REGINA - Yesterday marked the halfway point of the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games, and big smiles were found all around the sport venues and Athletes’ Village as first half participants reflected on their Games experience and those competing in the second half arrived in Regina.
Today:
- The growing sport of Futsal is making its debut in the Saskatchewan Games program on Thursday, February 23rd at 9:00 A.M. (Saskatoon vs Parkland Valley on Field 1) . The Futsal tournament will be hosted at the brand-new Avana Centre at the REAL District.
- Tomorrow is the last day of the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games Culture Festival, sponsored by CGI. The event will take place at the University of Regina, Education Auditorium, from 6:30 to 9:00 P.M. The event is free and welcome to the public.
SPORT SPOTLIGHT:
● Alpine Ski: Minus forty was no match for the Alpine Saskatchewan athletes shredding down the brand-new Ski Cross course today at Mission Ridge Winter Park on the last day of Alpine competition at the 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games Regina. Did you know: The ski and snowboard cross run was constructed at the park through the Saskatchewan Games Legacy Grant, a matching grant distributed across sport organizations in each Saskatchewan Games host community in order to foster sport development and leave behind lasting legacies.
● Artistic Swimming: Olympian Kenzie Priddell visited Artistic Swimming again on Wednesday to present medals at the Team Event, a treat for the athletes. The final score was neck and neck, but Team South East prevailed with 58.5147 points against Saskatoon’s 58.0523. Team Rivers West took bronze.
● Badminton: Team Regina, Team Saskatoon, and Team Lakeland earned gold, silver, and bronze respectively in Wednesday’s U19 Team Mix event.
● Bowling - Special Olympics: A fantastic and fun-filled tournament culminated in Team Regina, Team South West (Moose Jaw), and Team Lakeland claiming the podium at the Glencairn Bolodrome.
● Curling: Cara Kesslering and Caden Snow of Team Prairie Central captured the gold medal in the inaugural Mixed Doubles Curling event. Prairie Central also came out on top in the Female Curling competition, with the Male Curling gold medal being claimed by Team Lakeland.
● Gymnastics: Parkland Valley swept the podium in the Balance Beam and Bars, with medals earned by Adora Erhardt, Madison Signarowski, and Kenzie Taylor in both events. Team North’s Naomi Johns took home gold in both the Floor and Vault events. Johns and her teammate Mackenzie Boyer, both of La Ronge, are the first athletes from Team North to ever compete in Gymnastics at the Saskatchewan Winter Games.
● Speed Skating: The male and female 1500m races had their finals today. Team Saskatoon’s Lena Veeman and Maya Makowsky earned gold and bronze respectively, while Team South West’s Elizabeth Rea earned silver. In the male race, Saskatoon’s Taras Beveridge Warick, South West’s Marcus Capili, and Saskatoon’s Ryan Hwang went 1-3. Saskatoon also took home two more golds in the male and female relays.
● Table Tennis: Twin sisters Lisa and Linda Chen of Team Regina took home gold and bronze, respectively, in the Cadet Female Singles event, while Saskatoon’s Thulir Hector earned silver. Regina’s Michael Gan, Saskatoon’s Wynn Nguyen, and Regina’s Regina’s Allen Hu went 1-3 in the Cadet Male Singles. 2019 Canada Winter Games Team Sask alum Ruby Sha earned gold in the Junior Female Singles; her Regina teammate Habibah Adebusola Gbadebo earned silver while Saskatoon’s Noraay Ibrahim took bronze. In the Junior Male event, Saskatoon’s Evan Lu and Albert Wu went 1-2 with South East’s Carter Allen Morrison earning bronze.
● Weightlifting: Team North’s Leo Emond earned gold in men’s 89 KG weightlifting. Regina’s Preston Lucas and Ben Ko earned bronze. In the 89+ KG final, Saskatoon’s Hutton Nickolayou and Parkland Valley’s Hayden Peter Russell and Berkeley Kempton stood on the podium on the final day of Weightlifting competition.
