By Jessi Wilson

The 2011 Southern Alberta Summer Games have come and gone all too quickly once again. From Wednesday, July 6 to Saturday, July 9 Darla Stensrud and I took part in and witnessed all the blood, sweat and tears put into these games. Each day, Darla and I woke up to beautiful weather and the first thing on our agendas was to attend a 7:00 AM meeting to go over updates and concerns on the games. As each day wore on, we found ourselves following each of the athletes to ensure they got to their events on time and that their event/sport ran as smoothly as possible.

In flamboyant safety green, it was nearly impossible NOT to spot our county’s participants this year. We lit up every venue we attended and got nothing less than compliments on our t-shirts. The County of 40 Mile demonstrated sportsmanship and drive at this year’s games and it was all worth while when our medal count came out to a total of 39 from 83 participants. Our county came out 9th of 14 and we couldn’t be more proud!

Our county was extremely successful on the track this year. Zane Knouse dominated in each of his bantam boys’ events. Zane showcased not only his quick feet, but “mad hops” as well. Leaping his way onto the podium, he took gold in high jump, long jump and triple jump. He also ran away with gold in the 200m and silver in the 100m. In addition to the “Knouse” name, brother Brady Knouse stole the bronze in bantam boys’ triple jump.  Robert Visser also lit up the track this year taking bronze in the midget boys’ 400m and silver in the midget boys’ high jump and long jump. Nicole Keuper and I both demonstrated our throwing skills in javelin and both of us came out on top with gold medals. I was also fortunate enough to come out with silver in open women’s shot put. Tristan Stensrud displayed great strength and took the silver medal in bantam boys’ discus. The Van Roessel family contributed greatly to our county’s success this year. Rowan Van Roessel took the silver in bantam girls’ high jump and her sister Jessie also took silver in the midget girls’ 400m and in an equestrian event, intermediate trail.  Mother of the girls, Jean Van Roessel, went home with 4 medals this year! Jean took silver in master women’s 800m and bronze in the 1500m, 400m, and 50m. Kayl Byam and his sister Leandra “ran show” in cycling this year, taking two silvers in the time trials of their age category.  Kayl also came out with a bronze around his neck in the peewee boys’ ball throw. Brandon Lane jumped his way onto the podium receiving bronze in bantam boys’ high jump and Jo-Anne Oosterhuis demonstrated endurance when she finished the 5km run with a bronze.

In other events, the County of 40 Mile demonstrated just as much success! From an art and photography stand-point, Marjorie Moncrief painted her way to the top. An art submission landed her a gold medal. Kirsten Visser “cleaned up” this year, taking both a silver and a bronze in two of her photography entries.  First time photography participant, Cheryl Poole, also took a bronze in photography. Jessa Nelson took gold in badminton this year, participating in under 18 girls’ singles. Trapshooting participants, Logan Gutfriend and Atlyn Gouw were both awarded medals this year. Logan came out with a bronze in men’s trapshooting, 18-64 years and Atlyn came out with gold in the boys’ sub junior category.

It seemed as though success came easy to our county this year in team events as we finished with 7 medals in team events alone. One of my favorite team events to watch is the 4 x 100 relay. Whether it’s the family relay or an age category relay, I just can’t get enough! Tristan Stensrud, Brady Knouse, Brandon Lane, and young bantam boy Kayl Byam sprinted their way to gold in the bantam boys’ 4 x 100 relay. Along side the boys, Jessi Van Roessel, Rowan Van Roessel, and Kara Oosterhuis won gold in the midget girls’ 4 x 100 relay with the help of well-known City of Medicine Hat participant Mackenzie Salmon. In combination with the City of Medicine Hat, Landon Porteous and Wyatt Knouse ran with Eli and Gage Smith to win the bronze medal in the mighty mite boys’ 4 x 100m relay. Together, Garren Oosterhuis and Christopher Byam came out with gold in under 14 boys’ doubles in badminton. Our basketball teams also made our county proud this year. Foremost trio Lance Van Gaalen, Pierce Van Gaalen and Tyler Hirsche took silver in 3 on 3 basketball.  Also stealing silver was 3 on 3 girls basketball team Kaitlyn Byam, Shaylynd Segouin, Emily Gross, and Paige Tiffin.  Last but most definitely not least, the Angle duo, Harold and Gloria, chipped their way to silver in the family mixed two-some. For complete results for each sport and event, you can check out the Summer Games website for full details: www.southernalbertasummergames.com.

As you can see, the County of 40 Mile had great success in this year’s games. Our U12 and U14 soccer teams played with grace and more importantly, good attitudes. Thank you to the Bow Island Art club for all your art and photography submissions. They were truly beautiful. I also wanted to send shout-out to all of those participants, parents and coaches that weren’t mentioned who did their best and represented our county extraordinarily.  With such organization and volunteer help this year in Medicine Hat, the games ran more smoothly than ever and I hope to see an even better turn-out next year! Mark your calendars for the 2012 Southern Alberta Summer Games! I know there’s even more talent lying within these prairies, it’s only fair we showcase it! To all those from Foremost, Burdett, Bow Island, Etzikom and Manyberries: I hope to see you next year!