Team Alberta North has topped the medal standings at the Arctic Winter Games for the first time ever. The athletes brought home 133 ulu medals from the Northwest Territories, the most ever for the team.
Teens from Grande Prairie made up most of the team’s medal winners, with Onna Brooks taking six in gymnastics, including two each of gold, silver, and bronze. Speed skater Teneea Schoorlemmer and snowboarder Jamie Pasmore each won five gold ulus, and Schoorlemmer was named Team Alberta North’s flag bearer for the closing ceremonies.
Other athletes from the Peace country who each took home five ulus were Grande Prairie’s Melanie Curtis with one gold, two silver, and two bronze in arctic sports, GP’s Linden Rakestraw in snowboarding with four gold and one silver, and fellow snowboarder Ella Kuhn of Hythe with three gold and two silver.
The games were held from March 18th to 24th in Hay River and Fort Smith. The international event also involves athletes from Alaska, Greenland, Northwest Territories, Nunavik, Nunavut, Yukon, the Yamal region of Russia, and Sapmi, which is made up of indigenous people from northern Scandinavia.
“The Arctic Winter Games, with their combination of competition and culture, are special and we are proud to support Team Alberta North and the unique experience these Games provide to our northern Alberta athletes,” says Kelly Blackshaw, Vice Chair of Alberta Sport Connection.
A full list of local ulu winners is below:
Arctic Sports
GOLD
Junior Female One Foot High Kick – Austen Fraser (Grande Prairie)
Open Female One Foot High Kick – Melanie Curtis (Grande Prairie)
SILVER
Open Female Alaskan High Kick – Melanie Curtis (Grande Prairie)
Open Female All Around – Melanie Curtis (Grande Prairie)
Open Male Sledge Jump – Zachary Hodge (Grande Prairie)
BRONZE
Junior Female Alaskan High Kick – Delaney Mayer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Kneel Jump – Austen Fraser (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female All Around – Austen Fraser (Grande Prairie)
Junior Male Arm Pull – Jack Hasenclever (Grande Prairie)
Open Female Two Foot High Kick – Melanie Curtis (Grande Prairie)
Open Female Triple Jump – Melanie Curtis (Grande Prairie)
Badminton
SILVER
Junior Female Doubles – Krisha Mejica (Grande Prairie) / Kennedy Turcotte (Falher)
BRONZE
Junior Female Singles – Kennedy Turcotte (Falher)
Junior Mixed Doubles – Aaron Quan (Fort McMurray) / Krisha Mejica (Grande Prairie)
Biathlon – Ski
SILVER
Junior Male 7.5km Mass Start – Jordan Lundstrom (Grande Prairie)
Junior Mixed Relay – Hannah Lundstrom (Grande Prairie), Jordan Lundstrom (Grande Prairie), Donovan Wallace (Grande Prairie)
BRONZE
Juvenile Male 4km Sprint – Liam Tinworth (Grande Prairie)
Junior Male 7.5km Mass Start – Donovan Wallace (Grande Prairie)
Cross Country Skiing
GOLD
Juvenile Female 7.5km MassStart Freestyle – Makena Pruden (Grande Prairie)
Curling
GOLD
Junior Female – Brynn Lutz (Sexsmith), Delaney Norrish (Grande Prairie), Micyla Radke (Grande Prairie) , Lori Thorson (La Glace)
Junior Male – Adam Elsenheimer (Grande Prairie), Cortland Sonnenberg (Grande Prairie) , Owen Fenske (Grande Prairie), David Moen (Grande Prairie)
Dene Games
GOLD
Junior Male Hand Games – Jimmy Cardinal (Janvier), Luke Hodge (Grande Prairie), Dawson Mercredi (Fort Chipewyan), Brent Waquan (Fort Chipewyan)
SILVER
Junior Male Pole Push – Jimmy Cardinal (Janvier), Luke Hodge (Grande Prairie), Dawson Mercredi (Fort Chipewyan), Brent Waquan (Fort Chipewyan)
BRONZE
Junior Male Stick Pull – Luke Hodge (Grande Prairie)
Figure Skating
SILVER
Junior Female Ladies Team – Rochelle Beekman (Grande Prairie), Abigail Boone Fitzpatrick (Grande Prairie), Faith Crummy (Grande Prairie), Alyssa Edwards (Grande Prairie), Sadie Finnebraaten (Grande Prairie), Raquel Kwiatowski (Grande Prairie), Kaiya Macdougall (Fort McMurray), Kayla Welygan (Fort McMurray)
BRONZE
Junior Female Ladies Short Level 1 – Alyssa Edwards (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Ladies Free Level 1 – Rochelle Beekman (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Ladies Combined Level 1 – Rochelle Beekman (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Ladies Short Level 4 – Abigail Boone Fitzpatrick (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Ladies Combined Level 4 – Abigail Boone Fitzpatrick (Grande Prairie)
Futsal
SILVER
Juvenile Female – Meghan Bielecki (Fort McMurray), Medea Chiba (Grande Prairie), Indira Germaine (Grande Prairie), Rofyda Khaleel, (Fort McMurray), Natalie Kirk (Grande Prairie), Jazzmyn Lester (Grande Prairie), Alyssa Lutz (Grande Prairie), Ariha Tahir (Fort McMurray), Kiera Thomas (Fort McMurray)
BRONZE
Juvenile Male – Kai Bancesco (Grande Prairie), Aaron Bessong (Fort McMurray), Evan Doerksen (Grande Prairie), Munashe Maranga (Fort McMurray), Ada Polat (Fort McMurray), Josh Richardson (Grande Prairie), Rion Schulz (Fort McMurray), Tarik Seiffedine (Fort McMurray), James Shewfelt (Grande Prairie)
Gymnastics
GOLD
Junior Female Team Competition – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie), Savanna Pardy (Fort McMurray), Grayson Reid (Fort McMurray), Aila Spronk (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Balance Beam – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Vault – Aila Spronk (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Uneven Bars – Aila Spronk (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female All Around – Aila Spronk (Grande Prairie)
SILVER
Junior Female Vault – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female All Around – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie)
BRONZE
Junior Female Floor Exercise – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Uneven Bars – Onna Brooks (Grande Prairie)
Hockey
SILVER
Bantam Male – Ethan Alook-Ferguson (Horse Lake), Logan Bjornson (Hines Creek), Hudson Chalifoux (High Prairie), Cooper Coates (Beaverlodge), Jordan Fitzpatrick (Fort McMurray), Joseph Gerwatoski (Crooked Creek), Jacob Hartman (Slave Lake), Brandon MacIntyre (Fort McMurray), Kyle Maloney (Grande Prairie), Adam Morrow (Fairview), Sheldon Parliament (Fairview), Levi Pharis (Manning), Jacobi Rouleau (Grande Prairie), Thomas Sellin (Grande Prairie), Dalton Seniantha (Chateh), Owen Taylor (Grande Prairie), Tucker Vinck (Wanham)
BRONZE
Junior Female – Kennedy Buchan (High Prairie), Myah Casault (High Level), Aydin Chisaakay-Soucy (High Level), Delaney Cunningham, (High Prairie), Kali Cunningham (Gift Lake), Nyah Czaban (Valleyview), Sanne Hansen (Fairview), Kennedy Hartman (Slave Lake), Rhys Johnson (Beaverlodge), Allie Lorencz (Manning), Shelby-Lyn Richards (Sexsmith), Abby Robinson (Peace River), Shanna Mierzewski (Hines Creek), Sierra Turk (Wabasca), Tea Vasseur (Fairview), Trae Weller (Beaverlodge)
Snowboarding
GOLD
Juvenile Female Rail – Jam Ella Kuhn (Hythe)
Juvenile Female Snowboard Cross – Ella Kuhn (Hythe)
Juvenile Female Overall – Ella Kuhn (Hythe)
Juvenile Male Rail Jam – Linden Rakestraw (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Male Big Air – Linden Rakestraw (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Male Banked Slalom – Linden Rakestraw (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Male Overall – Linden Rakestraw (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Rail Jam – Jamie Pasmore (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Big Air – Jamie Pasmore (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Snowboard Cross – Jamie Pasmore (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Banked Slalom – Jamie Pasmore (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female Overall – Jamie Pasmore (Grande Prairie)
SILVER
Juvenile Female Big Air – Ella Kuhn (Hythe)
Juvenile Female Banked Slalom – Ella Kuhn (Hythe)
Juvenile Male Rail Jam Becker – Olson (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Male Big Air – Becker Olson (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Male Snowboard Cross – Linden Rakestraw (Grande Prairie)
Snowshoeing
SILVER
Juvenile Male 2.5km Short Distance Combined – Adam Twelvetree (Grande Prairie)
BRONZE
Juvenile Female 2.5km Short Cross Country – Madison Twelvetree (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Female 2.5km Short Distance Combined – Madison Twelvetree (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 7.5km Long Course Cross Country – Lydia Steinke (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile 4 X 400 Mixed Relay – Madison Twelvetree (Grande Prairie), Julie Vance (Slave Lake), Adam Twelvetree (Grande Prairie), Jacob Farnsworth (Grande Prairie)
Junior 4 X 400 Mixed Relay – Lydia Steinke (Grande Prairie), Carlee Dick (Canyon Creek), Montana Ross (Slave Lake), Brandon Fontaine (Fort Chipewyan)
Speed Skating
GOLD
Junior Female 500m – Teneea Schoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 777m – Teneea Schoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 1000m – Teneea Schoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 1500m – Teneea Schoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 3000m Relay – Teneea Schoorlemmer (Grande Prairie), Dori MacLennan (Grande Prairie), Hayley Ferguson (Peace River)
BRONZE
Juvenile Female 400m – Brielle Shoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Juvenile Female 1500m – Brielle Shoorlemmer (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 500m – Dori MacLennan (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 777m – Dori MacLennan (Grande Prairie)
Junior Female 1500m – Dori MacLennan (Grande Prairie)
Junior Male 1000m – Bennett Winniky-Lewis (Grande Prairie), Ranslee MacLennan (Grande Prairie), Anthony Guenther (Grande Prairie), Deklan Hewlett (Grande Prairie)
Volleyball
GOLD
Junior Male – Justice Bigstone-Cardinal (Wabasca), Jacob Braun (Fort McMurray), Ryan Breen (Sexsmith), Thomas Chmilar (Grande Prairie), Josh Dumont (Grande Prairie), Andrew Fogle (Grande Prairie), Tyler Funk (Grande Prairie), Bradley Noskey (Grande Prairie), Levi Power-Fardy (Grande Prairie), Patrick Tuttle (Grande Prairie)
SILVER
Junior Female – Emily Batt (Grande Prairie), Amy Chailler (Grande Prairie), Vanessa Loos (Grande Prairie), Tori Macooh (Spirit River), Taylor McDonald (Grande Prairie), Hayley McNaught (Woking), Stephanie Miller (Grande Prairie), Rachel Perry (Grande Prairie), Anastasia Potratz (Spirit River), Ashley Rafferty (Peace River)
Wrestling
GOLD
Team Competition – Sarah Anderson (DeBolt), Landen Badger (Sexsmith), Devon Barnfield (Sexsmith), Samson Coward (Grande Prairie), Karl Koester (Widewater), Kaden Link (Sexsmith), Sarah Palfy (Sexsmith), Jason Pangracs (Grande Prairie), Courtney Reason (Slave Lake), Sidney Simon-Steel (Sexsmith), Morgan Smith (Grande Prairie), Carson Woodburn (Grande Prairie)
60kg Female – Sarah Anderson (DeBolt)
60kg Female – Inuit Sarah Anderson (DeBolt)
71kg Female – Sarah Palfy (Sexsmith)
60kg Male – Landen Badger (Sexsmith)
60kg Male – Inuit Landen Badger (Sexsmith)
65kg Male – Kaden Link (Sexsmith)
65kg Male Inuit – Kaden Link (Sexsmith)
70kg Male – Carson Woodburn (Grande Prairie)
85kg Male – Jason Pangracs (Grande Prairie)
85kg Male Inuit – Jason Pangracs (Grande Prairie)
SILVER
50kg Female – Sidney Simon-Steel (Sexsmith)
50kg Female Inuit – Sidney Simon-Steel (Sexsmith)
71kg Female Inuit – Sarah Palfy (Sexsmith)
70kg Male Inuit – Carson Woodburn (Grande Prairie)
78kg Male – Devon Barnfield (Sexsmith)
78kg Male Inuit – Devon Barnfield (Sexsmith)
BRONZE
55kg Male Inuit – Samson Coward (Grande Prairie)