Big finale for Luke Whitteker

BROCKVILLE – The Seaway District High School intermediate cross country team of 23 runners finished a very rewarding season at Memorial Park in Brockville on Wednesday, October 30, in the first running of the Upper Canada Cup Cross Country Championship.

According to  a school board press release: The event brought together 1,270 junior and intermediate athletes from schools across the Upper Canada District School Board.

The winning team in the Intermediate category was the cross country powerhouse Thousands Islands Secondary School (TISS) of Brockville, while Queen Elizabeth Public School of Perth took the junior category.

Finishing in second spot overall in the intermediate division was the Seaway Team, which, along with TISS were the only two schools to score points in all four divisions, grade 7 boys and girls and grade 8 boys and girls.

“Finishing second to a school who has twice as many students as us and beating all other schools big or small was a result of hard work from our athletes and the philosophy of team first-individual second,” said Seaway coach Robin Gibbs. “I am extremely pleased with the performance of this team at the championship meet as well as all the meets this season.”

“Despite our small team in numbers, we were able to compete with any school out there,” added Gibbs.

In the media release, meet convener Randy Givogue said the event was organized to provide our students with an additional athletic opportunity at a time when issues of childhood obesity and wellness are concerns in our society. The high school teacher said that in his youth he did not have access to high-quality athletic events such as the Upper Canada Cup, and he knows how beneficial they can be for students.

“When you have an end goal of creating student wellness, hosting a first-class meet like this snowballs into success for students because they are training in the weeks leading up to it,” said Givogue. “There is no sport as good for your heart and lungs as running.”

The awards ceremonies were presided over by former NCAA All-American track star Matt Leeder, a graduate of TISS.

Individual champions at the event were: Mason Gavin, grade 8 boys, TISS; Lilly Meek, grade 8 girls Athens District H.S.; Claire Cushing, grade 7 girls, TISS; Dylan Butcher, grade 7 boys, Brockville Collegiate.

The Seaway High team had some big results with the Grade 8 boys leading the way for a second place finish overall. They were led by Grant Wells with a sixth and David Swerdfeger with a ninth. Adding their points for the second place finish were Noah Pederson, Devin Dumoulin, Kurt Cutler and Hunter Murphy.

The Grade 8 girls posted a third place finish overall. The team consisted of Abigail Jordan, who led the girls with an eighth place finish, and included Katie Buter, Grace Brooks, Sydney Piquette, Maiah Horne and Julenea Barnhartd.

At the Grade 7 level, the boys team of Trystan Pos, Aaron Tibben, Owen Orendi, Ryan Wiltshire and Colin Minish finished fourth overall. Tibben crossed the finish line in fourth, and Minish added a 10th place finish.

At the grade 7 level, the girls team of Keira Cameron, Kristin Van Hoof, Rebecca Ferguson, Sarah Backes, Cameryn Broad and Ashley Hanna finished sixth overall. Cameron crossed the finish line in seventh spot.

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Designer David Casselman has laid down quite a challenge for golfers at the Morrisburg Golf Course, a challenge that involves an average break of about two feet anywhere on the new third hole green.

Friday, Casselman was at the course where he was joined by Morrisburg Golf Club officials to cut the ribbon to officially open the newly designed and constructed third hole and the resurfaced and slightly expanded second hole green.

On hand for the opening were Morrisburg Golf Club greens chair Shawn Hummel, club captains Andy and Monique Patenaude and greenskeeper Lee Beaupre.

“We are very pleased,” said Hummel. “David did an exceptional job with the construction, and Lee has done a great job with the maintenance.”

Last year, the second and third greens at the Morrisburg Golf Club were lost to disease, and the greens on the first, fifth, seventh and eighth greens were affected to a lesser degree.

To resolve the green issues, it was decided by the membership-owned Morrisburg Club to totally rebuild and redesign the third green, re-surface the second green, spot repair the other affected greens, and put a new mowing/maintenance/fertilizing program in place that would strengthen all of the course’s greens. 

This all got rolling late in the fall of 2012, with the major work done this spring. The result as of last Friday, is that all greens at the Morrisburg Golf Course are now healthy and providing golfers with some great play.

According to Hummel, it was Casselman’s decision to increase the playing surface of the second green. The back end was raised, and tile drainage was added to prevent water from laying on the green. He was left to design the third hole.

Casselman is pleased with the results of his work. Although he has helped to design and build holes with his dad at the Cedar Glen Golf Course east of Williamsburg, this was his first time to design greens for another operation.

“I like how they have turned out. We doubled the size of the old  third green (now 4,000 square feet). We dug the pond to the left of the green and used that ground as the fill for the new green as a cost savings. The idea is that the pond will now help with drainage in the area. Fawcett Brother Excavation did a great job. They dug the pond and spread the fill around.”

“I put down 12 inches of green mix, and we sodded with a bent grass.  The green is now higher than the former green and raised at the back to make it more accessible to receive a ball and to provide esthetic value, and better drainage….along with hopefully some tricky putts.”

As for the second green on the par three second hole, “we levelled it off, sloped it towards the tee and took out some of the gullies that held water.” Casselman says he found there was too much sand in the green and so, while he used the soil that was there, he added 10 inches of greens mix to enable the new sod to develop a good root system.

He says it has been a good summer to establish new greens. “We had the rain that helped out and Lee (greenskeeper Beaupre) has helped with the maintenance.”

“The greens are looking really good,” said Beaupre. “They are still in the process of mending, but we now have them cut to the same height as our other greens.”

In addition to the work on the second and third greens, new sod was placed in the troubled areas on the fifth, seventh and eighth greens and they too are now in great shape. A better maintenance/mowing program has rejuvenated the first green.

Beaupre says the larger green surfaces (two and three) now offer more pin placement opportunities and will help to spread the traffic around more effectively, thereby helping with the maintenance. With a chuckle, he adds, “on number three, there is not a level spot, and I am looking forward to some pin placements.”

The coast of the work totalled about $30,000, and in addition to those who physically helped with the project (laying sod etc.), the support of the members has been phenomenal through a loans program and various fundraising initiatives.

“We are looking forward to having some of our members return and to green fee guests coming out to give us a try,” says Hummel. “We are in good shape and we are inviting the golfing public to drop in for a game.”

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The South Dundas Bantam B Rep Lions kicked off the season on home ice, Monday, October 3, with a 3-2 loss to the South Grenville Rangers, but then got on the right track for game two with a 5-2 victory against the South Stormont Selects in Long Sault, on Friday, October 7.

The first league game against South Grenville proved the Rangers were out for revenge from the previous week’s 3-0 exhibition loss to the Lions.  

At 5:28 of the first period, former Lion, Drew Gillard scored on a two-on-one, when his shot beat Lion goaltender Zach Frawley cleanly on the blocker side. 

It wasn’t until the final seconds of the period that the Lions were able to tie the game on an Andrew Jarvis goal assisted by Josh Black and Quinn Bennis.

In the second period,  the Rangers went ahead when an unprotected Frawley stopped the original blast from Nicholas McColl and Devan Miller pounced on the rebound.  

That effort was negated when the Lions Randy Fawcett, after successfully fighting for possession of the puck, delivered it to the top corner of the Rangers net to again even things up. Evan Mullin picked up the assist.

Early in the third, Andrew Hanna beat a screened Frawley for what would turn out to be the Rangers winning goal. 

The remainder of the period featured end-to-end action, and with 24.6 seconds remaining, Frawley was pulled for an extra attacker.  The Rangers, however held on for the win.

On Friday, October 7th, the Lions were in Long Sault where they clipped the South Stormont Selects for their first win of the young season, 5-2.

Riley Barry (from Spencer Heldens) kicked off the Lions scoring at 1:29 of the first frame with a blast from inside the blue line that beat Drew Nichol cleanly.  

Minutes later, Cameron Chayer scored for the Lions on a nice wrist shot to the top corner with Heldens setting it up on a two on one opportunity.  

After Selects Alex Cleary, on a breakaway, was knocked down by defenseman Toby Mullin, his penalty shot beat Frawley and the Selects were back in it, now trailing just 2-1.  

Early in the second period, the Lions Andrew Jarvis made an end-to-end rush with the Lions playing shorthanded, and his shot left a rebound for a waiting Heldens  who made it 3-1.    

With 18 seconds left in the second period, Andrew Lalonde (Tavish MacLeod) was finally able to put one past Frawley when his slap shot beat him on glove side. That cut the gap to 3-2 heading into the third period.

Early in the third, Mullin drew a four minute (hit to head)  penalty, and Josh Black was assessed his first penalty in two years for cross checking which gave the Selects a five on three, power-play opportunity. The Lions penalty kill, however, was up to the task, and the Selects were held from the scoreboard.

Half way through the period, Barry scored his second goal, from Jarvis, and Randy Fawcett, assisted  by Bennis,  rounded it out on the Lions power play  for the 5-2 victory.

Quinn Bennis, who was moved to defence, played a strong game, along with Spencer Heldens who had a three point performance and Riley Barry who skated hard for a two-goal performance.

The Lions were at home to Brockville on Monday,  October 10. They travel to Athens, this Friday night October 14th for a 6 p.m start, and on Monday, October 17 they host Perth at 8 p.m.

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