Williams Lake and area athletes brought home a hefty medal haul from the BC Seniors Games held in Langley from Sept. 9-13.
Competing as part of the north central zone team lakecity athletes combined for 17 medals, helping their zone finish seventh out of 13 teams.
Leo Rankin (track and field), Jim Johnston (track and field), Connie Haeussler (track and field), Pat Harton (track and field), Bryan Chubb (track and field), Marci Paquette (golf), Floris Martineau (golf), Barb Ingle (equestrian), Ellen Wiege (floor curling), Lill Langstrom (floor curling), Mari Struthers (floor curling), Greta Bowser (floor curling), Puran Bhogal (soccer) and Norm Prevost (soccer) all competed.
In track and field Rankin won gold medals in the men’s 60-64 10-kilometre road race, the men’s 60-64 5,000-metres, the men’s 60-64 5,000-metre power walk and a silver medal in the men’s 60-64 1,500-metre.
Johnston placed fifth in the men’s 70-74 10-kilometre road race and won a silver medal in the men’s 70-74 long jump, plus gold medals in both the men’s 70-74 triple jump and the men’s 70-74 pentathlon.
Harton, meanwhile, placed sixth in the men’s 1,500-metres and took sixth in the men’s 10-kilometre road walk.
Haeussler, in her first year of competition, won a silver medal in the women’s 55-59 10-kilometre road walk and a bronze medal in the women’s 55-59 5,000-metre power walk.
Chubb finished with a gold medal in the men’s 65-69 10-kilometre road race and silver medals in three events: the men’s 65-69 1,500-metres, the men’s 65-69 800 metres and the men’s 65-69 5,000 metres.
“The folks from Williams Lake did well in track and field,” Rankin said. “Bryan dominated his age category with four medals — not including two relay golds — and I did well in my category with four medals … Johnson took four medals in jumping and pentathlon events. Connie took two medals in walking events in her first year of competition.
In medley the team relay Rankin and Chubb picked up two gold medals after teaming up with Prince George’s Kelly Strong and Dave McLeod.
“A medley competition involves team members running 600-metres, 200-metres, 400-metres and 800-metres,” Rankin said. “I ran the final leg of 800-metres. This was a difficult race since all three of us had competed in the 10-kilometre road race earlier in the morning.”
In golf Paquette finished with a bronze medal in the women’s 60-64 ‘B’ division, gross. Martineau, meanwhile, fired to a bronze medal in the women’s 80-plus B division, net.
Ingle, in equestrian, was sixth in the men’s and women’s 55-65 mountain trail in hand, fifth in the men’s and women’s 55-64 mountain trail, mounted, and sixth in the men’s and women’s 55-64 mountain trail, combined.
Wiege, Langstrom, Struthers and Bowser teamed up in floor curling for a seventh-place result in the men’s and women’s 55-plus team of four in the ‘A’ division.
For soccer Bhogal and Prevost joined the Tri Zone for a fourth-place result in the 65-plus division.