The BC Winter Games began in earnest on Friday, with competition kicking off in 17 of the 18 sports on the program.
The early leader in the medal standings is the Fraser Valley (Zone 3), which had racked up 30 medals (10 gold, 10 silver, 10 bronze) as of the early evening. Hot on their heels are Vancouver-Squamish (21 medals), Thompson-Okanagan (16) and Cariboo-North East (13).
• Among the highlights for the Zone 3 squad were a pair of gold medals during short track speed skating action on Friday morning, as Abbotsford's Annabel Johnson and Langley's William Park emerged victorious. Other gold medalists from the morning speed skating at Abbotsford Recreation Centre included Cormac Chui of Vancouver and Callie Swan of Prince George.
• In figure skating at the Mission Leisure Centre, Richmond's Beres Clements won the men's juvenile title. Justin Hampole of Prince George surged into the lead after the pre-novice men's short program, while a trio of Kelowna skaters – McKenna Colthorp, Ajsha Gorman and Rochelle Reeve – occupied the top three spots following the pre-novice women's short program.
• Four diving events were decided at Walnut Grove pool, with Nicholas Nepomuceno of North Vancouver, Tavia Waiz of South Surrey, Alison Komlos of West Vancouver and William Robertson of Victoria claiming gold.
• Curling action at the Mission Leisure Centre was highlighted by a pair of blowout wins by the Fraser Valley men's rink skipped by Tyler Tardi, which prevailed 9-3 over Thompson-Okanagan and 8-4 over Vancouver Island-Central Coast.
• Fraser River Delta won gold in the women's gymnastics team event.
• In skiing action at Hemlock, freestyle moguls gold medalists included Mackenzie Schwinghamer of Penticton, Mei Pond of Vancouver, Koleton Phipps and Brayden Kuroda. Ella Renzone won gold in the women's slalom, while Devin Mittertreiner was the men's slalom champ.
• Female hockey round robin action was ongoing throughout the day at Mission Leisure Centre, and the buzz at the rink was about the Canadian Olympic women's team winning gold in dramatic fashion the day before.
These were just a few of the highlights from Friday's action at the BC Winter Games. For more coverage, visit Black Press's BC Winter Games site, or check out the BC Games results page.