Three Comox Valley athletes are part of Team BC that will be taking on the best athletes in the country at the 2017 Canada Summer Games, which open Friday, July 28 in Winnipeg.
Gillian Ellsay and Benjamin Katerberg, both of Courtenay, will compete in cycling, and Comox resident Sarah McKillican in volleyball.
In 2015, Ellsay was the U23 Canadian national time trial champion, and represented Canada at the world championships. McKillican was named a first team all-star at the last BC High School Volleyball Championships in Kelowna, where she led the Isfeld Ice to a fifth-place finish.
Michael Flegel of Courtenay is also part of the B.C. contingent as a swimming coach at the multi-sport competition. The Games are held every two years, alternating between winter and summer.
Team BC consists of 354 athletes, 52 coaches, 27 managers and technical support staff, and 22 mission staff.
The event marks the 50th anniversary of the Canada Games and coincides with Canada’s 150th birthday.
Leading Team BC into the opening ceremony in Winnipeg will be 17-year-old soccer player Emma Regan of Burnaby, a full-time player with the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite program. Victoria’s Ryan Cochrane, an Olympic medallist in swimming, is the honorary captain for Team BC and an alumnus of the 2005 Canada Summer Games.
Team BC finished third behind Ontario and Quebec at the 2013 event with 122 medals.
FMI: www.teambc.org and www.canadagames.ca