Every Cowichan Valley athlete that competed in the Western Canada Summer Games last week came home with at least medal.
Eight athletes from the Cowichan Valley represented Team BC at the Summer Games in Fort McMurray, helping collect 12 of the province's games-leading 280 medals.
Triathlete Desirae Ridenour earned three medals, one of each colour. Ridenour placed third in the individual competition last Thursday, just 29 seconds off of first place and 13 seconds back of second as she was the lone athlete from outside Manitoba to place in the top four. On Saturday, she was part of the B.C. team that finished second — behind Manitoba — in the three-person girls team relay. Finally, on Sunday, she snagged a gold medal in the mixed relay as part of B.C.'s two-girl, two-boy team.
Maple Bay Rowing Club teammates Emily Whitaker and Rachel Bond won a pair of gold medals last Saturday as B.C. beat teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan to claim top prize in the girls four and eight events.
Anna Slang and B.C.'s girls soccer team took gold after beating Manitoba 3-1 in the final last Saturday. The B.C. girls dominated the soccer tournament, going undefeated in round-robin play and outscoring their opponents 19-0 as they qualified straight to the finals.
Mill Bay's Tristan Mandur won silver in the boys golf competition, finishing just six shots back of his provincial teammate, A.J. Ewart. Mandur shot 76 at the Fort McMurray Golf Course to tie for fourth last Friday, then led the way on Saturday by shooting 72. He wrapped it all up by shooting 75, tied for fifth on the day, on Sunday.
Last Tuesday, gymnast Darby McIntyre of the Duncan Dynamics won individual gold on the floor and placed sixth on vault. The previous day, she helped Team BC to silver in the team competition.
Last Monday, Hannah Tuplin and Stephanie Mould were part of B.C.'s gold-medal win in the wrestling team competition. On Tuesday, Tuplin claimed silver in the 54kg class, and Mould took bronze in the 47kg division.