A local grouping of 11 athletes did Sudbury proud last week, taking part in the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games in Thunder Bay.
Spread out between four different disciplines, the contingent from the Nickel City would combine to gather no less than 15 medals, with every single one of the men and women shining through at the bi-annual event.
Taking part in nationals for the second time, the Curl Sudbury rink of Paul Logan, Kenneth Beauvais, Odette St Gelais, Dominique Perrin and Nathan Harmon, along with coaches Jim Logan and Louise Logan, would secure gold medals.
The Sudbury Rocking Stones finished in a three-way tie for first place, and then proceeded to take victory in the championship final.
Joining that team with plenty of success to write home about were the athletes taking part in the snowshoeing races, with all four locals earning some hardware:
- Kylie Hocevar - gold in 4 X 100m relay; bronze in 100m; 4th in 400m; 5th in 200m
- Jason Vautour - silver in 100m; 5th in 200m
- Mathieu Gervais - gold in 100m & 400m; silver in 200m and 3 X 100m relay
- Mark Sansoucy - gold in 200m; silver in 400m; 6th in 100m
A pair of gold medal performances were also recorded on the lanes as bowlers Bailie Prince (gold), Tara Smith (gold) and Brianna Giguere (fifth in team; 7th in singles) all showed well in five-pin bowling.
Though all three were making their first appearance at nationals, all have enjoyed bowling highlights, with Tara Smith recording a double, Bailie Prince celebrating a turkey (three strikes in a row) and Brianna Giguere posting a quad, as well as a single game high score of 230.
Finally, the Canada Winter Games veteran of the local group was back on the ice, as Nadia Bouillon competed for the sixth time in her career, but first as a member of the Nickel Blades Skating Club.
She would also be attempting ice dancing for the first time, finishing in 6th place, while improving that by one placement in her traditional singles solo event.
