More than 3,000 young athletes were in action in Okotoks and Diamond Valley from July 20 to 23, as part of the 2023 Alberta Summer Games – and over 50 of them were from Airdrie.
According to the Alberta Summer Games athlete database, the over four-dozen Airdrie athletes competed at the provincial games in everything from swimming, to lacrosse, basketball, soccer, track-and-field, BMX racing, football, rugby, softball, and more.
The vast majority of Airdrie's cohort was competing for Zone 2 (Big Country), which extends as far west as Banff, as far east as Brooks, as far north as Olds, and as far south as Nanton, but does not include Calgary.
According to the Games' results database, Zone 2 finished third in the overall medal standings behind Zone 3 (Calgary) and Zone 6 (Edmonton). In total, the Big Country athletes recorded 35 gold, 47 silver, and 38 bronze medals across a variety of team and individual competitions.
Some of the local highlight-makers were the Zone 2 boys' U15 lacrosse team, which claimed gold at the games. The Zone 2 team included six players from Airdrie's Rockyview Rage U15A squad. According to reporting from the Okotoks Western Wheel, Landry Mitton from Airdrie scored the late tying goal and the overtime winner for Zone 2 to win lacrosse gold over Calgary.
Another gold-winning team that boasted plenty of Airdrie representation was the Zone 2 U14 girls' soccer team. The Zone 2 girls included three players from Airdrie, including Megan Jorquera, Maddy Hargreaves, and Kaviya Ramlu.
Three Airdrie players were on the Zone 2 boys' soccer team, which finished in fourth place: Andres Rodriguez, Madden Picken (the team captain) and Gabriel Flores.
Zone 2's girls' softball team – which earned the silver medal in their competition – also featured a few Airdrie players, including Haley Poile and Lauren Flaman.
Though most Airdronians represented the maroon of Zone 2, some Airdrie players were on the Zone 7 team that won gold in the football tournament. (Football, unlike most of the other Alberta Summer Games sports, operated on a draft system to determine which athletes represented which zone). The local players on this winning squad included Logan Quiring, Yusuf Ediris, Colton Jackson-McConnell, and Peyton Ormandy.
On the hard court, four players from Airdrie competed for the Zone 2 boys' basketball team, helping the squad compile a 2-2-0 record to finish in fifth place. The four locals were Gage Carson, Madden Diebolt, Brody Seerup, and Alex Laythorpe.
Many swimmers from Airdrie competed at the games as well, the majority coming from the Nose Creek Swim Association or Airdrie Phoenix Swim Club. Some of the locals who achieved podium success in the pool were Ava Phillips, who claimed a gold, two silver, and two bronze medals in her events; Zachary Vinuya, who won a gold, silver, and bronze; Makenna Palmer, who took home one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in her events; Gabriella Fedorko, who nabbed a pair of silvers; Charlotte Bratton, who managed a silver and bronze; and Spencer Bratton, who secured two bronzes.
Zone 2's swim team finished third overall.
Gracie Francis also earned some hardware in the pool, racing to a first-place finish in the Alberta Special Olympics Summer Games.
On the running track, Logan Massey with Zone 2's athletics team won a bronze with his 4x100-metre relay team.
Competing for Zone 1 on the rugby pitch, Grace Freund achieved a gold medal in the girls' rugby tournament.
For a comprehensive list of Airdrie's competing athletes and their results, see Alberta Games Results (rampinteractive.com)
