Houston wrestlers, track atheletes and rugby players faced B.C.’s toughest competition last week at the Summer Games in Surrey.
With a mix of Houston and Smithers players, the Northwest girls rugby team played hard, besting Lower Mainland teams before dropping a game to Fraser Valley and a bronze medal match—their third game in two hours.
Coaches for the team say the three-day tournament raised all the girls’ level of play, with highlights going to Melissa’s leadership, Taylor’s rucking, Delainey’s try-scoring, Chaelle’s tackling and Jaimie’s end-to-end runs.
Special thanks go out to Ben and Kala for expert coaching, and to Cobus for organizing the team. The girls would also like to thank sponsors District of Houston, BC Bearing, Pinnacle Renewable Energy Group, Castle and Sullivan Motor Products for getting them to the Games.
In boys’ wrestling, Houston’s Kyle Proctor and Trent Siemens both took fifth place in their respective divisions, and Jeremy Cooper came sixth.
In track and field, Alyssa Margerm finished 14th in the 1500-metre steeplechase and Kalampreet Parhar hit personal bests in both hammer throw and shot put, and came 17th in javelin.
“It was good to compete at such a high level, and get to know the intensity of it,” Parhar said.
Parhar thanked coaches Scott Richmond and Neal Currie for getting her into track and field.
To anyone thinking about trying track and field, Parhar said go for it.
"Just try it, see if it's fun," she said. "A lot of people don't think it's that cool because it's not like basketball, where everyone knows about it.
But maybe give it a try and see if you like it if you've ever liked track and field—there's a lot of different things to do."