Innisfail and area athletes competed in the 2014 Alberta Summer Games in Airdrie and brought home a harvest of medals from outstanding performances.
The Cottonwood Kayak Club took gold in the kayak polo event, successfully defending its title while members of the team returned with hardware in other events.
Local swimmer Faith Gette captured five bronze medals. Emily Lucas and Brayden Posyluzny won silver and gold respectively in track events, and Jackson Haddow won gold in team handball.
The Parkland lacrosse team returned with silver medals, and Matthew Gabert/Tanner Newsham on the Zone 4 football team came home finishing seventh after putting in a solid effort.
“Going to the summer games was like being at the Alberta Olympics,” said Tanner Newsham of his experience playing on the Parkland football team. “It was awesome to be part of the atmosphere.”
His teammate, Matthew Gabert of Innisfail, had fun being one of the elite junior high football players in Alberta.
“To make it to the games, I was one of 80 kids who tried out and picked to be part of the Parkland team,” said Gabert. “We reached our potential in the last game, beating the North Western zone 34-6. Unfortunately we fell 25-7 to the Edmonton team, and lost by one touchdown to the North Eastern zone 6-0. In spite of that, it was a rewarding experience.”
Long-distance runner Emily Lucas finished second in the 3,000-metre race, five seconds behind the leader to win a silver medal.
“It was a tough race but the games were a good experience,” said Lucas of the event, which included 11 runners in the final. “I like running but my favourite part of meets like this is meeting other athletes from Zone 4.”
Second-year octathlete, Brayden Posyluzny, did not know what to expect from his competitors prior to his gold medal victory in the games.
“We did four events a day for two days,” said Posyluzny who will be going to nationals in three weeks. “By the end of the first day, I realized that the competition was very strong and to win gold I would have to push very hard.”
The Cottonwood Kayak Club was dominant in its discipline, winning gold for a second consecutive Alberta Summer Games.
“The team worked really hard in the tournament,” said coach Katrina Wagers. “They came together and played as a team, with each player getting time in the water. As a coach, it was rewarding to be part of it. Come the next summer games, this team will be very different, but those who are young players now will be more veteran.”
Co-coach Jesse Gillies added the team “battled their hearts out” en route to the gold, noting that some players “had tears in their eyes when they won.”
Team member Nicholas Ramrattan was exuberant at his summer of kayak polo.
“We just came off winning nationals, and now we are summer game champs too,” said Ramrattan. “This has been an amazing summer.”
In addition to the kayak polo gold, members of the Cottonwood Club, such as Alexander Ramrattan, Mischa Maree, Wyatt Beaudoin, Nicholas Ramrattan and Darius Ramrattan, medalled in different events from kayak slalom to slalom team racing. In total, the club took home 17 gold and three silver medals.
Innisfail Dolphins swimmer Faith Gette swam strongly and claimed bronze in 50-, 100-, 400- and 800-metre freestyle as well as in the 4 x 50 metre medley relay. She narrowly finished out of the medals in three other events.
“It was fun because I got to swim against different swimmers,” said Gette. “This was my third summer games swim meet and I enjoyed it.”
Swimmer Hidde Guerts brought home six medals -- two gold, three silver and one bronze.
“He is moving up in his skill level and confidence,” said Anneke Geurts, Hidde's mother.
Bowden's Justin Valentine broke summer games swimming records for 800- and 200-metre distances, while bringing home four gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Five Innisfail lacrosse players from the bantam team made Team Parkland and helped the team finish second, earning silver medals in the process.
“We played against a tough Zone 3 Calgary team and were outrun and outgunned,” said 13-year-old Danyon Lorencz. “They won 12-4 and took us by surprise with their speed. Scott Stauffer, one of our goalies, stood on his head throughout the tournament. Every player from Innisfail had a job and we did it.”
Other athletes who medalled included Connor Sinnamon with two silver and one bronze in shot put, high jump and triple jump respectively, and Kelly Eggink who collected a bronze.
Parkland Zone 4 won a total of 117 medals -- 31 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze -- to place fourth in medals among eight zones. Innisfail athletes accounted for 25 gold, 14 silver and four bronze medals.
