Photos and content courtesy of Team Alberta:

February 21, 2019 - Red Deer, AB) As week 1 of the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, AB nears the end, Team Alberta continued to add medals to its standings with ten earned medals on Thursday and remains in second place of the medal standings with a total of 38 medals, tied with Ontario.

On Thursday, Alberta won medals in Artistic Swimming, Artistic Gymnastics, Wheelchair Basketball, Biathlon, and Freestyle Skiing.

There are few events tomorrow, Friday, including the bronze medal match in men’s hockey, the remaining short track speed skating events and the freestyle skiing halfpipe events at Winsport in Calgary.
 

Gold Artistic Swimming Solo Female Jaime Czarkowski
Gold Artistic Swimming Team Female AB
Gold Biathlon 10 km Individual Female Jenna Sherrington
Gold Gymnastics Artistic - Floor Female Montana Fairbairn
Gold Wheelchair Basketball Mix AB
Silver Biathlon 10 km Individual Female Pascale Paradis
Silver Freestyle Skiing Big Air Male Jake Sandstrom
Bronze Biathlon 10 km Individual Female Karly Coyne
Bronze Biathlon 12.5 km Individual Male Haldan Borglum
Bronze Table Tennis Doubles Mix AB

ARTISTIC SWIMMERS ADDS TWO GOLD MEDALS FOR TEAM ALBERTA

Team Alberta swimmers won two gold medals on the last day of competition in artistic swimming at the pool of the Repsol Centre in Calgary.

The two medals earned on the last day of competition mark a perfect competition for Team Alberta, winning three gold medals in as many events. Notably, Jamie Czarkowski of Calgary and member of the national junior program took gold in all three events.

“It feels amazing. We put so much hard work and effort in the past few months of training. We’ve worked so hard as a team, and we’ve been through a lot. Earning this gold medal feels so rewarding. We are super excited and really happy,” said Czarkowski

“It was definitely challenging [to compete in the three events]. But it was so exciting at the same time to be competing for Alberta. Winning these for gold for our province motivates me even more, added Czarkowski.

The last time a province swept all artistic swimming goes back to 2011 in Halifax, where Quebec had won all three medals courtesy of current national team sensation Jaqueline Simoneau.

The morning session saw Jamie Czarkowski of Calgary win the gold medal in the solo event by posting the top score of 158.0165 points. Later in the day, Team Alberta secured a second gold medal in the team event.

Team Alberta, comprised of Kelsey Ayers, Elizabeth Battista, Dana Brunskill, Jaime Czarkowski, Natalie Greenfield, Teah Hoffmann, Camryn Hooey, Adora Kruger, Rosemary Stuart, and Kiana Sweet sat on top of the standings after the technical routine with a 0.8-point lead heading into the ultimate event. In the evening swim, Alberta delivered the best performance of the finals, with a score of 81 points for a combined total of 159.0363 points.

Coach Jenn Tregale was excited for the performances this week: “I cannot be more proud of this talented group of girls. They all brought their A game this week. It was awesome to have the full crowd here supporting us. It certainly adds a little bit of extra pressure to compete at home, but the girls rose to the occasion.”

TEAM ALBERTA GOLDEN IN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL

Team Alberta faced off against Ontario in the gold medal dual at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.

Having won 59-54 in preliminary action against Ontario, Alberta knew they had some stiff competition to earn the gold. Ontario created the upset in the semi-final by giving Quebec its first loss of the tournament.

Team Ontario came out strong from the initial minutes of play and posted a 14-9 lead after the initial quarter. Resilient and determined to win this game in front of their fans, Team Alberta bounced back in the second quarter to show a 25-20 lead at halftime.

Both teams rallied back and forth, and Ontario narrowed the Alberta lead to only two points at entering the last quarter. The battle continued in the ultimate quarter

In a match that showed equal strength in all areas of play, Team Alberta ended up being on the winning side, at 51-48 on the final buzzer.

“The city of Red Deer has done such a great job with these Canada Games. We’ve been supported since Day 1. The crowds just kept getting bigger and bigger, Darrell Nordell, head coach of Team Alberta. “The very first Canada Games [for Wheelchair Basketball] was in 1995 in Grande Prairie. The games were actually played in Jasper. Alberta won the gold then, at home. To win this gold medal once again in our home province makes it so special.”

Bradon Doll, the tournament’s leading scorer with 140 points, was proud of Team Alberta’s accomplishments: “The support of our fans really helped us pull through. All the hard work and effort the team has put paid off, and it feels great to share this moment with the team and the home crowd.”

The last time Alberta won the gold medal in wheelchair basket goes back to 1995 in Grande Prairie when the sport was introduced into the Canada Games program.

MONTANA FAIRBAIRN EARNS ALBERTA FIRST GYMNASTIC GOLD MEDAL SINCE 2007

Young Gymnast Montana Fairbairn excelled today in the artistic gymnastics event at the Collicutt Centre. Competing in the floor routine, the 16-year-old athlete from Strathmore scored 9.537 points for the gold medal. This medal is Montana’s second medal of these Canada Winter Games, having earned the bronze medal in the team event.

Fairbairn’s gold medal also represents the first time a female Alberta gymnast win the gold in the floor routine. She is the first female gymnast to have earned the gold medal since 2007 when Kelsey Lang won gold for Alberta in the beam event.

Since the inception of artistic gymnastics into the Canada Games program, Alberta female gymnast have won a total of 13 medals (4-3-6), while male gymnasts have won 33 medals (11-9-13).

BIATHLON SWEEPS WOMEN’S PODIUM; MEN ADD BRONZE

On snow at the Canyon Ski Resort, Team Alberta swept the women’s podium of the women’s 10km individual event, with Jenna Sherrington of Calgary, AB earning the gold medal with a time of 31:18, immediately followed by Pascale Paradis in silver medal position by completing the course in 32:58. Karly Coyne took the bronze medal to round up the podium.

“I definitely took a few extra breaths in the shooting range. My zero was very centered, very clean so I just took it very carefully in the range,” said Sherrington after the race.

Alberta secured the Top 4 positions with Naomi Walch finishing fourth.

These individual races conclude the biathlon events at the Canada Games. Jenna Sherrington had a remarkable week, totaling four medals; three gold medals and a bronze medal.

In the men’s 12.5 km distance, Haldan Borglum of Calgary, AB won a tight sprint for third place to earn the bronze medal for Team Alberta. There were four skiers in the final sprint for the last available medal, all within 13 seconds.

“I’m thrilled to be on the podium. It was a great race today. I felt very strong out there on the skis. I made sure I skied hard every lap and concentrated in the range, where I managed to hit 16 out of 20,” commented Borglum.

FREESTYLE SKIERS EARN SILVER MEDAL IN BIG AIR CONTEST

Freestyle skier Jake Sandstrom of Calgary, AB, earned his second straight medal of the Canada Games, this time coming in the Big Air contest. Sandstrom landed a clean first jump at 87.60 in the main finals to earn the silver medal, just a day following his silver medal in slopestyle.

“It felt good to get another silver. I tried the best jumps I could do here to get the gold medal. I’m very proud to represent Team Alberta and get two silver medals for the provincial,” said Sandstrom after the contest.

In the women’s contest, local star Megan Cressey of Sylvan Lake, AB was Alberta’s top finisher in fifth place.

TABLE TENNIS MIXED DOUBLE EARNS BRONZE MEDAL

The medal matches were featured at Westerner Park to conclude the table tennis tournament. Team Alberta took part in three bronze-medal matches in the doubles events. In the Mix Doubles, Alberta went on to defeat 3-1 Team Manitoba for the bronze medal.

James Li, 17 of was joined by Judy Pan, 11, of Edmonton, AB in the mixed double team representing Alberta.

The men’s double and women’s doubles teams from Alberta dropped their matches and finished fourth.

MEN’S HOCKEY TO PLAY FOR BRONZE MEDAL

Team Alberta’s men hockey faced off against Ontario in the semi-final at Centrium. Ontario took control of the match from the onset, scoring a goal on their first shot on net. They managed to score six goals until Alberta attempted to mount a comeback with three quick unanswered goal midway in the third period.

Ontario added a few more to end the game with a final score for 8-4, relegating Alberta to play the bronze medal match against Saskatchewan. Ontario’s goaltender was heavily tested, with Alberta outshooting their opponents 44-26.

ABOUT THE ALBERTA SPORT CONNECTION

Alberta Sport Connection (ASC) coordinates Team Alberta’s involvement in the Games. It is a provincial crown corporation dedicated to the development of sport in Alberta.

ASC’s vision is for Alberta to be the premier sport delivery system in Canada.  It helps Alberta’s high-performance athletes train and pursue excellence. For more information on the Alberta Sport Connection visit www.albertasport.ca or follow @AlbertaSport on Twitter.

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