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Four of seven local athletes come home with medals

55+ BC Games about competition but it’s also about experience
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By Ken Alexander

Seven people from the Ashcroft/Cache Creek area competed at the 55+ BC Games in the Kimberley/Cranbrook area in mid-September and they came home with four silver medals and some good memories.

The medals came home from the local curling team of Dwight and Barb Hodder and Paul and Janet Quesnel.

It was the second games in a row the two curling couples made it to the finals, but came up a little short.

Barb says they won their first two games, but then lost their third game on the last rock. They lost to the same foursome in the gold/silver game after giving up a four-ender in the first end.

She says it was a long drive to get to the games, but they had a good time and got some sight-seeing in.

“It’s very beautiful over there.”

While they went to the opening ceremonies but didn’t get to many other events because the venues were so spread out.

The Hodder/Quesnel foursome are looking forward to next year’s games in Kelowna because the gold-medal winners will earn a berth in the Nationals.

However, because it’s so close, Barb says they might have to qualify in a play-downs.

Darts

Ashcroft resident Jim Gyoba says the darts event was very competitive as there are a lot of good players, including some who have won the Nationals.

While the four man and four women on the team, didn’t come home with any hardware they did make it into the medal round.

The team competition was held on the last day of the games, Jim says, adding one of their guys got very ill and they had to bring in the paramedics.

“We played it out, but we just didn’t make it. Everyone was worried about our teammate.”

The Zone 8 team played a lot of darts during the four-day event – singles male and female, doubles male and female, mixed doubles and then teams.

Because Jim finished in first place in the zone 8 play-downs, he had to up against the number 1 players from the other zones.

Jim says there were a lot of good players and competitive games, but there was also great sportsmanship.

He, too, is looking forward to next year’s games.

Women’s hockey

For the first time in its 30-year history, the 55+ BC Games (formerly known as the BC Seniors Games) featured Women’s Hockey.

Women’s Hockey made its inaugural debut at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 12 on the first day of the games, with a game between Zone 7 (T2-Kootenay) and Zone 1 (South Island), says Ashcroft resident Marianne Munro.

Zone 7 (T2) Kootenay was one of two teams at the games “from the Kootenay area,” Marianne says, adding there were made up of cross-zoned players from different zones around the province who did not have enough players in their own zones to make up a team.

Zone 7 (T2) was made up of two players from Cranbrook and the rest from Creston, Trail, Burns Lake, Sparwood, Kamloops and Ashcroft (Munro) and Cache Creek (Sandra Talarico).

Marianne notes the Zone 7 (T2) team made history when it scored the first goal, in the first game, in the inaugural debut of Women’s Hockey at the Games.

The goal was scored by Sandra, with the assist by Marianne.

We didn’t get a medal, Marianne says, adding they tied our first game and lost the rest.

“Unfortunately, we were the only “cross-zone” team and when you throw a team together with players from all over the province, there isn’t a chance to learn how to play together until you’re on the ice for the first game.

“It was a great time though and all the women on the team are hoping that we’re “thrown” together again at next year’s games!”



editorial@accjournal.ca

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