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r -t- r p 26 weekender may 4 1996 st 1 i 1 i wright leads sdss athletes at area track meets by bruce stapley correspondent the athletes were keeping pace with the stiff breeze at the second annual markham- stouflville midgetopen track and field meet wednesday at the stouffville community track wendy wright stouffville district secondary schools sdss willowy running machine was second in the midget girls 1500metre race four seconds back of the win ner she picked up the bronze in the 400metre event stouffvilles jessica weather- ill was second in the javelin throw with a distance of 2781 metres mike schlotter hurled the shot put an impressive 1268 metres just two cen timetres short of the winning throw in the midget boys cate gory sdss athletes luke ander son and chris lamont were fourth and fifth respectively in the steeple chase the sdss track and field team placed 11th overall out of the 18 participating schools the schools track and field athletes are to compete in the york region secondary schools association yrssa outdoor championships at york university next thursday rowland games results at the 24th annual rowland gamesnike neil mcneil track and field meet at etobi- coke stadium april 2627 wright was third in her heat in the 1500metre race clock ing a time of 55849 in the frigid conditions sdsss dwayne epp was ninth in his heat in the 1500- metre run while chris lam ont was 12th in a strong field in the steeple chase chris cherkas and chris weatherill also put in strong efforts at the meet which included over 2000 athletes from 105 schools the sdss track and field athletes are to compete in the york region secondary schools association yrssa outdoor track and field cham pionships at york university thursday acton enjoying nhl playoffs by bruce stapley correspondent wendy wright of stouffville district secondary school finished sec ond in the girls 1500metre race at wednesdays track meet held at the stouffville community track a number of sdss athletes put in strong showings at the meet photosjoerd witteveen while toronto maple leaf fans in stouffville and elsewhere are still reeling from the onetwo punch of their teams demise and a noshow spring everythings coming up roses for keith acton the 38yearold former stouffville clipper is revelling in the success of the philadelphia fly ers as the national hockey leagues eastern conference regular season champions chase after the stanley cup acton who is in the second season as flyers assistant coach spoke to the tribune for his flyers office wednesday on the eve of his teams second round playoff series with the florida panthers its been in the 70s down here the past few days the leaves are on the trees and the tulips are out he said after being told of the cold wet spring back home but the weather is a minor distraction for acton as he contemplates the excitement of the current playoffs any time you get down to the final eight teams you know youre up against good hockey teams he said of the flyers hook up with the panthers the flyers who lost out to the eventual stan ley cup champion new jersey devils in last years conference finals are favored to prevail in the set on the basis of their sparkling season record of 45 wins 24 defeats and 13 ties acton said hes enjoying watching the team push towards the ultimate goal its fun theres no doubt about it were hoping we can go all the way they want it but its tough to win a championship acton said his second year as one of two assis tants to flyers head coach terry murray has allowed him to finally make a true transition please see page 27 town in for a treat when canada hosts japan in womens softball if all goes according to hoyle and bob abbot the canadian olympic womens softball team will be sharing the memorial park main dia mond with their japanese olympic counterparts june 30 the twin bill which will also include the 1993 eastern canadian titlist port perry intermediate womens team will see the canadians playing each of the other two teams in the wake of the annual but- termakers strawberry festi val tournament these are the perks a town gets when it has friends in high places in this case that friend is siloams bob abbot whose involvement in the stouffville softball scene goes back to when he was a coach with the nowdefunct stouf fville stingers intermediate womens team in the 1980s the retired chartered accountant who is chairman of national teams for softball canada will serve as team sport notes leader aka manager of the canadian team that will con test the first ever womens olympic softball event at the centennial olympic games in atlanta this summer abbot has booked the stouffville exhibition double header as part of a preolympic training schedule which will hopefully see the highly talented cana dian women in peak form when they take to the field in steamy hot georgia july 21 the canucks are to face a major test when they compete in the canada cup in vancou ver in midjune that tourney could include olympic teams from japan australia and taipei as well as some big name squads from the canadi an and american west coast areas then its on to ontario to the conclusion of the cana da cup event with games in oshawa stouffville and brampton before the women leave for a tourney in decatur 111 the next week the team will then take up residence in a private college in mont gomery alabama for a week or so of acclimatization to the kind of muggy weather they will encounter in georgia dur ing the games once the games begin abbot has said his team will be gunning for a medal despite the fact the competi tion will be as thick as the georgia humidity is oppres sive every game will be like a medal game there are no weak teams he told me recently but his team has proven it can keep up at the 1994 qualifier for olympics we beat china 10 and we lost the bronze medal games 10 to australia the canadian team was among the five squads to qualify at that compe tition which was held in new brunswick the other three teams that will contest the bob abbot summer games event were added after they prevailed in various high level tourna ments around the world abbot said the host americans are the team to beat the canadians have tangled with their us counterparts on sev eral occasions in recent years but have always fallen just short we were always close in the pan american games and at the world championships but we never beat them but who knows what might happen at the olympics all the pressure is on the americans abbot pointsto the fact that the womens softball team is one of only a few canadian units to qualify for olympic team events he said the national baseball basketball and volleyball teams all fell short he also said the demand for tickets for the womens softball showdown is so great that organizers are considering adding extra seat ing at golden park stadium in columbus ga which is about 80 miles from atlanta tick ets are sold out the interest in softball in the united states is big time because they are the reigning pan am games and world champions abbot said the key to win ning will lie in his teams con ditioning as well as in their ability to adapt to the stifling heat hes confident the cana dian women are equal to the task we think were going to win a medal theyve worked too hard to be happy with any thing less it looks like were in for a rare treat june 30 m mi