Central Albertans had a weekend to remember at the 2024 Alberta Winter Games in Grande Prairie.
Zone 4, which contains communities such as Red Deer, Lacombe, Stettler, and Rocky Mountain House, brought home 26 total medals from Feb. 16 to 19.
Of those, four of them were gold followed by eight silver and 14 bronze medals.
Among the central Albertans who captured gold were Red Deer’s Abigail Crossland, Irene Flores-Vaquez, Kailee Parrell, and Penhold’s Karly Sikkes who competed as members of the J07 all-around team in artistic gymnastics.
Parrell also won an additional gold as an individual in J07 bars in artistic gymnastics and Sikkes won bronze in J07 all around.
Red Deer’s Terrance Needham and Sylvan Lake’s Victoria Tensen also won gold as members of the mixed compound team in archery.
That wasn’t the only gold captured in archery as Lacombe’s Piper Smith came in first in the U15 female recurve event.
Among silver medalists include Rocky Mountain House’s Alexander Barnett and Logan Sheldrake in the group 12-13 male 2000 metre relay in speed skating.
Also in speed skating was Red Deer’s Nathon Kettyle Kozuback who won silver in the group 14-15 male 3000m relay.
Wetaskiwin’s Caden Johnson won silver in the male 43-kilogram weight class in wrestling and Eckville’s Ellisa Rodney also came in second in the female 56-kilogram weight class. In addition, Wetaskiwin’s Rylee Wolf claimed the silver in wrestling in the female 39-42 kg weight class.
Penhold’s Hayden Matthews took home second place in the U16 male moguls in freestyle skiing.
Among the bronze medal winners were multiple members of the third-place male volleyball team from across central Alberta including Brett Alford, Riggs Bergen, Lucas Bonzi, Brett Dermott, Ryan Dermott, Caeden House, Daniel Kulpers, Jordan Kulpers, Nash Mace, Dexton Mohn, Dylan Norton, Hudson Penz, Taye Savoury, and Jack Stevens.
Lacombe’s Elspeth Bouwsema and Camrose’s Alexandra Thain won bronze in the U16 female relay in cross-country skiing. Meanwhile, Lacombe’s Joel de Andrade, Brodie Penninga, and Camrose’s Zak Schulmeister took home bronze in the U14 male relay.
Red Deer’s Naomi Schmitt also saw a ton of success in cross-country skiing winning three bronze medals in U16 female sprint, U16 female relay, and U16 female free technique event.
Also in cross-country skiing was Camrose’s Ella Nelson who won bronze in two different events, the U12 female sprint and the U12 mixed relay. Innisfail’s Margaret Nelson, Red Deer’s Edwin Vanderwater, and Oliver Vanderwater joined her in the U12 mixed relay.
Red Deer’s Zephaniah Richard also won third in the male 70 kg weight class in wrestling.