BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
Local young female basketballers will get the
chance of a lifetime this Saturday at Laurentian University as
the Basketball Canada Nike Centres for Performance program will
be holding free tryouts for the Sudbury/Sault Ste. Marie
Regional Training Centre (SSRTC) program.
Up to 30 girls, aged 12-17, who exhibit
distinctive skill, strong athleticism, great sportsman-like
conduct, and absolute potential will be selected, through
invitation, to participate in the Basketball Canada Nike
program to hone their skills and prepare them for higher levels
of competition.
Registration for the tryout begins at 12:30
pm. The try out is from 1 to 4 pm. The coordinator for the
SSRTC is Mary Collinson, and the coaching staff is a who's who
of basketball experts from the north, including Laurentian
University women's basketball head coach Mike Clarke, as well
as Jenn Bourget, Bill Gordon, Shirlene McLean, Maureen McNamara
and Collinson.
This represents a huge step for any girl
selected since the training they will receive comes straight
from Basketball Canada, and helps identify and develop
elite-level players at a young age.
Two local curling teams are vying for ice
supremacy this week.
The Jakubo Rink from the Copper Cliff Curling
Club is competing in the Northern Ontario Men's Provincial
Championships at the Haileybury - Cobalt Curling Club in
Haileybury, from Feb. 8 through to the 12th.
The Jakubo Rink consists of skip Mike Jakubo,
third Jon Solberg, second Luc Ouimet and lead Lee Toner.
They are facing the best curlers in Northern
Ontario. The winner goes to the Tim Horton's Brier in
March.
The Team Horgan Rink from the Idylewylde
Curling Club is in the hunt for first place at the Karcher
Canadian Junior Curling Championships.
The Horgan Rink consists of skip Jennifer
Horgan, third Tracy Horgan, second Amanda Gates and lead
Stephanie Barbeau. The girls had a 5-1 record as of Tuesday
morning, placing them in a tie with Quebec for third
overall.
The Laurentian University basketball teams
close out their regular season schedules this weekend. Both the
men's and women's squads play Royal Military College (RMC) on
Friday, followed by match ups against Queen's University.
A successful weekend could see the women gain
a home playoff game.
Laurentian women's basketball star Cassandra
Carpenter is close to setting two new Ontario University
Athletics (OUA) records, but she will need an incredible effort
in both her last two games to establish the new marks.
Carpenter currently has scored 371 points,
just 47 short of the all-time record held by York's Karen
Jackson, who has 418. Carpenter would need to score 47 points
to tie and 48 to smash the record.
It's not totally out of the question, as
Carpenter has scored 20-plus points in numerous games all
season. She's averaging 18.6 points per game.
Carpenter would need to score at least 24
points in each game, a feat she has accomplished in six games
so far this season, including a season single game high of 28
points against RMC on Jan. 22, 2005.
Carpenter is also closing in on the OUA
single season rebound mark. She has 207 rebounds so far. The
record is 231, held by Robyn DeGray of Lakehead
University.
Carpenter would need 24 rebounds in her last
two games to tie the mark and 25 to break the record. She is
currently averaging 10.3 rebounds per game. Carpenter has been
known to be a rebounding force. Just ask Ryerson University, in
which Carpenter pulled down 18 rebounds against them in a
single game in late January.
The Laurentian University swim teams will be
in the OUA Championships this weekend, starting Friday. 12 men
and 18 women swimmers will take to the pool at Brock
University. Marshall Bonner and Stephanie Kuhn are likely the
best bets for winning gold.
Sudbury Sprinter Club member Andre van
Wageningen came back with a hefty haul of gold medals from
Sault Ste. Marie, where he was competing in the S. S. Marie
North American Long Track Speed Skating Championship this past
weekend.
van Wageningen won gold in the senior men's
500, 1,000, 1,500 and 3000-metre events. His impressive results
garnered van Wageningen the crown of North American champion, a
first for the Sudbury Sprinters.
Another member, Stephen Ayotte won bronze in
the juvenile boys' 300-metre event.
About 100 skaters from across Canada and the
United States participated.
Several boxers from the Ontario National
Training Centre's Top Glove Boxing Academy in Azilda came back
from the Brampton Cup with medals
proudly hung around their necks.
Nineteen-year-old Amy Rewega was the big
winner, earning gold in the featherweight division, with
teammate Justin Ceskauskas, 16, winning silver in the
featherweight division.
Justin Bonhomme, 17, with only two fights
under his belt, claimed the silver in the middleweight division
and Lee Thibeault earned a bronze medal in the welterweight
division.
A special note of acknowledgment to the
Cambrian College women's volleyball team, who remain as one of
the best college teams in the country
after defeating Durham College this past
weekend in three straight sets. The Cambrian women now have a
perfect 11-0 record in league play.
