BC is off to a winning start in men’s hockey at the Canada Winter Games outscoring New Brunswick 5-3. Justin Almeida of the Cariboo Cougars scored an empty net goal and added an assist. BC continues round robin play at CN Centre tonight at 7:30 against Manitoba and Tuesday at 7:30pm against Ontario.
–It’s day one of figure skating at Lakewood Dental Arena (Kin 1). Justin Hampole of Prince George is in second place after the short program in Pre-Novice Men. The free skate goes Wednesday (11:15am).
–Women’s curling is underway. BC, skipped by Sarah Daniels of North Delta, dumped Nunavut 10-3 in its opener.
–Cross Country Skiing started at Otway with the 10k male classic and 7.5k female classic races. 12 of Canada’s 18 representatives at the 2015 Junior/U23 World Ski Championships in Kazakhstan, earlier this month, are competing.
–Day two of squash and day one of badminton are both featured today at the Northern Sport Centre.
–Table Tennis began at Duchess Park with team competition. The BC men and women both whipped Yukon 3-0
–Gymnastics-Trampoline begins Tuesday at CNC. Snowboarding (Purden) and Synchronized Swimming (Aquatic Centre) also start Tuesday while Judo begins Wednesday at Northern Sport Centre.
–Team BC is third in medals with 41. Quebec has a big lead with 83, (35G, 23S, 25B) while Ontario is second with 44 (18G, 15S, 11B). BC finished week one with 12 gold, 16 silver, and 13 bronze.
–Seven athletes from B.C.’s north combined for a total of 10 medals during week one. Four of those athletes were from Prince George and included biathlon’s golden girl, Emily Dickson (two gold, one silver, one bronze), Archer Tony Procter (bronze), long track speed skater Carolina Hiller (three silver), and Claire LaPointe, who earned a gold in the biathlon relay. Other podium finishes from the north came from Quesnel’s Emerie Watson, she was the partner of Procter who earned the bronze in compound archery, Jacob Graham of Dawson Creek (gold in long track speed skating), and Sterling Middleton from Fort St. John (bronze in curling.)
Photo: Courtesy of Team BC