Abbotsford athletes ran, jump, swam and battled their way to greatness at the 2016 BC Summer Games from July 21 to 24.
Locals competed on the Fraser Valley zone team, which finished second overall behind Vancouver Island-Central Coast in the medal standings with 144. Fraser Valley athletes encompassed the cities of Abbotsford, Langley, Mission, Maple Ridge and Chilliwack.
Abbotsford athletes excelled at team sports, as teams with locals taking home a total of 13 medals in 10 different sports.
The temporary beach set-up at Mill Lake Park proved to be the perfect venue for local athletes, as both the Fraser Valley boys and girls beach volleyball teams earned gold.
The girls team, comprised of MEI students Ashley Huberts and Karissa Marazzi, dominated the tournament with an undefeated record and beat the VICC duo of Madison McDonald and Olivia Godek by scores of 21-17 and 21-9 on Sunday to win it all.
Huberts and Marazzi have been playing together since Grade 7 and the pair said this ranks high on their list of achievements.
"It feels really good to win," Marazzi said.
"We didn't really know what to expect coming in to this tournament," Huberts added. "But we were confident heading into it."
The boys beach volleyball side was more of the same for the Fraser Valley, as Abbotsford's Colton Loewen teamed up with Langley's Brodie Hofer to win gold.
Like the girls, the boys cruised through the tournament without a loss, and won gold by beating the Fraser River duo of Matthew Armstrong and Jakob Toews (21-15 and 21-16).
"It felt good and it's pretty rewarding to win," Loewen said. "We haven't really played much together and we were kind of figuring each other out the whole tournament."
The good vibes on the indoor volleyball court continued for the Fraser Valley team at UFV, as the boys team also took home gold.
Fraser Valley took down VICC in two sets (25-19 and 25-21) on Sunday to earn the top spot.
Abbotsford players on the team included: Brendan Visser, Jackson Klaassen, Brendan Funk, Cole Bransdma, Ethan Loewen,Tage Dhillon, Ethan Klassen, Justin Wood and coach Jason Warkentin.
Fraser Valley also won big on the soccer pitch, as the girls team had a clean sheet the entire tournament to win gold. They clinched gold with a 2-0 win over VICC at the MRC fields on Sunday.
Abbotsford players on the team were: Jayden Gill, Puneet Gill and coach Andrew Dodge.
Local athletes also played a big role in the Fraser Valley's gold medal win in girls rugby. The team went undefeated throughout the tournament to earn gold. They beat VICC 19-7 in the final at Exhibition Park on Sunday to win top spot.
Abbotsford rugby gold medal winners included: Kashish Arya, Tayler Bailey, Hunter Czeppel, Cheye Gustafson, TausaniLevale, Chaylin Roueche, Shalaya Valenzuela and Liriel Yurick.
Fraser Valley earned a silver in the girls basketball tournament, after falling 46-26 in the final to Vancouver Coastal at Abbotsford Senior on Sunday.
Locals winning basketball silver were: Lily Borseth, Emmy Curtis, Taylor Ewert and Ashyana Kumar.
Also earning silver as part of a team was Abbotsford's Abigail Schulz, who was part of the second place Fraser Valley equestrian team competition. Schulz was the lone Abbotsford resident on the team.
Fraser Valley girls finished with silver in softball, falling in the gold medal game to VICC. Abbotsford's Alissa Collins and Nathalie Blattmann were part of the silver winning team.
On the links at Ledgeview the Fraser Valley team earned silver, shooting a combined 422. Abbotsford's Ryan Alexander was the lone Abbotsford resident on the team, which placed six shots behind the winner Fraser River.
Medal wins continued on the indoor volleyball court for Fraser Valley, as the girls team took home bronze. Fraser Valley defeated Vancouver Coastal in the bronze medal game to take home the hardware. Abbotsford residents Lizaan Steenkamp and Jenna Koedam were on the bronze winning team.
Fraser Valley also won bronze in field lacrosse after defeating Vancouver Coastal in the bronze medal game. Abbotsford's Tristan Ellison was the lone local on the team.
For complete results from the games, visit bcgames.org.