It was a phrase repeated over and over by athletes and coaches – we had a “great Games experience.”
Some of the young athletes came home with medals galore, like Virden speed skater Kennedy Charles.
Some came back having notched personal bests, made new friends and chocked up lots of valuable competitive experience, some of them for the first time like Birtle archer Victoria Saliyeva.
See our local athletes in Winter Games photo gallery here.
Speed Skating
Joel Charles is both coach and dad to two Winter Games athletes, and his pride was showing. “Kennedy (16) had a good Games, won a silver in the 500m, a bronze in the 1500m, a gold in the 3000 points race, and a bronze medal in overall results.
“Kendall (11) skated some personal best times and had a great games experience. She was the youngest skater in the competition.”
Kennedy’s stated goal before the Games was to “finish on the podium”, a goal she met four times. The Virden product has been speed skating seven years, the last five with her sister Kendall.
Figure Skating
Skate Virden sent eight figure skaters to the Thompson games: Shanna Yaskow, Paige Dryden, Kylie Holmstrom, Abby Collen, Hailey Bird, Sara Chant, Breken Brezden, and Charlotte Little.
Yaskow medalled twice: Silver for her Juvenile Free Skate and Silver for Overall Total.
Male Hockey
Team West 2 brought together talented hockey players from across Westman, including Eric Reid of Virden, Hunter Wallace of Oak Lake, and Nolan Wickham of Waskada.
The Bantam team brought back a silver medal after a nail-biter of a game against Team South was decided in overtime.
Meanwhile, a number of Virden athletes were playing hockey for other regional teams:
Grady Lane of Virden and Strathclair's Scott Lane played for Team North, which won bronze.
Braeden Lewis of Virden as well as Rory McNabb and Colin Crampain of Hamiota were playing for Team South 2.
Coach Alana Whittle brought her U15 team of four girls, all from Virden, to the games. While they didn’t make the podium, they had a stellar experience and were lauded for their sportsmanship.
“The girls started curling together this fall and last month played in the High School Zone bonspiel. After only playing a limited number of games, they headed to Thompson with no expectations and excited to enjoy the overall experience.
“The girls won their fifth game and also received recognition from True Sport for their great sportsmanship and positive attitudes. Overall, the Manitoba Games was a great experience that they will never forget.”
Male Curling
Two Virden curlers teamed up with two boys from Brandon to compete as Team West. Jace Freeman and Rhett Grieve are both 13 and in Grade 8 at Virden Junior High.
Coach/dad Graham Freeman says the boys learned a lot and enjoyed the experience of their very first games.
