Justin Blais was the Westlock area’s lone medallist at the 2014 Alberta Summer Games in Airdrie.
Competing at the July 24-27 event, Blais represented Zone 5 and finished with a bronze medal in the U15 boys’ javelin with a throw of 40.51 metres. He missed silver by 22 centimetres.
“I think I could have done a bit better, maybe second place,” he said, explaining his throw was shorter than his personal best. “If I would have matched that it would have got me second.”
The bronze medal was just one part of the week for Blais, who also took in a few tips to improve his future performances.
“I did learn a lot about technique and stuff from watching all the different people competing and throwing in their events,” he said.
Blais also competed in the hammer throw, shot put and discus events, but did not have the same success — his 24.1 metres in the hammer throw earned him eighth place, he threw 9.48 in the shot put, and his discus distance was 23.02.
Off the field, the week was equally good.
The athletes were treated as if they were at the Olympics, and were housed inside an athletes’ village, he said. They were bused around the venues, got free food and were given free swag.
During his time in Airdrie, Blais said he made a few friends with whom he intends to keep in touch.
This winter, he said he plans to join the St. Albert Mustangs track club to continue training, with an eye to participating in the 2016 Alberta Summer Games in Leduc.
He added he wants to try the track events, but will stick with the field events as well.
The Zone 5 girls softball team consisted mostly of players from the Jarvie Jaguars, and was coached by Jags coach Al Burchett.
The team finished the tournament with a 2-2 record to claim fifth place, but Burchett said they had their fate in their hands the whole way.
“They were right in there,” he said. “Just a couple of breaks — the first game against (Zone 7), if we could have held on to the lead, and just a couple timely hits against (Zone 3) and they could have easily been in the medal round.”
The girls opened with an 11-7 loss to Zone 7, which covers the eastern part of Alberta and communities like Lloydminster and Provost.
Up 7-6 late in the game, the girls allowed five runs and weren’t able to bounce back.
“It was a little disappointing,” Burchett said. “But the girls played really good. That was one of the better teams.”
Game two was against Zone 1, including the cities of Medicine Hat and Lethbridge. This time the girls came out on top, 14-4, in a game Burchett called “a nice, solid game by them.”
The girls’ third game was against Zone 3, which is the city of Calgary, with the winner advancing to the medal round and the loser headed to the fifth-place game.
“We were close,” Burchett said.
Trailing headed into the last inning, the girls loaded the bases and were primed to make some noise.
“We got a couple runs, but we didn’t manage to capitalize,” Burchett said. “We just needed one hit and we could have been tied with them.
In the end the girls lost 6-4, sending them to the fifth-place game against Zone 6, the city of Edmonton.
In what was another tight game, the girls found themselves tied 6-6 heading into the sixth inning. Then they exploded for three runs in the sixth and another two in the seventh to come away with the 11-6 win and fifth place.
“It was a solid game,” Burchett said. “The girls played solid all weekend.”
