Local athletes competing in Winter Games

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/01/2019 (2621 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Six local athletes are getting ready to pack their bags for the Canada Winter Games in Red Deer, Alta. from Feb. 15 to March 3.

Joel Simpson, 16, will be lacing up for Team Manitoba in speed skating. The Grade 11 student at Portage Collegiate entered the sport a few years ago after making the decision to stop playing hockey. He said his father suggested that he give speed skating a try.

For the past two years, Simpson has trained at the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex in Winnipeg with coach Tyler Williamson-Derraugh. He’s competed in western Canadian events and at the 2018 Manitoba Winter Games in Thompson.

While he’s competed at distances from 500 to 5,000 metres, he says his best events are the 500- and 1,000-metre races.

Simpson said he’s excited about the opportunity to compete at the Canada Winter Games. He’s continuing his training and was heading to a competition in Calgary prior to the Games.

“I will be putting in lots of practise at the (Susan Auch) Oval,” he said.

Ringette players Taylor Hildebrand, of Oak Bluff, and Brett Van Nieuw Amerongen, of La Salle, are on Manitoba’s U20 ringette team competing in Red Deer.

Hildebrand, 20, has played ringette for years, starting in the Macdonald Ringette League. Now studying at the University of Manitoba, she said she’s pleased to have the chance to represent Manitoba at a national level again.

“I’m looking forward to a new level of competition,” Hildebrand said. “It’ll be like a mini-Olympics.”

The Manitoba ringette team recently won two tune-up tournaments in Pickering, Ont. and Montreal, Que.

Stephanie Clarkson, 17, from Cartier, is competing in artistic gymnastics. The Grade 12 student at Westwood Collegiate trains at Springers Gymnastics in Winnipeg and has been involved in the sport for 13 years.

Clarkson has competed in the Western Canadian and national gymnastics championships over the past few years, and is looking forward to the Winter Games and representing Manitoba.
Asked which event is her favourite, she answered “if I had to pick one I would have to say floor. I enjoy how the skill and the artistic flare are combined during a floor routine and how as a gymnast you can incorporate some of your personality into the music and routine.”

Madison McLeod, from La Salle, is competing in artistic swimming. The 20-year-old swims with the Aquatica Synchro Club at Winnipeg’s Pan Am and East Kildonan pools.

Chanel Cabak, of Portage la Prairie, is on the Manitoba figure skating team.
Cabak, 15, is a member of the Portage Skating Club. She will compete in the Novice Women’s class at the Winter Games.

“I am really excited to be able to take part in the Canada Winter Games as it’s such a big event and I can’t wait to represent Manitoba in the sport I love,” Cabak, who attends Grade 10 at PCI, said.