Vancouver Island-Central Coast topped the medals table at the 2016 sa国际传媒 Summer Games that concluded with the closing ceremony Sunday. The Island-Central Coast finished with 171 medals, 65 of them gold. The host and runner-up Fraser Valley had 144 medals and 53 golds.
Fraser River was third with 135 total medals, followed by Vancouver-Coastal with 132, Thompson-Okanagan with 81, Cariboo-Northeast with 26, Kootenays with 15 and Northwest with six.
Bringing home gold for the Island-Central Coast was the 13-15 girls鈥� synchronized swimming team of Sophie Gander, Kaitlyn Aylesworth, Mara Lambert-Wilson and Caoimhe McElroy, all from Victoria, Jessica De Verteuil of Duncan, Kaia Fuchs of Nanoose Bay, McKenzie Laing from Nanaimo and Bianca Parcher of Gabriola Island.
鈥淎ll of us have worked really hard for this,鈥� said Gander.
鈥淲e pulled together such a great team. It was such a rewarding experience.鈥�
Adding to the Island鈥檚 synchro medal haul was the gold won by Aylesworth and Lambert-Wilson in duet and Aylesworth鈥檚 golds and Lambert-Wilson鈥檚 silvers in both solo and figures.
That gave Aylesworth, heading into Grade 9 at Spectrum, four gold medals in Abbotsford, and Lambert-Wilson, heading into Grade 10 at Belmont, two golds and two silvers.
This is the entry-level multi-sport Games for athletes in this province along a path that, for the best, could lead to the sa国际传媒 Games, Commonwealth and Pan Am Games and Olympics. Twenty-three alumni from the sa国际传媒 Games will be competing at Rio in the 2016 Summer Olympics. They include Island athletes Hilary Caldwell in swimming, Michael Mason in high jump, Kirsten Sweetland in triathlon and Fred Winters and Jamie Broder in volleyball.
鈥淚t was an experience to see all the different talent in sa国际传媒, not just in our sport, but in all the different sports,鈥� said synchro team gold-medallist Gander, entering Grade 8 at Glanford Middle School.
鈥淚t gave us new respect for all the other sports.鈥�
The Island captured gold in girls鈥� volleyball. Led by the standout play of the Belmont Secondary-bound trio of Jocelyn Sherman, Taylee Pompanio and captain Gracie May, the Island squad defeated Fraser River in the championship game.
Vancouver-Coastal defeated the Island 9-7 in the boys鈥� baseball gold-medal game. The Island also took silver in women鈥檚 rugby sevens after bowing 19-7 to Fraser Valley in the gold-medal game.
The four-day 2016 sa国际传媒 Games, which began last Thursday, featured 460 participants from the Vancouver Island-Central Coast team, of which 213 were from Greater Victoria. That included athletes, coaches and support staff.
鈥淚t鈥檚 quite a production and it鈥檚 cool to see all the organization and preparation it takes to put on a Games like this,鈥� said Island golden synchronized swimmer Aylesworth.
The 2018 sa国际传媒 Summer Games will be hosted in the Cowichan Valley.
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