The Trail Times’ Sport Year in Review April to June features exciting results on a variety of different playing fields, and several achievements, awards and kudos for Greater Trail products.
April:
3 – Trail Gymnastics Club qualified nine gymnasts to compete at the BC Compulsory Gymnastics Championships, and four for BC Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
9 – Warfield native and former pro hockey player Craig Cunningham tries out new prosthetic skate.
10 – Former Smoke Eater Travis St. Denis scores the game-winning goal to clinch an AHL playoff spot for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, their first since 2016.
11 – Fruitvale native Chris Kissock and his teammates from the 2007 Lewis-Clark State College baseball team were inducted into Lewis-Clark Hall of Fame in Lewiston, ID. for their NAIA World Series Championship victory.
12 – Trail Youth Baseball announces new 13-and-under league.
16 – Trail product Scott Davidson signs amateur tryout contract with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.
18 – Heart and Soul Tae Kwon Do athletes win over 20 medals at the Kee’s annual Martial Arts Tournament in Kelowna.
19 – The Beaver Valley Skating Club presents Bree Fitzpatrick with the Program Assistant of the Year Award for the Kootenay Region, and Jayci Halifax with the CanSkater of the Year award.
23 – Trail’s Jake Lucchini closes out career with NCAA Michigan Tech Huskies with MVP and Top Scorer awards. Lucchini skated in every single game of his college career, 164, scoring 104 points on 45 goals and 59 assists.
- Prince George Spruce Kings win BCHL Fred Page Cup championship with a sweep of the Vernon Vipers.
May:
1 – Greater Trail golfer Garrett Kucher repeats as Rattlesnake Open champion in Osoyoos.
3 – Park Siding resident Rick Fillmore earns the Horse Council of BC’s Sherman Olson Lifetime Achievement Award.
7 – Major Midget Kootenay Ice name new head coach. Cam Basarab takes over reins from former coach Kris Boyce.
- Prince George Spruce Kings win Doyle Cup with a 4-2 Game 6 win over the Brooks Bandits.
8 – Over 100 athletes compete in the Royal Canadian Legion Track and Field Meet at Haines Park.
9 – Home of Champions induction ceremony adds Dr. Peter Dewdney, Greg Barber, Glen Sanders, Glen Kalesniko, Charles Bisset, and Terry Jones earning the honour for a lifetime of commitment and success in their chosen fields.
15 – Rossland golfer Braden Mckay and his Wilmington University Wildcats golf team earn a berth into the NCAA Div. II National Golf Championships, following win at Atlantic/East Super Regional Tournament.
23 – Seven J. L. Crowe track and field athletes qualify to compete at the BC High School Track and Field Championships and include Jaxon Kuchar, Sadie Joyce, Annika Ford, Zoe Gilles, Jendaya Shields, Nolan Bencharski and Fin Klinghorn.
30 – Quinnipiac University journalism student Justin Cait and videographer Matt Schindler create YouTube video called Trail Connection, a tribute to Trail hockey products Craig Martin and Scott Davidson, who graduated from Quinnipiac and the Bobcats hockey team.
31 – Former TRAX swimmer Tess Markus is named new head coach of Trail Stingrays Swim Club, taking over for former coach and teammate Jennifer Chung.
- West Kootenay U16 Orioles begin their championship season at Butler Park, playing in the Spokane American Legion Baseball League.
June:
5 – The Trail Smoke Eaters wrap up their Delta Camp with high expectations for its committed group that includes Logan Terness, Walker Erickson, Corey McCann, Chase Dafoe, and Jaden Senkoe.
7 – Community Futures – Greater Trail launches website, wesportfish.com, in an effort to attract fishermen and tourism dollars to the area.
11 – Trail’s Katie Yuris is named BC Hockey’s Coach of the Year, just the second female coach to receive the honour. Yuris is coach of the West Kootenay Pee Wee Girls Wildcats.
13 – The Beaver Valley Nitehawks acquire Rossland native Ethan Jang from the Creston Valley Thundercats in exchange for the rights to Kyle Guenter and Reese Tambellini.
14 – Greater Trail’s Norm Dennis, a former St. Louis Blues player who was with the team when they lost to the Boston Bruins in the 1970 Stanley Cup Final, weighs in on the Blues first Stanley Cup victory in a Game 7 marathon against the same Bruins.
18 – Beaver Valley Blue Jays win the Greater Trail Little League Major championship with a 5-1 victory over the Trail Mariners.
- U.S. anglers benefit from BC’s white sturgeon recovery program as Washington State opens sturgeon fishery south of the border.
19 – Birchbank golfer Ben Gresley-Jones wins 56th annual Christina Lake Men’s Open for the fourth time.
21 – Grand Forks International Baseball Tournament gets back on track, hosts 10 teams from across North America and Cuba.
- Trail native Don Freschi, creator/host of Sport Fishing on the Fly, launches a new website called On The Fly Adventures (ontheflyadventures.ca) designed to direct anglers to the finest fishing destinations across the globe.
25 – Trail baseball fans packed Butler Park for an entertaining match between the Trail AM Ford Orioles and Union de Reyes from Matanzas, Cuba. Trail lost both ends of a double-header, but helped the Cuban team prepare for the GFI.
26 – Trail’s Jason Bay is inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, with family and friends in attendance at a ceremony in St. Mary’s, Ont.
27 – Greater Trail hockey products Jake Lucchini and Ross Armour skate at NHL Development Camps, with Lucchini going out with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Armour with the Nashville Predators.
