During the summer of 2010, Sudburians of all ages were introduced to the wide scope of the Ontario Summer Games as well over 3500 athletes and spectators from across the province gathered in Northern Ontario.
Though the Nickel City contingent that travelled to the 2012 Ontario Winter Games in the Collingwood area might not have numbered in the thousands, that certainly didn't stop local athletes from having a significant impact in their various sporting endeavours.
Likely few sports fared better than the Sudbury curling crew, with the Krysta Burns Idylwylde rink of Michela Nero, Sara Guy and Monica Graham capturing Gold while the boys Idylwylde crew of Tanner Horgan, Owen Sheppard, Connor Lawes and Jacob Horgan emerged with Bronze.
Burns and company opened play with a familiar foe, defeating Sarah-Anne Guay (Kapuskasing Curling Club) 5-3 on Thursday, adding a pair of close wins on Friday.
Trailing 6-5 after six ends and without the hammer against Lauren Horton (Almonte Curling Club), the Burns quartet proceeded to steal one in both the seventh and eighth ends, improving to 2-0.
A similar story-line in the Saturday evening draw opposite Leah Hodgson (Soo Curlers Association) as Burns fought back from a 5-4 deficit after seven, send the games to extra ends scoring one in the eighth and then stole two in the ninth, recording a 7-5 win.
Now brimming with confidence, Burns and company easily disposed of Chelsea Brandwood, bouncing the Grimsby Curling Club reps 10-4, wrapping up Gold (and an undefeated week) with a 6-4 victory over Kimberly Gannon (RCN - Navy - Curling Club) Saturday afternoon.
On the boys side, a tough first draw loss to Doug Kee of Sarnia (6-5) proved costly, as Team Horgan finished just a game back of both the Gold and Silver medal winners.
Horgan bounced back to beat Scott Morphet (Soo Curlers Association) 6-4, Spencer Borotsik (The Club at North Halton) 7-4 and Conor Joudrey (Tam Heather Curling & Tennis Club), 6-5 in a must-win game, but were no match for Zacharia Warkentin (Port Arthur Curling Club), dumped 9-1 by their Northern Ontario rivals.
Sudbury's Rick Prud'homme also took part in the Wheelchair Curling competition, finishing with a record of 2-3, good enough for a four-way tie for third place, but missing out on a medal through the tie-breaker.
Local wrestler Alannah Day topped a six athlete crew from the area, returning home with a Gold medal in the Cadet Women's 65kg classification. Day beat Alexia Sherland, Carmella Fleurant, Brittney Blair and Keagin Collie in successive rounds, working her way to the top of the podium.
Eric Tessier (Cadet Men - 46kg) and Mira El Darazi (Cadet Women - 60kg) also managed to crack the top six in their divisions, while Ethan Draper, Logan Blanchford and Natalie Mullin were ousted after a pair of bouts apiece.
Few athletes enjoyed a more exciting week than Manitoulin hockey player Kennedy Lanktree, as the speedy forward scored the overtime winner in both the semi-final and finals, leading Team Irwin to a Gold medal performance.
Lanktree was joined on her squad by fellow Lady Wolves' teammate Deidre Debassige, while local goaltender Danika Lefrancois donned the pads for Team Johnston.
Representing the NOPHL (Northern Ontario Peewee "AAA" Hockey League) in the boys competition, the Nickel City Sons posted a record of 1-2 in pool play and did not advance in the eight-team event.
The Sons could not get off the mark in their opener, falling 4-0 to the Brampton Battalion, hitting their stride moreso in game two with a 2-1 win over the Peterborough Petes.
After the Petes opened the scoring in period two, defenseman Ryan O'Bonsawin pulled Nickel City even before the end of the frame, with Daniel Walker draining the game-winner with 5:44 to play.
Unfortunately, game three would find the locals opposite the powerful Toronto Marlboros, with the Sons taking it on the chin by a final score of 12-5.
Alex Rodrigue paced the Nickel City attack with a pair of goals, while Damien Giroux, Keegan Gillis-McAnulty and Nicholas Chokan added singles.
Figure skaters Cassandra Bilsborough, Danielle Coulombe, Alyssa Murray, Isabelle Sonier and Naomi Lamb carried local hopes, though none finished better than 6th in either the Novice or Pre-Novice groupings.
Walden biathletes Kyle Reinhardt, Benjamin Bichel, Mackenzie Turner and Katrina Alexander raced in both the pursuit and sprint events, while the Northeast Ringette crew came close, but not not crack the win column against the best from the rest of the province.
Sudbury was also well represented in volleyball and synchronized swimming, with countless athletes now begin the preparation work needed to qualify for the 2012 Ontario Summer Games being staged in Toronto this August.
