UPDATE MONDAY, JULY 24, 10:50 A.M.:
Two North Okanagan athletes added gold medals to B.C.’s overall total Saturday, July 22, on the final day of competition at the 10th North American Indigenous Games in Nova Scotia.
Eva Williams of Vernon won gold in 19U women’s lacrosse, after B.C. defeated Ontario 10-8 in the championship. B.C. was a perfect 6-0. Williams had one assist in the preliminary portion of the tournament.
Mother Nature cancelled the softball medal games, resulting in shared gold and bronze medals for the competing teams.
Kacey Miller of Vernon brought home gold in 19U men’s softball, as B.C. and Nova Scotia made it to the final.
Danielle Lachmuth of Armstrong and Team B.C. shared bronze in 19U women’s softball with Ontario. Lachmuth played first base, second base, and some outfield for Team B.C. She was the youngest player on the squad.
Vernon’s Taylor Robins-Swanson and Koenn Mahar-Robins picked up silver in 16U men’s box lacrosse, falling 7-6 to Ontario in the gold-medal match. It was B.C.’s only loss of the tournament.
Robins-Swanson played all six games in goal for B.C., finishing with a stellar 4.50 goals against average, two shutouts and one assist. Koenn Mahar-Robins, an attacking player for the province, collected seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in B.C.’s six contests.
Vernon’s Cheveyo Parker won bronze in 19U men’s basketball as B.C. scored a wild 112-107 overtime victory against Ontario.
B.C. finished second in the overall medal standings to Saskatchewan. B.C. won 53 gold medals, 63 silver and 45 bronze for 161 total medals. Saskatchewan was first with 51G-63S-61B for 175 medals.
Ontario was third overall with 127 but won the most gold medals, 55.
ORIGINAL STORY
Six North Okanagan athletes will have a chance to add to B.C.’s medal total at the North American Indigenous Games today, Saturday, July 22, in Nova Scotia.
The six are involved in medal contests in team sports.
Vernon lacrosse players Koenn Mahar-Robins, Taylor Robins-Swanson and Eva Williams will be playing for gold, as will Vernon softball player Kacey Miller. Armstrong’s Danielle Lachmuth (softball) and Vernon’s Cheveyo Parker (basketball) will try to win bronze medals to add to B.C’s total.
Swimmer Niya Kashuba of Vernon will be bringing home six medals from the Games’ pool, including a pair of gold in the 100- and 200-metre backstroke in the 14U female division. Kashuba also won four silver medals.
The Team B.C. NAIG swim team was sponsored by Vernon-based Kal Tire.
Vernon’s Kosis Linke won bronze in the 14U male track and field competition, finishing third in the high jump with a leap of 1.40 metres. He was seventh in the long jump, 13th in the 80m race and 15th in the 150m. Linke was a part of the B.C. 4x100 relay team that was disqualified in the final.
Miller and Team B.C. will play Nova Scotia for gold in men’s U19 softball. Miller got B.C. to the final, scoring both runs in a 2-1 semifinal win over Alberta Friday. Miller came home with the medal-clinching run on a single in the bottom of the seventh by James Celesta of the Simpcw First Nation of Barriere.
B.C. was 5-1 in the preliminary round which included a 16-8 win over Saskatchewan. Miller was 4-for-5 at the dish, a triple away from hitting for the cycle (two singles, double, home run), scored four runs and drove in three. B.C.’s only loss was a 9-6 setback to Nova Scotia.
Lachmuth and B.C. will take on Ontario for bronze in women’s 19U softball. B.C. could not hold a 3-0 first-inning lead in its Friday semifinal, falling 6-4 to Manitoba. B.C. went 3-1 in the preliminary round, the only loss was an 8-3 decision to Manitoba.
Team B.C. will be favoured in both the 19U women’s and 16U men’s lacrosse finals Saturday.
Williams and Team B.C. take on Ontario for gold in the 19U women’s division, a rematch of their opening-round game with B.C. won 14-4. B.C. is 5-0 heading into the contest and has outscored their opponents 72-11 heading into the final.
B.C., with Mahar-Robins and Robins-Swanson went 3-0 in the preliminary round, which included shutting out opponents from Wisconsin (25-0) and Nova Scotia (17-0). B.C. defeated Eastern Door and the North (Quebec First Nation/Inuit) 13-7 in the quarterfinal, then advanced to the gold-medal match with an 11-6 win over Alberta. B.C. plays Ontario for gold.
Cheveyo Parker from Vernon and Team B.C. will take on Ontario for bronze in men’s 19U basketball. Parker and B.C. fell 86-77 to Alberta in a Friday semifinal. Parker hit a pair of first-quarter free throws for B.C.
After losing their opener, 81-71 to Minnesota, B.C. rattled off three straight wins – 72-65 over Manitoba; 115-49 over Colorado; and an 83-52 quarterfinal win over Michigan.
Vernon’s Nolan Wilson and Evan Kashuba settled for fourth place in men’s 16U softball, losing the bronze-medal game Friday, 12-5, to Ontario. Kashuba was 2-3 with a single, double and run scored for B.C. while Wilson went 1-3 with a single.
Despite the fact the team went 0-4 in the preliminary round, B.C. had a chance to get to the final-four and the Vernon players helped the squad do just that, beating Nova Scotia 12-10 in eight innings in a medal round qualification game. Wilson was 3-4 with a triple and two singles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Kashuba went 2-4 with a single and double, three runs scored and an RBI.
The win sent B.C. to the semifinal, where they fell 7-0 to Saskatchewan.
In volleyball, Coldstream’s Aleya Hansen and the B.C. 16U female team lost its quarterfinal matchup, 3-0 to Wisconsin. The Americans won 25-17, 25-21, 26-24. Hansen and B.C. went 3-1 in the preliminary round.
Jonathan Fraser-Munroe of Vernon was the captain of a hard-luck Team B.C. in the 19U men’s event. B.C’s 2-2 record in the round-robin was not good enough to get to the medal round. Their 2-0 losses came against Manitoba and Alberta, who will play for gold on Saturday.
Going into action Saturday, B.C. was second overall in the medal standings with 133 medals (41G, 54S, 38B), 20 medals back of Saskatchewan, which has won 45 gold. Ontario is third with 114 medals but leads the gold rush with 50.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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