From Team Alberta: 

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TEAM ALBERTA ADDS ANOTHER MEDAL TO TALLY IN BIATHLON:

(Red Deer, AB - February 19, 2019) Biathlete Pascale Paradis contributed one medal to the Team Alberta medal tally at the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, AB.

Earlier in the day, Alberta secured three medals in the Long Track Speed Skating event, making it a four-medal day for the host province. Team Alberta ends the day with a total of 17 medals throughout the Canada Winter Games, sitting in the second position of the medal standings.

 

PARADIS TAKES BRONZE IN BIATHLON PURSUIT

Pascale Paradis won the bronze medal in the women’s 7.5km pursuit behind a pair of British Columbia skiers. Paradis skied the distance in a time of 26:26.1.

“So today felt really good on my skis and shooting was also good until my first standing, where I hit 1 out of 5. I pulled it together for the rest of the race and tried to keep my spirits up, and it ended up working really well!” said Paradis after the race. “I was very happy ending with the bronze medal. Another factor that played into the good skiing was the amazing wax tech, Beau [Thompson], who did a phenomenal job with making the whole Alberta teams skis very speedy, as well as the faster snow with the warmer weather. All in all, it was an extremely fun day.”

Alberta placed three skiers in the Top 5, with teammates Jenna Sherrington and Naomi Walch, both of Calgary, AB finished fourth and fifth respectively.

In the men’s pursuit, Alberta was kept off the podium with Thomas Hulsman of Airdrie, AB taking the fourth position, followed by Reid Lovstrom of Calgary, AB.

British Columbia took both gold medals of the pursuit races, earning four of six medals available on the day.

 

TEAM ALBERTA ENDS POOL ACTION WITH 4-0 RECORD IN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

The Alberta wheelchair basketball team ended the round robin with a perfect 4-0 record thanks to a 64-30 win against Nova Scotia at the 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer, AB.

Competing at the newly built Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, Team Alberta took early control of the game, showing a comfortable 24-point lead at the halftime. In the second half, Alberta continued on its pace coasting to the win.

Jalen Shannon was Alberta’s top scorer on the day, netting 18 points.

Bradon Doll, 21, of Camrose, AB is currently the tournament’s leading scorer with 80 points.

>> Wheelchair Basketball Journey Comes Full Circle for Doll Siblings at 2019 Canada Games

Team Alberta will next play in the semi-finals against New Brunswick on Wednesday, February 20 at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

Alberta won the gold medal in 1995 when wheelchair basketball was first introduced into the Canada Winter Games program. Alberta has won only two medals, gold, and bronze, since 1995.

 

MONTANA FAIRBAIRN JUST 0.05 POINTS OFF THE PODIUM IN WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

In the women’s all-around gymnastics events, Montana Fairbairn of Strathmore, AB was the province’s top finisher in the fourth position. Throughout the four-apparatus event, Fairbairn combined a score of 37.237 points, just 0.05 points from the podium and 0.55 points from the gold medal spot.

Fairbairn posted the second highest score in the vault with 9.575 points. In the uneven bar, she posted 9.100 points and went on to post 9.187 on the beam. In the fourth event, the floor routine, Fairbairn scored 9.375 points.

Wednesday, the artistic gymnastics competition will resume with the men’s all-around event at the Collicutt Centre. Alberta will have five gymnasts competing for medals

 

TEAM ALBERTA MAKES WAVES IN THE POOL 

In Calgary, Team Alberta continued to excel in the pool in Artistic Swimming at the Repsol Centre with more strong performances.

Jaime Czarkowski of Calgary, AB posted the top result in the free routine of the solo event. Coupled with her leading performance in the technical routine, Czarkowski qualified for the main finals with the highest score of 156.2498 points.

Teammate Teah Hoffmann, also of Calgary, AB cumulated the third highest score of the qualifying round but will swim in the B finals as one participant can only represent each province.

In the evening session, the Czarkowski/Hoffmann duet finished second the combined standings with 155.5398 points, qualifying for the A finals to take place tomorrow.

The first artistic swimming medals will be awarded Wednesday with the Duet finals. The solo finals will take place on Thursday, February 21 in Calgary.

 

RINGETTE TEAM ADVANCE TO QUARTERFINALS AFTER DOUBLE-OVERTIME THRILLER AGAINST MANITOBA

Team Alberta advanced to the quarterfinal round in Ringette at the Collicutt Centre following a high-scoring affair that ended in double overtime in favour of Manitoba.

Alberta allowed the first goal in the first quarter, but quickly bounced back and scored three unanswered goals to lead 3-1 heading to the benches.

In the second quarter, Alberta increased the lead to two goals. With the boisterous crowd cheering the host province, Alberta protected the lead through to the halftime.

Coming back to the ice in the second half, Manitoba scored first in an attempt to initiate a comeback. But Alberta continued the offensive pressure and scored to make it a 6-2 game. With just over one minute to go in the third quarter, Manitoba answered to narrow the gap at three goals.

Early in the final quarter, Manitoba found the back of the net, but Alberta immediately answered the goal with one of their own. Resilient, Manitoba surged back with three unanswered goals, including two on the powerplay, to equalize the game at seven goals apiece. Team Alberta called a time-out after the equalizing goal, with just four minutes left to go. Alberta had plenty of opportunities to score playing on the power for the last three minutes of the game, but was unable to scoring, forcing overtime.

Both teams faced off in sudden-death overtime. The first overtime failed to produce a victory. It took a second overtime period to determine the winner in this nail-biting game, with Manitoba scoring just over three minutes into play to win 8-7.

The next match for Alberta will be the quarterfinals against Prince Edward Island tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. The winner of that match will go on to face Ontario later in the evening.