Tough weekend for Junior B Lions

FORT ERIE

–With a good experience behind her at the 2013 Skate Ontario STARskate Championship held in the Fort Erie Leisureplex, March 23-24, local figure skater Ali VanHoof says she expects she will put together new free skate and interpretive programs to prepare for next year’s skating.

VanHoof was among the 12 top Ontario skaters who competed in the Silver Women Triathlon at the championship. She placed 10th overall.

She did not have skates that she was happy with in either the Skills or the Interpretive portion of her Triathlon, however, she did a very solid Freeskate for a third place finish in that category.

“Though Ali had a small bobble in her first program, the skills component, she fought back with a good interpretive program and a very solid Freeskate,” says coach Louise Dimmick.

“Just having earned the opportunity to represent Eastern Ontario at the Skate Ontario Starskate Championship was a great achievement,” adds Dimmick. “The experience Ali gained from this competition was invaluable, an excellent reward for all her hard work and motivation for the future.”

“I am very proud of her for all that she’s overcome and accomplished.”

What Ali overcame and accomplished was little more than she had expected late last summer when she started her training, and developing new programs with the goal of qualifying at EOSIC in the Triathlon event to go to the STARskate Championship.

All was on track until she injured her ankle at a competition in late September. The injury kept her off the ice for five weeks and limited what she could do for another three weeks when she returned.

“So her 4.5 month pre-competition preparation times was cut in half,” said Dimmick. “With only just over two months to get back into competition shape, we were faced with a daunting challenge.”

VanHoof met the challenge and her dedication and hard work paid off at the Eastern Ontario Sectional championship when she placed second overall to earn her spot at the STARskate Championship.

At EOSIC she was fourth after the Skills portion of the Triathlon with a personal best skate and then in the Interpretive, which is admittedly the weakest part of her Triathlon, she shattered her previous scoring to finish fifth and move into third place overall.

She then skated into Freeskate, her strongest event, for a first place finish and the resulting second place Ontario STARskate qualifying position.

“It was  a hard road, but Alisha really demonstrated that hard work and perseverance do pay off,” said Dimmick after Ali’s EOSIC performance. “I am proud of what she has accomplished as a person and a skater.”

Ali says she will be back in the hunt for a spot at the STARskate championship in the upcoming 2013-14 season. She too admits the experience at the Ontario final was great and that, “I was a bit nervous.”

“It included the top three skaters from each region in Ontario, so I saw what kind of skaters are out there from the other regions.”

Ali says she will take a bit of a break from her skating over the summer and she expects she will work on some changes to her free and interpretive programs.

Her current Freeskate program includes five double jumps, two double double combinations, a double Lutz and a third jump combination, Axel and loop. She performs three spins, including a deathdrop flying spin and two combinations which include difficult variations.

[…]

Two Morrisburg rinks competed at the annual Merkley bonspiel against teams from Metcalfe, Russell and Winchester. 

Joe McCooeye, John Allison, Wally Baker and Al Harriman lost tight matches in the day-long event and did not make it to the championship round in the evening. 

Our other team, Robert Houze, Larry Cooper, Chris Barkley and Rick MacKenzie lost their morning match against Hogaboam from Winchester, and then took on Russell’s Charrette in the afternoon. Our fellows were victorious, and after the banquet, they were matched against Lagace of Russell in the “B” championship. 

Robert’s team won, and brought home the Bruce MacDonald Shield, on proud display at our club for the next year at least. Steve Dunne of Metcalfe won the other final. Well done, men!

Two teams of senior men were in Metcalfe last week for the Sullivan Bonspiel. Sid Morrell, Jack Barkley, Rick MacKenzie and George Rutley won their preliminary matches against Metcalfe and Winchester, and advanced to the final. 

Pete Zeran, Andy Patenaude, Doug Jarvis and Bud Perry defeated a Russell foursome and the other Winchester quartet. You’ll never guess what two teams met for the championship. That’s right. It was an epic, if friendly battle, but Sid Morrell triumphed over Pete Zeran for bragging rights this time. One of the Russell teams had the second-best record on the day.

Our Little Rocks curlers competed in the Big Four Tournament in Russell. They did well, finishing as “A” finalists. Congratulations to Martina and Kyra Lewis, Ewan Wilson, Aiden White, Nolan Belanger, Tommy Derikz, Abby MacPhail and James Winter. They just missed out on bringing home the trophy. Ian Wilson our Little Rocks coordinator mentions that our folks went an extra end before losing to the Russell reps, who were 12 years of age, compared to our curlers, who were seven, eight, nine, 10 and 11 year-olds.

    They also played in the Ran Wylie bonspiel in Winchester, finishing third and eighth out of 12 teams. Ewan Wilson’s foursome finished with a 2-1 record for third place in their pool. Team members were Jonathon Charrette, Emily Macpherson and James Winters. The second team of Aiden Whyte, Martina and Kyra Lewis and Christian Keeler also finished as runners-up in the Big Four.

On March 1st, Ewan Wilson, Aiden White, Martina Lewis and Nolan Belanger are in the Zone 1 playdowns in Navan. Good luck, folks! Let us know how it turns out.

What with the Scotties last week, and the Brier, beginning this weekend, it’s a great time for armchair curlers. 

Congratulations to our Ottawa reps in the women’s championships. After winning as Canadian champions, they play the world’s other national victors soon. We wish them well, and offer a vote of thanks to a certain official we noted on the ice from time to time, measuring rocks to determine winners in certain ends. 

Allan Brunt, who still curls locally, is a long-time official at the provincial and national levels, and we thank him for his service to the extended curling fraternity. His family has a long history of dedication to the sport at the local levels as well.Good curling to all!

[…]

It’s been the most successful season ever, for the Seaway District High School Senior girls volleyball team, who, after winning the Eastern Ontario (EOSSAA) championship on their home court on Thursday, February 20, collected the Upper Canada Cup Championship and the OFSAA B Consolation Gold Championship.

The Spartans were at Richmond Hill, March 3-5 where they competed in the Ontario Championship. They played in the C Pool and were seeded 12th overall in the tournament.

“We didn’t have a great day on Monday, and we felt that we could have done better,” said coach Lindsay Waddell. “But we regrouped and played some really good ball Tuesday and Wednesday.

The C pool included Charles Garnier, Quinte Christian, King’s Christian and Cité des Jeunes.

Seaway’s shaky start began with losses to Charles Garnier (14-25, 20-25) and Quinte Christian (18-25, 18-25).

They then scraped past King’s Christian (16-25, 25-22 and 18-16) and had an easy time of it against Cité des Jeunes (25-8, 25-12).

They ended up third in the C pool and moved to the B side of OFSSA.

In the B, best-of-five, consolation quarter-final match, they met Marymount and produced 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 wins. Next up was Durham in the semi-final Consolation match with Seaway winning three sets to one (25-22, 25-9, 24-26 (loss), 25-13).

For the Consolation Gold Medal match, they met Xavier and won three straight (25-22, 25-23, 25-19).

“Once we went to the B side, we won every game after that. We were very strong defensively, the entire tournament, which is what I credit most of our success to.”

“The girls passed the ball really well and dug up everything that other teams threw at us.”

Casey McNairn, Allison Lee and Tiffany Roskell gave strong defensive efforts all tournament long, while Shannon van Moorsel and Kaitlyn Geurkink were very good at the net and blocked many of the other teams’ big hitters.”

Sophia Currier had a great tournament and set the ball extremely well.”

“We were very happy to win the Consolation Gold title. To be a small school from such a small town, we are extremely pleased to be one of the top 10 ‘A’ volleyball teams in the province.”

“I think going to OFSAA the last two years also really helped, as it allowed the girls to get over the shock of being there. This year they were more comfortable with their surroundings and with their opponents. They had the confidence that they not only belonged there, but that they could win. We didn’t win a single set at OFSAA last year, so to win five games and come home with some hardware is a huge accomplishment.”

“The girls should be very proud of themselves. It’s been an amazing season.”

Following their EOSSAA win, the Spartans competed for and won the Upper Canada Cup in Gananoque. They opened with a win over Athens in two straight sets, and defeated Smiths Falls in three. That put them first in their pool and got them a bye into the semi-final where they met and defeated South Grenville in two straight sets.

For the championship, the Spartans met Russell High School and claimed the Upper Canada Cup in two straight sets.

Members of the Spartans team are co-captains Sophia Currier and Casey McNairn, Shannon van Moorsel, Jessica Hartle,  Katrina Geurkink, Allison Lee, Kaitlyn Geurkink Tiffany Roskell, Ali Van Hoof, and coach Lindsay Waddell.

Five of the Spartans graduate this spring.

[…]