This year PacificSport was very pleased to reward 4 bursaries of $500 to local Vancouver Island athletes who are in the high-potential and high-performance categories of their sport career. We hope that these bursaries help athletes in continuing to pursue their sporting careers and participate in what they love.
Our 2 High Potential athletes this year are: Lucy Russell & Madeliane “Maddie” Galik
Lucy Russell is a track and field athlete living on Gabriola Island, specializing in sprinting and jumping. She has placed at the 2022 BC High school Track and Field Championship, BC Athletics Jamboree and BC Summer Games.
Her goals in the sport include improving her personal bests and having fun while doing it!
Madelaine “Maddie” Galik is from Courtenay. She is a very talented competitive Cross-Country skier and trains with the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club as well as the BC Ski team. Her most recent achievements as a skier were at The Canadian Ski National Championships, placing 4th individually as well as in a team. Maddie is one to watch as she is looking to race and train outside Canada and make the individual podium at Nationals.
Our 2 High Performance athletes this year are: Owen Harbo & Daniel Gilfillan
Owen Harbo is a competitive gymnast from Nanaimo, currently training at V.I.P Gym sports. He competes internationally for Trampoline gymnastics and some recent accomplishments include winning a Gold medal in Individual Trampoline, Double Mini Trampoline, Tumbling, Synchronized Trampoline and National all around at the 2023 B.C provincial championships and winning a Silver Medal in Tumbling at Elite Canada 2023. His goals for the rest of this year is to qualify to the World Age Group Championships in Birmingham England for Double Mini Trampoline and Tumbling.
Daniel Gilfillan is a talented biathlete from Comox, British Columbia. He recently made his mark on the international stage with an impressive 11th place finish at the Youth World Championships 2023 in Kazakhstan. Looking ahead to the next year, Daniel is focused on achieving another major milestone: earning a top 10 spot on the Junior IBU Cup in Europe. With his hard work, dedication, and natural talent, Daniel is well on his way to becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of biathlon.