Staff
Rainy River District athletes showed they belonged at the 2017 North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) held last week in Toronto and Hamilton.
They brought home several medals in all as members of Aboriginal Team Ontario, which finished third in the medal standings with 137 behind British Columbia (179) and Saskatchewan (167).
Golden glory went to Austin Jack of Big Grassy First Nation, who was part of Ontario’s 8-7 victory over California in the final of the 19U male softball event.
Wade Kewageshig belted a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to give Ontario the win.
The squad went 3-0 during the preliminary round, dumping Alberta 11-3, routing Eastern Door & the North 18-0, and topping B.C. 9-6.
Ontario then nipped Saskatchewan 6-5 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Jack’s younger sister, Rochelle, helped Ontario’s 16U female softball team claim the silver medal.
They also went 3-0 in the preliminary round with shutout victories over Eastern Door & the North (19-0), B.C. (6-0), and New York (10-0).
Ontario then blanked Wisconsin 11-0 in the semi-finals.
But another powerhouse was awaiting them in the final as California overwhelmed Ontario 12-2.
Darryl Beacham and James Yerxa (Onigaming) also mined diamond silver in the 16U male softball event.
Ontario dropped its first two games to Nova Scotia (10-3) and Saskatchewan (7-0).
But the team got rolling with a 12-0 thrashing of Manitoba in its final preliminary game, then paid Nova Scotia back with a 7-0 triumph in the semi-finals.
But Saskatchewan again proved too much to handle the second time around in blanking Ontario 11-0 in the final.
Shana Windigo (Nigigoonsiminikaaning) was the team manager for all four of Ontario’s softball teams.
“Inuit competitor Sarah Rittau from Devlin and Jacy Gagne (Lac Seul, now living in Fort Frances) tied for the most medals of any district competitor, each racking up four in nine swimming events in the 16U female division.
Rittau was part of the silver medal-winning 4x50m freestyle relay team (1:59.42) and 4x50m I.M. relay team (2:13.74), losing both times to Alberta.
She also led her Ontario quartet to bronze in the 4x100m free relay (4:25.46).
On her own, Rittau claimed bronze in the 200m breaststroke (3:14.22).
Gagne also struck for two silver and two bronze.
Her second-place results came as part of the 4x50m free relay (1:59.42) and 4x50m I.M. relay (2:13.74).
Gagne grabbed third individually in the 50m breast (37.25) and collectively with the 4x100m free relay crew (4:25.46).
Her younger sister, Ayiana, pocketed a trio of bronze medals in the 14U female division as part of the 4x50m free (2:07.88), 4x50m I.M. (2:25.22), and 4x100m free (4:44.12) relay teams.
Jared Hunter (Rainy River First Nation) earned silver as part of the 19U boys’ 4x400m relay team.
Ontario clocked in at 3:49.29 to trail only Saskatchewan (3:43.34).
Meanwhile, Ontario’s 19U female volleyball squad, featuring Avery Wilson-Hands (Rainy River First Nation) and Sydney White (Whitefish Bay), came home with the bronze medal.
Ontario swept B.C. 3-0 in the third-place showdown after going 4-1 in the preliminary round to end up second in Pool ‘A.’
But then they lost 2-1 to Alberta in the semi-finals, falling 22-20 in the final set.
Former Muskie Brandon Geyshick (Lac la Croix) and Keenan Copenace (Onigaming) nearly matched their female counterparts but lost the 19U male volleyball bronze-medal match against Newfoundland and Labrador 3-1.
Ontario had a 1-3 record and a fourth-place finish in Pool ‘A,’ then split their two elimination play games in beating Manitoba 2-0 and losing to Saskatchewan 2-0.
The 16U girls’ volleyball squad, featuring coach Amy Wilson-Hands and daughter Adyson Wilson-Hands (Rainy River First Nation), had a rough week in losing all three of its matches.
Ontario lost 2-0 to Saskatchewan and 2-1 to Wisconsin before being swept 2-0 by Eastern Door & the North.
On the archery field, Julianna Indian (Rainy River First Nation) narrowly missed making the podium in the 19U female compound event, taking fourth spot in a field of 12 with 764 points through the six-round event.
That put her just shy of bronze-medalist Zoe Jeddore of Nova Scotia (815).
Angel Medicine (Rainy River First Nation) was 11th in the 16U female compound division with 268 points.
Santino Smith and Lamar Lucas (Naicatchewenin) comprised part of the Ontario squad that finished in fifth place in the 16U boys’ soccer competition.
Ontario lost 4-1 to New York and 7-0 to B.C. before blanking the Northwest Territories 2-0.
Then they hung on to edge Manitoba 2-1 in the fifth-place final.
