Delta athletes and coaches helped Team B.C. to a record medal haul at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
The two-week competition concluded on Sunday with B.C. finishing second in the medal standings with a best-ever of total of 146 — placing second to only Ontario (212) and ahead of Quebec (138).
It was the last medal handed out at the Games that broke B.C.’s previous record and that came in women’s softball, just prior to the closing ceremonies. B.C. routed Alberta 10-3 for its fourth consecutive gold medal on the diamond. The team had significant Delta flavour — led by Tsawwassen’s Gord Collings as head coach, along with players Damara Begin and Keeley Ainge.
Begin, a South Delta Secondary graduate, will soon be headed back south for her sophomore season at University of Central Florida. She enjoyed a productive tournament, including a pair of hits and two RBI in the gold medal game. She also belted a homer in an earlier win over Prince Edward Island.
Ainge, a Delta Secondary grad, was part of the B.C. pitching rotation, going 2-1 with wins over Newfoundland and New Brunswick. She is coming off an outstanding season with the Douglas College Royals.
Collings is no stranger to success guiding B.C. teams. The Tsawwassen resident coached B.C. to gold four years earlier in Quebec. He is heading into his fifth season as head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds women’s softball team and was recently added to Softball Canada’s national team coaching pool.
B.C. went 8-1 in round-robin play then avenged its only loss with a 3-1 semi-final win over unbeaten Ontario.
Meanwhile, Delta triathlete Michael Milic won three medals, including gold in the male and mixed relays. The 19-year-old UBC engineering student added silver in the male individual race, finishing behind Quebec’s Paul-Alexandre Pavlos Antoniades in a time of 58:34.10.
Wrestler Harbans Gill won silver in the team event then added bronze in the up-to-76 kg category.
Tsawwassen’s Teo Ardanaz helped B.C. capture bronze in men’s volleyball thanks to a thrilling five-set triumph over Quebec. B.C. jumped out to an early two set lead before Quebec came storming back. The fifth and final set ended 17-15 in B.C.’s favour.
Winskill Dolphin swimmer Thomas Kranjc, 15, was a member of B.C.’s silver and bronze medal relay teams in the 4x100 and 4x50 free relays respectively. He was also seventh in the 50 and 100 free individual events. In total, B.C. won 52 medals in the pool, including 17 gold.
Rower Rob Hodgins was a member of B.C.’s silver medal winning quadruple skulls crew, finishing second to Ontario.
