Richmond athletes helped Team B.C. to a record medal haul at the Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg.
The two-week competition concluded Sunday with B.C. finishing second in the medal standings with a best-ever of total of 146 — placing second to only Ontario (212) and ahead of Quebec (138).
It was the last medal handed out at the Games that broke B.C.’s previous record and that came in women’s softball, just prior to the Closing Ceremonies. B.C. routed Alberta 10-3 for its fourth consecutive gold medal on the diamond. The team featured a pair of Richmond Softball products — Sierra Sherritt and Jordan Britten-Yung. B.C. went 8-1 in round-robin play then avenged its only loss with a 3-1 semi-final win over unbeaten Ontario.
Sherritt attends UBC where she plays for Team B.C. head coach Gord Collings. Britten-Yung enjoyed an impressive season with the Douglas College Royals last season, earning first team all-conference honours for the second straight year. She was B.C.’s starting catcher. Both girls also won gold with B.C. two years earlier at the Western Canada Games.
In golf, Alisha Lau capped an outstanding competitive summer by winning a pair of silver medals.
The Quilchena junior entered Friday’s final round with a one shot lead but was not feeling 100 percent. She fired a 76 to finish at 1-over and six shots behind Quebec’s Céleste Dao. Earlier, Lau carded rounds of 72-71-70.
“I was actually pretty sick last night so the entire round today was a grind for me,” Lau said. “I kind of fell back in the middle of the back nine and was just trying to stay in the silver spot. I'm not too sure what happened. It was pretty warm today but I had my jacket on and everything. I was feeling a little light-headed. I did my best. There was nothing I could do about it.”
Lau also helped B.C. finish second to Quebec in the team competition. Her summer began with a dominating victory at the B.C. Junior Girls Championship and then she placed sixth at the Canadian Junior Championship in Ontario before making her way to Winnipeg days later.
The Burnett Secondary graduate will soon be heading to Boulder for her freshman season at the University of Colorado.
In the pool, a trio of Richmond Rapids Swim Club members helped B.C’s impressive haul of 52 medals.
Amanda McCallum and Ethan Chan were members of respective gold medal winning 4x200 free relay teams. McCallum added a silver in the 4x50 free relay and was fifth in the 200 free individual event. Matthew Crawford also reached the podium with silver in the 4x50 medley relay.
On the tennis court, Jesse Gong was a member of the silver medal winning B.C. team in the mixed event. B.C. lost 4-2 to Ontario.
In men’s volleyball, Shawn Zhao helped B.C. earn bronze with a thrilling five-set win over Quebec. B.C. jumped out to an early 2-0 lead before Quebec came roaring back to win the next two. The deciding set ended up 17-15 for B.C.
-With files from B.C. Golf
