Athletes bring home 19 medals, including six gold, from Canoe-Kayak Sprint nationals
WAVERLEY: Cheema showed it’s power on the canoe-kayak national scene last week, bringing home 19 medals from the national championship held in Regina, Sk. from Aug. 27-Sept. 1, including six gold medal.
Michelle Russell won three gold, Sloan MacKenzie of Windsor Junction won two gold, teaming with Jacy Grant on one of those golds; and Craig Spence also snagged a gold medal.
Russell, of Fall River, snagged golds in the K1, 1,000 metre senior women’s class; K1, 500 metres and K1, 200 metres race.
In that last race, Russell broke a long-standing timing record in the Senior Women’s K1 200m by 0.23 seconds—a record that stood since 1994.
Spence won gold in the C1, 1, 000 metre senior men’s race, while MacKenzie of Fall River earned gold in the C1, 200 metre junior women’s race. She teamed with Jacy Grant to capture gold in the C2, 200 metre Under-18 women’s class.
He also earned a silver in the C1 500-metres, and was the cox for the C15 200 metre U18 mix silver medal.
Marshall Hughes (K1, 1,000 metre); MacKenzie (C1, 200 metre U18); Mike Kerrivan as cox in the C15, 500 metres junior women’s; Kady Leard and Laura MacKinnon in the junior women’s K2, 500 metres; and the team of Grant; Madeline Smith; Bailey Gray; and Lindsay Murray in the K4, 500 metres U-16 girls all claimed silver.
Hughes (K1, 200 metres); MacKenzie (C1, 500 metres U18); MacKinnon and Riley Melanson (K2, 1,000 metres junior womens); Bailey Gray and Jenna MacKay (C2, 1,000 metres junior women’s); Grant and Murray (C2, 500 metres in U16); and Sam Amirault; Kai Levy; Callum Wheatley; and Keaton Brown (K4, 500 metres in U16 boys) all grabbed bronze medals.
In the 6,000 metre race, Jacy Grant brought home a bronze medal finish in C1. Keaton Brown finished just off the podium in fourth in K1.
The Waverley-based club, celebrating its 50th anniversary Sept. 6-8, had many other finishes of fourth through ninth place by its athletes.