Sports

It was a very successful weekend for Vernon's mixed martial arts club "Team Unity," which took home 23 medals at the Can-Am International Championships July 6 to 8 at the UBC War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.

Photo: Contributed - Raj Lee

7 year-old Mia Robinson won a pair of silver medals.

This year's team was smaller, and had to overcome a vehicle breaking down and deal with a trip to the hospital when one of their teammates became ill.

In the end, Team Unity overcame the adversity to claim 23 medals, six better than the previous year.

The youth division saw a number of winners including seven year-old Mia Robinson, who won silver in Pankration and Grappling.

Pankration dates back to the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC although the modern version is an amateur form of Mixed Martial Arts with emphasis on safety and sportsmanship.

Sanshou is a martial art originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the study and practices of traditional Kung Fu and modern combat fighting techniques

Zac Makohoniuk won gold in Grappling and silver in Sanshou and Pankration, Kobi Marchand got silver in Pankration and third in Grappling.

Photo: Contributed - Raj Lee

Owen Duncan won a pair of golds in Grappling and silver in Pankration.

Taylor Robinson was a gold medal winner in Grappling and claimed silver in Pankration, Rylie Marchand won gold in Pankration and silver in Sanshou and Grappling.

Owen Duncan won a pair of golds in Grappling and silver in Pankration, Adam Jones won gold in Pankration and silver in Grappling, Sikander Ahmed won gold in Pankration and silver in both Sanshou and Amateur Muay Thai, and Trevor Feeney won bronze in Sanshou and gold in Pankration.

The team also found success in the adult division with Jason Ju winning gold in Sanshou, Mart Boehm won silver in Gi Grappling, Sherry Dihlon placed third place in Grappling and Cam Lane took third in Pankration and Grappling.

Team spokesman Raj Lee says that even with a smaller team they were still a force despite having a number of team members fight in weight classes above there own.

The Unity Martial Arts Centre is located at 3106-30th Avenue and can be reached at 250-550-4295