Dave Leaderhouse
Special to the Herald
The final medal haul was slightly lower than the last time the Saskatchewan Winter Games were staged, but the Lakeland District chef de mission was thrilled with the results turned in by local athletes.
“I am ecstatic with how we performed,” said Helen Meekins following the conclusion of the 2026 edition of the Games which were held in Meadow Lake and Flying Dust First Nation last week. “The areas we medalled in weren’t surprising as we have very good programs.”
“It’s hard to compare our results against Saskatoon and Regina simply because of the number of athletes they send,” added Meekins, who is also the executive director of the Lakeland District for Sport, Culture and Recreation.
Team Lakeland finished the games in sixth place with nine gold, 12 silver and seven bronze – just two medals behind the South East and Rivers West districts which were deadlocked in fourth place with 30 medals each. There were also 15 fourth-place finishes and nine more who were two spots off the podium showing how close the team was to finishing even higher in the standings.
At the last Winter Games held in Regina in 2023, Team Lakeland had 34 medals and a similar sixth-place finish in the standings.
Saskatoon ran away with the overall title collecting 109 medals with Regina coming in in a distant second place with 73 medals. More than 1,500 athletes from nine provincial districts competed in the event, which was open to participants 11-18 years of age.
The Games featured 17 sports over six days of competitions with this year’s event being the first time it was held in two separate locations and the first time that a First Nation was a host site for the event. Meekins said it was an amazing experience.
“With the partnership they had it didn’t feel like two places at all,” noted Meekins. “It felt like one community; one host.”
“It was very well organized and the facilities were great,” added Meekins. “The weather could have stayed away, but even with the turmoil everyone worked together. Everyone was calm.”
The major snow storm that hit Saskatchewan mid-week caused some minor disruptions, but everything that was planned was completed on schedule.
Team Lakeland sent more than 150 athletes, coaches and managers to the Games with the group enjoying a good deal of success in target shooting, figure skating, weightlifting and wrestling. Meekins said they were pleasantly surprised with the silver-medal finishes in bowling and curling.
There were three sports – artistic swimming, biathlon and Special Olympic bowling – that Lakeland had no representation in and ringette was a demonstration sport where participants from across the province formed four teams for the competition.
The winter and summer games alternate every two years and are in place for athletes to gain experience in competitions and serve as a springboard to higher levels such as the Canada Games and North American Indigenous Games, The next provincial competition will be held in 2028 when Weyburn will host the Saskatchewan Summer Games.
Following is a list of the Lakeland District medal winners.
GOLD
Team table tennis – female 14-and-under
Female table tennis 14-and-under – Chloe Hernandez, Tisdale
Figure skating STAR 6/7 Dance Mix – Clay Christopherson, Weldon; Sophie Leland, Melfort
Female target shooting super finals air rifle – Elizabeth Miller, Big River
Figure skating Star 5 Free Skate – Parker Belchamber, Porcupine Plain
Weightlifting female 53 kg – MacKenzie Bender, Prince Albert
Para Nordic Skiing (sit) female – Cherish Nontell, Little Red Reserve
Para Nordic Skiing (stand) male – Aren Painter, Prince Albert
Female target shooting individual air rifle – Elizabeth Miller, Big River
SILVER
Female speedskating relay – Taryn Bennington, Prince Albert and Lena Gagne, Prince Albert
Five-pin bowling male team – Xander Gareau, Prince Albert; Drayden Mayer and Jackson Mayer of St. Louis; Ben Paetsch, Rosthern; Jody Spitzack, Prince Albert
Curling male – Rory Booth, Spiritwood; Rylan Shutra, Dalmeny; Liam Simonar, Shell Lake; Van Slater, Spiritwood
Gymnastics female balance beam – Leah Little, Carrot River
Figure skating STAR 6 male free skate – Clay Christopherson, Weldon
Figure skating STAR 4/5 Dance Mix – Reinard Lotz, Prince Albert and Mia Schutte, Shellbrook
Weightlifting female 44kg – Abrey Law, Prince Albert
Weightlifting male 56 kg – Pacey Lavoie, Prince Albert
Weightlifting male 71 kg – Joel Sinclair, Prince Albert
Weightlifting female 63 kg – Tatum Fiddler, Prince Albert
Weightlifting male 88 kg – Kingston Walker, Prince Albert
Futsal female – Abigail Hiebert, Davina Akinjobi, Brooklyn Aiken, Adrianna Fazio, Avery Saufert, Sophia Walter, Elise Dube, Hailey Markos, Ava Law, Sofie Du Plessis, Abigail Ndubuka, Toluwanimi Adebayo. All team members are from Prince Albert except for Hiebert who is from Hague.
BRONZE
Speedskating male relay – team members were unavailable
Wrestling male 80-90 kg – Spencer Larson, Prince Albert
Wrestling female 51 kg – Hanna Mufford, Hague
Target shooting male air rifle – Charles Trung Hieu Le, Big River
Figure skating STAR 8 female freeskate – Lauren McLean, Melfort
Target shooting team air rifle mix – Charles Trung Hieu Le, Big River and Elizabeth Miller, Big River
Badminton team mix – Zayan Doctor, Sadie Schutte, Greyson De Padua, Grayson Larson, Joseph Truong, Rebecca Schutte, Lyncynade Antonio, Lily Chamberlain, Olivia Weldon. Home towns for all badminton players are unavailable.
