TEAM ALBERTA MEDIA RELEASES
MEDALS AND RECORDS FOR ALBERTA AT THE 2017 CANADA SUMMER GAMES
Talman takes bronze in women’s road race; Swimming adds 7 medals; more wins for team sports
(Winnipeg, MB) On a rainy day in Winnipeg, the 2017 Canada Games continued for the ninth day of competition and Alberta continued to improve its medal count thanks to swimming with seven medals and cycling with a bronze medal.
Alberta remains in fourth place in the medal standings with 56 medals (14-20-22).
Anna Talman of Edmonton won the bronze medal in the women’s cycling road race that ended in a bunch sprint.
In the pool, Cole Pratt of Calgary and Emma O’Croinin of Edmonton each won their second gold medal of these Games. Avery Wiseman of Drayton Valley twice lowered the Canada Games record in the women’s 200m Breastroke, once in the preliminaries and another time in the final race.
Finlay Knox of Okotoks added a gold medal to his silver medal earned in these games, despite fracturing his ankle two months ago.
Showing a 5-1 record thanks to two wins today, the women’s softball team qualified for the semi-final and will contend for a medal.
Both volleyball teams had great days as the round robin competition nears its end. The women’s team is currently in first place in the standings while the men’s team sits in second place in its pool.
There was no competition in canoe-kayak and tennis due to adverse weather conditions.
A SHOWER OF MEDALS FOR ALBERTA IN THE POOL; RECORDS BROKEN
Not only did it rain outdoors, but it also rained medals in the pool. Following an eight-medal day on Tuesday, Alberta swimmers continued their success by adding seven medals, including four gold medals, to Alberta’s tally.
Avery Wiseman of Drayton Valley outperformed her competitor in dominant fashion in the waters of the Pan-Am Pool, setting the new Canada Games record in the women’s 200m Breastroke with a gold medal performance.
With a time of 2:30.37, Wiseman not only lowered the record she had set in preliminaries but posted the 10th fastest time in Canadian Swimming history, all levels including the Olympics Games.
“All I did to prepare was trying to calm down, get my feelings for the water and racing my own race,” said Avery, 15, coached by Greg Kozell. “It’s insane to have posted that Top 10 time in Canadian Swimming history. Every time I tried to look at the board after the race, I couldn’t see with my glasses on. My coach came to me to tell me I had broken the record,” added Wiseman who trains at the Trition Swimming club.
Cole Pratt, 14, of Calgary continues his domination in the pool, setting the new record for his age group in the 100m Backstroke with a time 56.82s. Pratt’s medal count is now at three medals for these Games, two gold medals and a silver medal.
“I’m happy with the gold medal,” commented Pratt from the Cascade Swim Club. “Yesterday I was surprised with my times. My coaches are telling me to do my best, to have fun. They are not looking forward to anything crazy.”
With his gold medal performance of 56.82s, Pratt set the new Canadian Age Group record for the 100m Backstroke.
The surprise of the night comes from Finley Knox of Okotoks, who won the gold medal in the men’s 200m Breastroke event. Knox had lane 7 in the finals, as a result of his preliminary round time. The gold medal comes after two months of intense recovery after fracturing his right ankle. He spent countless hours doing physiotherapy and mental training to prepare for the Games.
“I feel great. I’ve overcome a lot of challenges over the last couple of months. Fracturing that right ankle was a huge setback. I was trying to get mentally and physically prepared. I did everything I could to get as ready as I could. I worked lots with my physical therapist to get the foot strong.”
Knox enjoys being in the water: “My philosophy is to have fun, and I perform best when I have fun. The atmosphere is great here in Winnipeg. Everyone is supporting each other. We are all having a good time.”
Knox parents couldn’t make it to the pool for the race but watched all his races on the web stream. His grandparents, all the way from the United Kingdom, are also watching the exploits of the young swimmer through the web stream.
Sterling Blair of Leduc won the bronze medal in the men’s 50m Butterfly race, while Alexandra Butler of Irricana took the bronze in the women’s 100m backstroke.
Swimming resumes tomorrow with more races.
ANNA TALMAN EARNS BRONZE IN CYCLING WOMEN’S ROAD RACE
After the individual time trial that took place yesterday, the road cycling events continued today with the women’s road race. Edmonton’s Anna Talman, 19, raced to a surprising bronze medal completing the 83.4-km distance with a time of 2:12.19, averaging a fast-paced speed of 37.9 km/h.
As expected, the race ended in a bunch sprint given the course profile and the short distance. Simone Boilard of Quebec won the race, while Ontario’s Katherine Maine came in second place.
The men will tackle the same course in the road race tomorrow but will complete 9 laps of the circuit for a total distance of 123 kilometers.
WRESTLERS HIT THE MATS WITH STRONG PERFORMANCES TO LEAD THEIR POOLS
Alberta wrestlers took to the mats today, excited to finally compete after three days of final training and tune-up sessions. The team events are featured today and tomorrow, while the individual events will take place on Friday.
In the team event, wrestlers of each weight class compete against their opponent. Alberta had a stellar day in the women’s tournament showing a 3-0 record, while the men split their matches after two of four matches.
The ladies started the day with a 55-0 win over Nunavut, including five pins and six forfeits. In the afternoon draw, Alberta won defeated Nova Scotia 48-6 with six matches won by pin to remain undefeated. Into the evening bouts, Alberta faced off against the wrestlers from Manitoba and easily won 46-4.
Alberta women are undefeated midway through their team dual tournament. They will face Newfoundland and Saskatchewan tomorrow morning round robin action, followed by the medal matches in the evening.
In the men’s competition, Alberta took on Manitoba and won the 11-match dual 33-15 with 8 Alberta wrestlers taking the win in their respective matches. In the evening round, Alberta faced the strong team from Quebec and ultimately lost the tightly contested dual 28-23.
Alberta will face Ontario and Nova Scotia tomorrow before the medal matches.
The top team of each pool will square off for the gold medal, while the second-place teams of each pool will wrestle for the bronze medal.
WOMEN SOFTBALL PERFECT ON THE DAY, INCREASES RECORD TO 5-1
Facing Prince Edward Island, the ladies won their match 8-4 thanks to a thunderous sixth inning. Tied 4-4 and facing two outs, the ladies’ offense exploded and managed to score four runs to take the lead and secure the victory.
In the second game of the day against New Brunswick, a similar storyline occurred. Team New Brunswick started the offense to take a 5-1 lead of the Alberta gals. Alberta put on the traditional rally caps and managed to tie the game at six in the fifth inning before returning to the field. Three outs later, Alberta continued their attack and scored five points, putting the final nail in the coffin to end the game. Alberta takes the winning 11-6, thanks again to an explosive offense.
The ladies are currently in the top 3 of the pool standings with a 5-1 record with three games remaining in the round robin. The top four teams advance to the medal round in semi-finals.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM UNDEFEATED IN POOL ACTION
The women’s volleyball team defeated their resilient opponents from New Brunswick in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-23 ,25-22) to remain undefeated in the competition.
With both Alberta and Ontario showing a 4-0 record heading into the final game of round robin slated for tomorrow morning, the winner of Thursday’s match will earn a straight spot into the semi-finals.
The men’s team played two games today. In the first matchup of the day, Team Alberta faced up against New Brunswick and won the game in three straight sets (25-22, 25-22, 25-18).
Later in the evening, the team faced off against the hometown favorites in Team Manitoba in an important match that would determine important placing for the quarterfinals.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd at the Investors Group Athletic Center on the University of Manitoba, Alberta fended off the elements to win the game in four sets (25-22, 22-25, 25-14, 25-22) in a hard-fought battle by the host province.
Alberta will finish the round robin in second place in the standings. The next match featuring Alberta will be the quarterfinal round against either British Columbia or Saskatchewan, tomorrow afternoon.
MEN SOCCER TEAM ADVANCES TO QUARTERFINALS
At the Ralph Cantafino Soccer Complex, Alberta faced off against Ontario to close out pool action.
With a guaranteed berth into the medal round, Alberta lost 1-0 their matchup.
Alberta will face British Columbia in their quarterfinals, slated for Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
GOLFERS TAYLOR STONE, ETHAN CHOI REBOUND IN ROUND 2
Ethan Choi found his groove in the men’s golf tournament, shooting the best score of the second of four rounds. Choi, who shot a round of 75 yesterday, bounced back today with a 69. He now sits in fifth place on the leaderboard, eight strokes behind the leader.
Kai Iguchi of Banff currently sits behind Choi in sixth place of the leaderboard with a cumulative score of 144 after two rounds of the men’s golf tournament at the Southwood Community Golf Course.
Taylor Stone rebounded in this second round to shoot 73, the third best round of all women’s golfers, staying within 10 strokes of the current leader. Stone has a cumulative score of 153 after two rounds.
OTHER NEWS
The canoe-kayak and tennis competitions were postponed to tomorrow due to adverse weather conditions.