, AB) and Edwin Oliviera (Calgary, AB) are sitting in eighth place.
The rowing regatta commenced today in Kenora. After training for a few days since their arrival, the Alberta rowers came out roaring with 6 of 7 crews advanced to the A Final to take place on Thursday. The men’s lightweight four, the men’s single sculls, the men’s quadruple sculls, the women’s and women’s pair, the women’s eight. The women’s quadruple sculls will advance to the B final.
The men’s softball team representing Alberta lost both their matches, the first to PEI (11-7), and the second to Quebec (7-0). The team shows a record of 1-5 after six matches.
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