The final rosters are set and the 223 Saskatchewan athletes, 67 members of the coaching staff, 20 mission staff members and three National Artist Program competitors have all boarded a plane and are ready for the Canadian Winter Games in Halifax.
The Northwest is well represented with nine local athletes competing in four of the 20 sports.
Sarah Jones of Speers is a member of the alpine skiing, which has high expectations to turn in their best finish ever. Team Saskatchewan's best alpine skiing result for women was fifth in 2007.
Two snowboarders from the Battlefords make up 2/3 of the snowboarding team. Tyler Lightfoot and Ryley Mitchell have had their fair share of time at Table Mountain and will now be taking their skills to Halifax.
Other local athletes include Elise Von Holwede of Spiritwood, who will compete in figure skating and biathlon athletes Matthew Hudec, Patrick Hudec and Devon Sylvester of the Battlefords and Brynn and Kayla Hartley of Livelong.
Check out newsoptimist.ca for updated results from the Canadian Winter Games in Halifax and next week's Regional Optimist.
