Comox Valley athletes helped Zone 6 (Vancouver Island-Central Coast) to a fifth-place finish at the 2014 BC Winter Games, which ran Feb. 20-23 in Mission.
Zone 6 finished with 44 medals (12 gold, 16 silver, 16 bronze). Zone 3 (Fraser Valley was the runaway winner with 103 medals (30 gold, 33 silver, 40 bronze).
The Zone 6 girls karate team won silver in kata. Locals on the team included head coach Todd Robertson (Courtenay), assistant coach Pam Ross (Courtenay), and athletes Natalie Bridges-McInnes (Courtenay) and Sophia MacIntrye (Comox).
Among the other local podium performers was curler Jordan Koster (Courtenay) who was on the Zone 6 girls team that won bronze.
Also earning bronze was the Zone 6 female gymnastics team with head coach Toni Vance (Courtenay) and athlete Kaylee Guignard (Courtenay).
Cross-country skier Tallon Noble (Courtenay) won gold in sprint and bronze in individual start.
Over 1,800 participants – including 38 from the Comox Valley – took part in the Winter Games. A total of 1,344 athletes were supported by 346 coaches and 156 officials during the four-day event.
For more Winter Games coverage, visit bclocalnews.com or bcgames.org.