After a three-year hiatus due to COVID, Victoria hosted the B.C. 55+ Senior Games Sept. 13-17. Athletes from Zone 2 in Vancouver Island North won 215 medals, fourth highest among 13 zones. Vancouver Island South (Zone 1) topped the medal standings with a whopping 542.
North Island Equestrians had 68 entries for events at the Saanich Fairgrounds. Zone 2 English and western dressage medalists include Christal Quinn, Nancy Garner and Sheila Watt of Courtenay, Black Creek residents Gerry Person and Teg Harper, and Lee Hart Delaney of Merville.
In soccer, the North Island women’s 55+ Island Force squad won gold, as did the men’s 55s and 60s teams. The men’s 65-plus squad won bronze. There were also a pair of 70-and-older men’s teams, which won silver and bronze.
The men’s curling team from the Comox Valley Curling Club — Dan Brennan, Bob Lee, Terry Woloshyn and Tim Corkery — won silver in the 55+ division.
In track and field, Courtenay’s Graham Morfitt won gold in shot put, javelin, hammer, weight throw and in the throws pentathlon in the 55-59 division. Comox sprinter Louise Reed, competing in the 85-89 age class, won the 50-, 100- and 200-metre sprints, the 3,000-metre power walk and added another gold in the women’s 55-59 4x400m powerwalk relay. Paul Vieira of Courtenay won a silver in the 4x400m relay and a bronze in the men’s 60-64 10km road race.
Courtenay cyclists Derek Steel won three gold medals, and David Livingstone one.
Black Creek swimmer Brian Staton (75-79 class) won golds in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke, and silvers in the 25 back, 25 free, 50 free and 100 back.
In archery, Brian Costello of Courtenay won silver medals in the men’s 55-62 target-compound with sight and release, and 3D-compound with sight and release.
Roger Walker of Courtenay won bronze in the men’s 70+ target-recurve bow without sight.
Howie Wong of Courtenay was part of the Old Bouys 75+ gold medal-winning men’s hockey team.
In snooker, Maryann McConnell of Courtenay won the women’s 65-74 singles final. Eric Nelson of Comox won bronze in men’s 55-64 singles.
Kevin Ostachek of Cumberland won bronze in men’s 55-65 singles 8-ball.
The badminton duo of Bissell and Collery won gold in men’s 80-84 doubles open.
In table tennis, Jacqueline McAdam of Comox won silver, while Cumberland’s Rob Atkinson and Ed Schum of Courtenay won bronze medals in their divisions.
The Field/Shook tennis duo won gold in men’s 70-74 doubles.
Courtenay golfers Wayne Fleming and Tom Lambourne won gold in their divisions, as did Bill Laramee of Comox. Michelle Bertrand and May Mitchell of Courtenay won silver, and Jennifer Zbinden and Valerie Dingwall of Courtenay won bronze.
In pickleball, the team of Evie MacDonald of Comox and Sharon De Goede of Courtenay won the women’s 55-64 3.75 doubles, the Comox duo of Jane Morris and Birgit Nilson won the 55-64 3.25, and Cumberland’s Donny Cruikshank and Allan Lobban won silver in 65+ 3.75. Cruikshank and De Goede won silver in mixed 55-64 3.75, and the Comox team of Maurice Gillis and Michael Nesbitt won bronze in 3.25 for the 55-64 division.
The BC Senior Games Society was organized in 1987. The event was last held in Comox Valley/Campbell River in 2010 with almost 3,500 total participants. The 2023 Games will be held in Abbotsford.