The 2018 BC Winter Games (BCWG) was held in Kamloops Feb. 23-25 and U14 Clipper speed skater, Madison Seely, won five gold medals for all her races. Seely brought home the only gold medals won by the North West zone across all sports at the BC Games.
Representing the North West B.C. Zone 7, besides Madison Seely, was her older sister Alexis Seely; Logan Sewell and Nicole McBride from the Vanderhoof Clippers Speed Skating Club, and from the Fort St. James Falcons Speed Skating Club were Sean Houghton; Amy Waddell and Aidan Duncan.
These seven U14 and U16 skaters, accompanied by head coach Nicole Ebert, were able to attend the BCWG with new skin suites and safety apparel thanks to generous donations to the team. After weeks of training and preparation, these athletes competed for medals in races of different lengths: 200m; 400m; 1500m; 2000m, 3000m points race and the 3000m relay.
All competitors achieved amazing personal best times with Madison Seely bringing home an outstanding five gold medals. There are only five individual race distances, and she won them all! The team placed third in the relay race.
The BC Winter Games is an event that all athletes recognize as being a stepping stone to greater competitions, that could one day be the Olympics. Speed skating was the only sport where Vanderhoof was represented at the BCWG.