Henton leads Team West into Games

Natalie Henton’s second trip to the Manitoba Games started with an exciting surprise.

The gymnast from Glenella was selected as the flag bearer for Team West and got to lead the team out for the opening ceremony in Thompson on Sunday evening.

“At first, I was kind of surprised because I didn’t really know it was a thing. But then I was really excited when I really thought about it,” Henton said via phone interview.

“It was different because I’ve never been to that part of it. For the summer games a couple of years ago, I was at the closing ceremony, but I’ve never been to the opening ceremony before, so I thought it was kind of different. It was neat.”

The 14-year-old has been in gymnastics for nine years and competing for six, with a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

Henton also competes in track and field, as she represented Team West in Dauphin at the 2024 Manitoba Games. She claimed a bronze medal in the standing long jump, posting 2.06 metres, just four centimetres back of first place.

For gymnastics this week, she has to wait until the last day of Phase 1 of the Games to compete.

Today, the Level 3 and 4 gymnasts take the stage, while Henton and the Xcel Gold athletes compete on Wednesday morning.

Henton isn’t fazed by the extra time to think about it, given her years of experience.

“At this point, I get a little nervous, but I don’t get that nervous anymore,” Henton said.

“As long as I know I did my best — I hate knowing I could have done better.”

She’ll participate in the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise in a field of 10 athletes, along with Team West’s Brooklynn White of Brandon.

Henton also has a handful of Neepawa Novas teammates to cheer on today.

“It makes it a completely different experience rather than if I was by myself,” she said.

The first phase, running Monday to Wednesday, also includes alpine ski, archery, curling, boys’ hockey and ringette.

• • •

In Monday’s results:

• ALPINE SKIING — At Mystery Mountain Winter Park in the U14 boys parallel slalom, Owen Biglieni of Brandon earned bronze with his runs of 11:15 and 13:45 and 13:00 in the final.

In the U16-18 girls parallel slalom, Sophie Lynne Saquet of Neepawa also earned bronze with runs of 11:15, 13:45 and 13:00 in the final.

• ARCHERY — In compound individual U17 female, Nevaeh Sierens of Brandon leads with a score of 543 after the ranking round. Kaleesa Dysart of Brandon is seventh with a score of 473 in the 10-woman event.

In compound individual U17 male, Sam Chapman of Brandon is second, three points behind East’s Theo Salem with a score of 539. Elie Nicholls of Brandon is eighth at 468.

The compound team U17 mix finished after deadline.

In recurve individual U17 female, Brielle VanDaele of Brandon was well in the lead in the ranking round with a score of 477, 165 points ahead of the second-place finisher.

In recurve individual U17 male, Brandon Farquhar of Brandon posted a score of 473 to finish first in the ranking round. The event finishes up with the semifinals and final today.

The team recurve U17 elimination round finished after deadline. The gold medal will be determined on Wednesday.

In the barebow individual U17 female ranking round, Rheanna Windsor of Brandon was third in the ranking round with a score of 259. The event finishes up today.

In the barebow individual U17 male ranking round, Jack Reeves of Brandon narrowly finished second in the ranking round with a score of 328, eight points back of Winnipeg Blue’s Maury Lavitt. The semifinal matches and final take place today.

The barebow team U17 mix elimination round finished after deadline. The gold medal match takes place Wednesday.

• CURLING — At Burntwood Curling Club in U15 girls’ curling, West-1 — comprised of the Carberry team of Sabrina Graham, Tegan Graham, Gemma Mcleod and Abbey Snowden — took a 4-0 lead in the first end and cruised to a 10-5 victory over Winnipeg Gold.

Their second game, which was against South, ended after deadline. They finish up against North this morning in the four-team event.

In U15 boys’ curling, West-1 — Paxton Bickerton of Elkhorn, Connor Harp of Brandon, Jack Yakimishen of Dauphin and Thium Kadigamuwa of Melita — fell 6-5 to Winnipeg Gold in their opener in the four-team event.

Their second game ended after deadline. They finish up against South this morning in the four-team event.

The semifinals will be held today, with the finals on Wednesday.

• HOCKEY — At Thompson’s C.A. Nesbitt Arena in U13 male action, West-1 fell 2-1 to Winnipeg Blue. Kolton Euper of Brandon had the lone goal. In their second game, Emmett Murray of Dauphin, Euper, Buck Oldcorn of Brandon and Nixon Boguski of Brandon all scored in a 4-2 victory over Winnipeg Gold.

Team West-2 had better luck in their opener, beating South-2 by a score of 4-1. Calder Hazlewood of McCreary, Kooper Jury of Eden, Luke Hrappstead of Dauphin and Beckett Bileski of Gilbert Plains had the goals for West-2, whose late game against North finished after deadline.

The quarterfinals and semifinals take place today, with the gold-medal game on Wednesday.

• • •

The second phase, with athletes arriving Wednesday and competing until Saturday, features badminton, cross-country skiing, mixed curling, figure skating, futsal, girls’ hockey, speed skating and wrestling.

Most of the events take place at the Thompson Regional Community Centre and R.D. Parker Collegiate.

Schedules and results are available at mg2026.gems.pro.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com