A team of six cross-country skiers from Athabasca travelled to Banff and Canmore to compete in the Alberta Winter Games Feb. 6–9, and many of them found their way to the podium.
The Games bring in athletes from across the province to compete in a variety of winter sports. For the cross-country skiers, there are three major events: the sprint, the classic and the relay.
In the sprint, Athabasca saw Anna MacIsaac-Jones and Sam Elgert bring home gold in the girls and boys midget categories respectively (ages 13–14). Also reaching the podium was Abby Elgert with a silver medal in the mini-midget category (ages 11-12). Max Elgert placed fifth in the juvenile division (ages 15–16), and in the midget division, Noah Day placed 12th while Carter Waschuk-Palmer placed 18th.
Reaching the podium in the classic race was MacIsaac-Jones with a gold, Sam Elgert with a bronze. Abby Elgert took home a silver. Max Elgert snagged a fifth-place finish, while Day and Waschuk-Palmer took 14th and 15th respectively.
In the relay event, skiers are grouped with others in their age group to form teams, sometimes being placed with skiers from other areas. Athabasca saw MacIsaac-Jones’s team take home bronze. Abby Elgert’s team also got bronze. Sam Elgert and Day competed on the same team, and they, too, took home a bronze medal.
“It was phenomenal,” said coach Colleen Elgert. “Our whole group did really well.
“The majority of the team was very pleased with their results.”
Sam Elgert, getting gold in the sprint and bronze in both the classic and relay, acknowledged that his hard work in practice was finally paying off.
“I think I did pretty good,” he said of his performance.
“I was going out every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to practice,” said Abby Elgert, who took home a silver in both the sprint and classic, along with a bronze in the relay.
“It was a very cooperative group,” said Coach Elgert. “I think that’s the highlight from the coaching staff: to see the kids do well.”
