Nine Airdrie athletes proved they are among the best in the west at the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games, held Aug. 9 to 18 in Swift Current, Sask.
Airdrie’s cohort picked up more than 20 medals at the multi-sport event, shining in soccer, baseball, swimming, track and field, and more.
In phase one of the competition, 13-year-old Nyema Ingleton helped Alberta’s female soccer team to a gold medal.
“We came together as a team really quickly,” said Ingleton, a winger/full back. “We didn’t have a lot of time to train together, but we did really well for the time we had.”
The team’s chemistry was immediately apparent, as Alberta won 10-0 and 16-0 in its first two games against the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
“It definitely helped with our confidence, and everyone was hyped-up after those two games, scoring so many goals,” said Ingleton, who plays Tier 1 soccer in Calgary for the South West United soccer club. “But, we also knew it was going to be more of a challenge, getting into harder games after such one-sided games.”
Alberta rounded off its tournament with a 2-0 victory over the host, Saskatchewan, before drawing 1-1 with Manitoba to secure the gold.
In the pool, Airdrie’s Sean Penner picked up an assortment of hardware. The 16-year-old earned five medals, including gold in the 4x100-metre (m), all-male freestyle relay and the 4x200-m mixed freestyle relay. The St. Martin de Porres student also earned a pair of bronze and a silver medal to cap off a fine week.
Nathan Wong also competed in the pool. The highlight of the 14-year-old swimmer’s week was winning gold in the 4x100-m medley relay.
Another Airdrie swimmer, Wyatt Doucette, medalled in all six events he competed in. He picked up four silver and a pair of bronze medals in the Special Olympics swimming events.
After a successful first phase of the games, Airdrie’s athletes ramped up their performances in phase two.
On the track, sprinter Princess Roberts showed off her blistering speed by taking home gold medals in the 100-m sprint and the 4x100-m sprint relay. The highlight of Roberts’ weekend was when she broke the 12-second barrier in her qualifying heat, finishing the race in 11.99 seconds.
Roberts said she was pleased to set a personal best in the 100-m, adding that working on her starts this year has paid dividends.
"I focused a lot more on practicing my power at the beginning of my race, from the blocks, and keeping that same energy throughout," she said.
"There was a negative wind, which means it was in front of me, so it should have been harder to break the 12 seconds. But it didn't feel that hard, which is a good sign, because it means I can go even lower."
Long-jumper Jalen Greenidge, 18, finished sixth and eighth in his two events, and throws athlete Parker Allen took home bronze in the hammer throw.
“I felt like the week went pretty according to the game plan we had set out,” said Allen, who also finished seventh in the javelin and discus events. “I’m really just a hammer thrower, but the whole point of these games is for Team Alberta to secure a win.
“When I had extra slots left for events after hammer throw, the coaches asked me if I’d be willing to do discus and javelin, as well, to earn the team a few extra points. Of course, I was behind that. I have a strong background in team sports, so that’s always been a big thing – the team winning over individual wins.”
Para-athlete Saheed Alawiye also put in a great performance on the track. The W.H. Croxford student earned a silver medal in the 100-m wheelchair race, as well as bronze medals in the 200-m and 400-m events.
Alberta had success on the ball diamond, as well, with the men’s baseball team overcoming Saskatchewan and Manitoba across seven games to take home the top spot. Among Alberta’s ball players was Airdrie’s Conner Fortier, who competed as a pitcher and pinch hitter.
The team had a stellar week in Swift Current, averaging nine runs and conceding an average of just five runs per game.
“Most of the time, we didn’t have much of a struggle scoring runs against other teams,” said Fortier, who plays midget AAA ball for the Calgary Junior Dinos.
“We also didn’t let other teams score many runs against us, so it really helped our offence score runs.”
Though he had to sit out the gold-medal game against Manitoba due to an ankle injury he sustained in the warm-up, Fortier said he personally had a solid week.
“I was able to throw strikes and get outs,” he said. “When I pitched, we didn’t lose, so I think I contributed to those wins.”
Sophia Howell, who swam, cycled and ran her way to a first-place finish in the women's individual triathlon, also competed on Alberta’s mixed relay team and female relay team, finishing first in all three of her events.
Alberta ended up topping the medal standings in Swift Current, with 299 medals.
