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Ridge paddlers aiming for Games medals

Canada Summer Games underway in Winnipeg
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Contributed Matthew Koehler of the Ridge Canoe and Kayak Club will once again have multiple medals in his sights at the Canada Summer Games, which are underway in Winnipeg.

Numerous athletes from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are part of Team BC for the 2017 Canada Summer Games, which are under way in Winnipeg.

The provincial canoe and kayak squad is loaded with local athletes, including Jia Kim, Matthew Koehler, Melody Oh, Alex Brent, Cassidy MacPherson, Eun Bin Oh, Noah Said and Omar Said.

They are members of the Ridge Canoe and Kayak club, which is based at Whonnock Lake.

Brent carried the flag for Team BC at the 2015 Summer Games in Wood Buffalo, Alberta.

He and Koehler were dominant at those games, part of a haul of 31 medals by Maple Ridge athletes.

Koehler won nine medals, including five gold. He and Brent won three gold medals in doubles kayak.

In May, Brent finished third in the 1,000m B final at the national team trials in Montreal in May.

They will be team leaders, and both Koehler and Brent have said their personal goals are multiple medals.

The padding events are set to begin on Aug. 7-10.

In athletics, Zackary Kuzyk and Olivia Miriconi will both be competing for B.C.

Miriconi is a Pitt Meadows secondary grad, and the thrower has medalled nationally, was a provincial shot put and discus champ, and now competes for Utah State College.

Zachary Kuzyk won bronze in the senior high jump at the B.C. championships last year, and now competes for Simon Fraser University.

Swimmer Justice Migneault will be in the pool at the Games, and Tudor Mihaila will be with the male soccer team. Migneault is a Haney Seahorses swimmer who holds numerous club records, and competes at the national level.

Mihaila is a midfielder with the Coquitlam Metro-Ford club, is a Vancouver Whitecaps prospect, and has played for the provincial team as a U-13 and U-14.

The games are the country’s largest multi-sport event for young athletes.



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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