A podium sweep by a trio of male gymnasts from Abbotsford highlighted a massive medal haul for local athletes at the recent BC Winter Games in Vernon.
Dawson Friesen, Cohen Kiers and Curtis Olivier finished first, second and third, respectively, in the all-around boys standings at the BC Games, in addition to winning multiple medals in individual events.
Their remarkable performance paced Twisters Gymnastics Club to a terrific showing in Vernon. Brendan Ansell won gold on the pommel horse, while Emily Moorthy took silver on the vault.
Moorthy and Shayla Ogloff helped the Fraser Valley zone squad to a gold medal in the girls team event, while Friesen, Kiers, Olivier, Ansell and Elijah Horner led the boys zone team to a first-place finish as well.
The Abbotsford Judo Club also cleaned up at the Games. Jeff Swadden (81 kg boys) and Jesse Merrick (66 kg boys) both won gold, while Connor Jones (60 kg boys) took bronze. That trio, plus Simren Brar, Brayden Cryer, Austyn Rabinovitch, Melina Potvin, Noemie Potvin and Bethany Cannon of Abbotsford, led the Fraser Valley zone squad to gold in the overall team standings.
Local speed skaters Madison Karpes and Trenton Chard also climbed the podium. Karpes won gold in the 200m mixed pursuit relay, silver in the girls 1500m and bronze in the 3000m. Chard won a pair of bronzes in the boys 400m and 1500m.
Karate athlete Josh Dhillon won three bronze medals – in the boys 44 kg kumite individual competition, and in the kumite and kata team events. Steve Tang joined Dhillon on the kata team, while Sukhreen Samra and Ravneet Sidhu helped the Valley squad to a silver in the girls team kumite.
In girls hockey, Abbotsford’s Chanel Tvergyak and the Fraser Valley team won gold.