Happy New Year! And you know what that means—the first installment of our sports year in review. Here are just some of the moments that caught our attention in the first three months of 2013.
January
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My Mountain Co-op officially takes ownership of the Shames Mountain Ski Area after taking over operations in the 2011/2012 ski season.
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No more body checking in Terrace Minor Hockey Association (TMHA) House League divisions. A notice posted on the TMHA website states that body checking will now only be allowed at the rep level and travel/B team level. Body contact will still remain part of house league
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Skeena Middle School begins talks with Pacific Rim Hockey Academy to open a hockey academy at the middle school in the 2013/2014 school year.
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The Terrace Motocross Association (TMXA) held their annual awards ceremony this year at the Terrace Curling Club on Jan. 5, in conjunction with the first 2013 Televised Supercross Event. Approximately 40 members attended the event.
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Twelve players from the Bantam Female Kermode Rep team in Terrace participated in the U16 camp in Williams Lake on Jan. 5 and 6 – and more than half of them made the final roster for the U16 BC Cup North Zone team. The Terrace Bantam Female Reps have been having a fantastic 2012/2013 season, going into the Christmas break with a record of 19 wins, 10 loses and 5 ties.
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The Caledonia Kermodes basketball team travels to Abbotsford Jan. 9 - 12 for the 53rd annual Snowball Classic, the longest running tournament in British Columbia, which includes teams from all over North America and a level of competition rarely seen here in the north – and Terrace watched from home as the tournament was streamed live online.
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More than 100 of the northwest's most elegant up-and-coming skaters took to the Terrace Arena for the annual Kla-How-Ya skating competition Jan. 25-27.
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Athletes from the Prince Rupert Swim Club, the Kitimat Marlins Swim Club and the Bulkley Valley Otters all made the trip to Terrace for the weekend to participate in the Northwest Regional Championships at the Terrace Sportsplex Jan. 25-27.
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The last weekend in January saw 26 rinks from throughout the Northwest gather at the Curling Club and the Legion in Terrace for a fun-filled weekend and to compete for trophies and prizes for the 58th consecutive year.
February
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Terrace's Totem Ford Midget Rep hockey team was the unconquered winners of the Battle of the Ice tournament hosted by the Prince Rupert Minor Hockey Association – the first-ever Midget Rep tournament held in Prince Rupert, with four northern B.C. teams participating Feb. 1-3.
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The Terrace River Kings season came to a screeching halt Feb. 2 in Kitimat. The Kitimat Ice Demons downed the River Kings by a score of 7-4, sweeping the best of three playoff series two games to none.
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Five Members of the Terrace Peaks Gymnastics Club travelled to Quesnel for their first meet of the year on Feb. 8 – and for some of the team, this was their first meet ever after training for years at the club. Shannon Schuster took first place in her age category and Ann Zettler finished third.
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The Junior Girls basketball team from Skeena Middle School ultimately came out on top at the Northwest Zone Championships at their home gym Feb. 15 and 16.
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The Caledonia Kermodes Sr. Boys basketball team finishes the regular season with a record of 24 wins and four losses.
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One of Terrace's most beloved senior athletes, Leona Margaret Smith, maiden name Link, passes away at Mills Memorial Hospital last week at the age of 86.
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Local Arm wrestler Allan Heinricks heads to Sweden to compete at an all-pro competition, but has a run of bad luck while he's there.
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The young Terrace Peewee Reps are heading to provincials after going undefeated at northwest zones and going undefeated in the Skeena Valley League.
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The Terrace Midget Rep team has a rough end to the season – an appeal by the Smithers team to BC Hockey involving an ineligible player at the championship tournament was accepted, and the team would no longer be going to Tier 3 provincials in Port Alberni.
March
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The Caledonia gym was host to some of the most exciting Senior Boys Basketball in years as the hometown Kermodes took on the Queen Charlotte Saints for the AAA Northwest Zone Championships March 2. The home team would ultimately prevail.
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The Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club opens nearly a month early – March 9 was the opening day.
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THE TERRACE River Kings' bid to win the Coy Cup ended March 15 with a 4-3 semi-final loss to the Williams Lake Stampeders.
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The Terrace Kermodes smothered the North Shore Avalanche 2-1 in the gold-medal final of the B.C. Bantam A Female Hockey Championships at the Wesbild Centre in Vernon, leading to official congratulations from Terrace mayor and council at the next council meeting.
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Terrace Peaks gymnast Shannon Schuster wins Top Gymnast award at the Terrace meet for the second year in a row.
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Three Terrace ringette players came home with gold from Ringette Division B Provincials in Surrey. Rory Bird, Aimee Qualizza, and Kristen Tooms played for Prince George's U18+ team and were a definitive force in the team's gold medal win.
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The Terrace Peewee Reps fall just short of a medal at Tier 3 provincial championships in Creston, falling 6-4 to Arbutus in the bronze medal game.