The Trail Times will be reviewing some of the highlights in sports from the past 365 days. Enjoy the look back and hopefully it’ll conjure up some memories.
For the next four editions, the Trail Times will be reviewing some of the highlights in sports from the past 365 days. Enjoy the look back and hopefully it’ll conjure up some memories.
January
15 – Greater Trail is well represented at the Senior men’s and women’s provincial curling championship after Kimberley’s Tom Shypitka rink with second Don Freschi and lead Bill King won the Kootenay regional playdowns on the weekend, with third Fred Thompson of Nelson. On the ladies side, the Teresa Hiram rink with Trail’s Rose Beauchamp as third, and second Rhonda Lee Bedard also from Trail joining lead Cindy Pettapiece as the qualifier for the provincial championship.
16 – Ryan Edwards joins the Beaver Valley Nitehawks after sitting out a 30-day suspension for leaving the Trail Smoke Eaters.
The Selkirk College Saints men’s hockey team sets the most consecutive wins record in the BC Intrecollegiate Hockey League with 13, in a 4-3 victory over Simon Fraser University.
22 - Trail native Trevor Johnson captained the Vallpellice Bulldogs to the Coppa Italia last week, the Italian national ice hockey championship. The team plays in the top division Series A in the Italian Hockey League.
23 – Rossland free skier Sally Steeves takes gold in the Canadian Open Junior Freeskiing championship in the 13-15 age group while Simon Hillis skis to gold in the male 7-11 age group. Mackenzie Flood won silver while sister Erin took bronze, and Xander Sterpin also claimed silver in the age 15-18 category.
28 – Kiwanis names Pat and Penny Fennell, Keith Smythe, and Richard Rhodes, the Sportspersons of the Year recipients for 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively.
30 – Snowboard-cross racers Tom Pitman and Mitch Pitman are invited to the World Cup at Blue Mountain, Ont. after finishing in second and tenth respectively at a NorAm race in Copper Mountain, Colo.
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February
5 – Castlegar skip Deane Horning leads a local contingent into the Men’s Provincial curling championship in Parksville. The team is also comprised of third Don Freschi from Trail, Penticton’s
12 – The Castlegar Rebels win a pair of games against the Beaver Valley Avalanche to clinch the KIJHL’s Neil Murdoch division title.
13 – The Trail Curling Club hosts the B.C. Senior Curling championship with local rinks including Myron Nichol rink from Castlegar and the Teresa Hiram rink from Christina Lake competing against the best in the province.
14 – Greater Trail Swim Club members have smashing success in the pool as they clean up at the Kelowna AquaJets snofest swim meet.
16 – Pat and Penny Fennell receive the Kiwanis Sportspersons of the Year award for their extensive volunteer work over the decades, while Keith Smyth a former principal at McLean Elementary and Montrose’s Richard Rhodes a longtime coach with the girls Thunder Fastpitch softball team are named the Sportsperson of the Year.
19 – The Craig and Karin Lepine rinks each won their respective divisions at the B.C. Senior Curling championship in Trail, with the organizing committee and volunteers drawing high praise from all who competed.
20 – The Beaver Valley Skating Club came home with the Most Sportsmanlike trophy as the dozen skaters placed third overall at the Kootenay Region Figure Skating championship.
21 – Canadian sit-skier and Rosslander Kimberley Joines captures a silver medal at the Paralympic alpine world championships in Spain.
26 – Warfield twins Tom and Mitch Pitman, 19, head to the World Junior snow-board cross championship in Ezurum, Turkey.
March
1 – Greater Trail Swim Club swimmer Dylan Kormendy, 9, takes the swim world by storm, as the youngest swimmer ever to compete at the AAA SwimBC championship.
5 – Selkirk College Saints clinch top spot in the BC Intercollegiate Hockey League with a 7-3 win over Eastern Washington.
- In the KIJHL, Beaver Valley Nitehawk forward Dallas Calvin is awarded the Neil Murdoch division MVP while Connor Brown Maloski is honoured with Rookie of the Year.
7 – Fruitvale native Joe Cecchini slides his way to a gold medal at the Italian Skeleton championship in Igls, Aus. Cecchini lives and trains in Calgary where he is a police officer.
The Trail Smoke Eaters forward Brent Baltus is named to the Interior division All-Star team in the BCHL.
8 – The Trail Smoke Eaters ended their 2012-13 campaign on a high note with a 4-2 win over the Penticton Vees, however they came up just short of a playoff berth after Salmon Arm won its final games to nudge the Smokies out of the post season. The Smokes finished with 25 more points than they did the previous season.
11 – ‘61 Trail Smoke Eater and Rossland resident George Ferguson passes away. Ferguson was a integal part of the World championship team, as well as the ‘62 Alan Cup winning Smoke Eaters.
Brent Baltus of the Trail Smoke Eaters receives the Most Valuable Player award for the Interior Conference after a season where he scored 24 times, and added 28 assists for 52 points.
14 – Smoke Eater coach Bill Birks signs a one year contract extension with the BCHL team after doubling his number of wins from the previous season.
15 – The Beaver Valley Nitehawks fall to the Castlegar Rebels 5-4 in double overtime of Game 7 in the KIJHL Neil Murdoch division final.
19 – The Selkirk College Saints hockey team triumph in the final of the BCIHL championship against SFU winnng the best of three series with 2-0 and 3-2 victories at the Nelson District Rec Complex.
22- Pride Gym Fighters take home 16 medals including eight gold from the Tiger Balm International tournament in North Vancouver.
The Greater Trail Swim Club continue their great results at the Cherry Blossom Swim meet in Penticton, including top finishes for Sharman Thomas, Dylan and Eden Kormendy, and master’s swimmer Kelly Geisheimer.
26 – Former Philadelphia Phillies prospect Chris Kissock signs with the Winnipeg Gold Eyes of the American Association of Baseball League.
- Over 120 skiers hit the slopes as Red Mountain hosted the U16 Slalom and Giant Slalom provincials.
27 – Macy Verigin wins double gold at the Zone 1 and 2 Karate B.C. Provincial qualifier in Penticton.