The Canada Winter Games concluded this past weekend in Prince George, B.C. and another Bow Valley athlete brought home some hardware.
Canmore’s Maya MacIsaac-Jones won bronze in the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing free (mass start) female race on Feb. 26.
The 19-year-old also helped lead the female relay (4 X 3.75 km) team to a fourth-place finished on Saturday (Feb. 28).
The Games welcomed U23 athletes from every province and territory to compete from Feb. 13 to Mar. 1. This year, 11 athletes from the Bow Valley joined Team Alberta to go head-to-head with some of the nation’s finest young competitors.
Stefan Kuhn, a coach for Alberta’s cross-country ski contingent, said the entire ski team did an awesome job and it was great to bring a medal back to the valley.
“Maya, she did awesome,” Kuhn said about her overall performance. “She had a little bit of trouble in the classic sprint, where she fell once.”
MacIsaac-Jones placed eighth in the classic sprint.
Kuhn said it was a younger team they took to the Games this year, with some members having to deal with a pretty big age difference.
“We went in knowing that we were a lot younger; some of our guys and girls were five to six years younger than the other athletes from other provinces,” Kuhn said.
He added that overall, the skiers had a fantastic week of racing in Prince George.
The male cross-country skiers relay (4 X 5 km) team placed 5th on Feb. 28.
Ty Godfrey from the Canmore Nordic Club “stepped it up” during the Games, said Kuhn.
The 16-year-old placed 16th in the cross-country ski 15-km (mass start) free on Feb. 26.
Kuhn is a “big fan” of Canada Games as a whole for Alberta and cross-country skiing.
“It sets up the kids to see how big events are and (for them) get use to some new athletes and new coaches. It’s a really exciting event for them,” he said.
