Three softball players from the Stettler district came home from the Alberta Summer Games on Sunday sporting silver medals.
Jessie Anderson, Kennidy Fisher and Jamie Ternes played with Zone 4, the runner-up in the girls’ softball tournament last weekend at Lethbridge.
Kendra Rusaw of Delburne, Mikayla Tolsma of Clive and Brooke Lindmark of Coronation were also part of the softball entry from Zone 4, which is otherwise known as the Parkland region.
In the final Sunday morning, Zone 4 lost 9-0 to Zone 3, the Calgary contingent.
Otherwise, it was a perfect tournament for Zone 4, which edged Zone 7 12-11 in an extra inning in Saturday’s semifinals after posting a 3-0 record in round-robin play.
The Parkland representatives scored 11-0 wins over Zone 2 and Zone 8 and clubbed Zone 6 10-3.
The far-flung Zone 4 club included players from Hardisty, Lacombe, Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Bawlf and Ponoka.
Most of those girls played against each other during their regular season, but they came together under head coach Jill Simpson and assistant Gary Simpson of Sedgewick and assistant Joe Fodor of Lacombe.
The Zone 2 girls had what one of the parents described as “a busy and exciting weekend,” as temperatures hit 30 C.
Silver-medal jump
Meriah Wiart of Castor also picked up a silver medal at the Summer Games, with her jump of 1.55 metres in the under-17 girls’ high jump.
Wiart, a provincial high school champion this spring, tied for second in the Games high jump with Medicine Hat’s Tiana Pisoni. The gold-medallist was Peace River’s Rylee Armstrong, who jumped 1.60 metres.
Wiart also placed seventh in the under-17 girls’ discus, with a throw of 22.08 metres.
Zone 4 places fifth
Overall, Zone 4 finished fifth among the eight zones, with a 60-medal performance (12 gold, 20 silver and 28 bronze).
The champion was Calgary-based Zone 3, with 139 medals — 50 of them gold. Neighbouring Zone 2, which includes Hanna and Drumheller, was the runner-up, with 117 medals — 50 of them gold. In third place was the Edmonton district, Zone 6, with 112 medals, including 46 gold.
More than 2,600 athletes and coaches took part in the four-day event through Sunday morning.
Stettler content varied
On and off the field, Stettler was well-represented with the Zone 4 football team, which went 1-3 to place sixth.
The head football coach was Mike Roach, one of the assistants was Brian Matchett, and the roster included Jeremy Kirk and David McCann.
Zone 4 lost 21-0 to Zone 3 and 31-7 to Zone 6 before beating the Zone 7 entry 7-2 in their final round-robin game. In the fifth-place contest, Zone 1 beat Zone 4 24-14.
In girls’ soccer action, Reesa Garez of Stettler was with the Zone 4 team that placed fifth after shutting out Zone 2 1-0 on Sunday.
Zone 4 compiled a win, a loss and two ties. In round-robin play, the Parkland girls lost 3-0 to Zone 8 and recorded 1-1 draws against zones 6 and 7. Zone 6 went on to capture the gold medal.
Locals step up to plate
Jayden Buxton of Coronation was the lone local rep on the Zone 4 boys’ baseball team, which checked in with a 2-2 record. The Parkland club edged Zone 1 12-11 in the fifth-place contest. In preliminary play, Zone 4 lost 12-8 to Zone 3 and 12-2 to Zone 7 before topping Zone 5 5-4.
Zone 2 took home a bronze medal after doubling Zone 6 8-4. The Zone 2 lineup included Rowley’s Quentin Kopjar and Carbon kids Carson Boyd and Dane Steen, who has family connections in the Rumsey region.
Zone 2 finished with a 3-2 record overall.
Around the zone …
The Zone 4 girls’ basketball team featured the Delburne duo of Samantha Overwater and Janelle Volker, while the Clive contingent with Zone 4 at the Alberta Summer Games included athletics multi-event athlete Nicole Dupuis and lacrosse player James Wood.