The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

aaxsasmbbs 34 economist suntribune sports thursday march 21 2002 a gym season rebecca muir hopes to vault her way to a gold medal at ontario gymnastics finals in oakville by jim thomas correspondent her trophy chest is filling up on march 8 rebecca muir 10 won a total points gold medal at an international gym- nasties meet in montreal against 34 of the best from nova scotia new brunswick quebec and ontario on march 13 in a spring cup gymnastics tournament at burlington the ballantrae resi dent came home with three medals two golds and a bronze then adding a little spice to her athletic menu she won the 2002 master bantam bowling championship march 2 in zone competition at markham rebeccas next stop in her gymnastics tour of duty is april when she enters the provincial championships at oakville the nationals are scheduled for 2003 in saskatoon sask rebecca has high hopes of being there too a former student at st mark catholic school rebecca is now enrolled in sport seneca and attending the claude watson school for the arts in north york because rebecca combines both academics and athletics at the same site her day extends from 730 in the morning to six oclock at night she commutes to and from sports seneca with her father a gymnastics coach there at the national level rebecca is one of his stu dents to qualify rebecca had to meet a high academic and gym nastics standard muirs longrange goals are to compete in the olympics and earn an athletic scholarship the gymnastics program is geared to olympic competition sport seneca athletes have rep resented canada at the 1988 and 1992 olympic games where they placed 8th in the world on the balance beam their athletes have won medals in the junior and senior pan am games as well as the commonwealth games- since 1987 sport seneca gymnasts have competed in seven world championships although some distance down the road don and anne muir are hopeful rebecca will qualify for for an athletic scholar ship at a university in the united states gymnastics is very big in the us says anne sport seneca is the only instructional facility of its kind in ontario don explains he describes the program as one of the finest in canada i love it enthuses rebecca the olympics are my goal instruction includes the bars the beam the floor and the vault her fathers specialty is the bars and that by no coinci dence is where rebecca shines good sportsmanship is an important part of the program as well adds don while sport seneca is rebeccas home away from home five days a week nine months of the year she still retains a closeknit group of ballantrae friends her mother says bowling at the stouffville bowling centre has also helped bridge the gap a facility anne describes as stouffvilles hidden gem as with all sports gymnastics has its risks rebeccas suffered broken toes on several occasions but these- injuries considered rather minor havent lessened her enthusiasm while still at the first level of the national stream rebecca already has her sights set on a greater goal a university schol arship and place of prominence atop an olympic podium photograce chiu tenyearold ballantrae resident rebecca muir shown here performing on the balance beam has been winning numerous awards while competing for the sport seneca gymnastics team under the guidance of her father don muir muir is set ting her sights on trying to make her presence felt at the upcoming provincial championships in oakville next month high school community sports are big part of andrea meyer s life seventeenyearold stouffville student is an athlete for all seasons and venues by jim thomas- correspondent to put it mildly 17yearold andrea meyer is ah athletic dynamo the grade 12 student from stouffville district secondary school is involved in just about every sport going during the year including volleyball basketball softball badminton and rugby meyer entered sdss well prepared for she was a leading light at the ele mentary level with sparkling perfor mances in volleyball basketball and track and field at st mark roman catholic school at the conclusion of her grade 8 i year she was voted top female athlete 7- but playing sports in school isnt the end of meyers recreational activities durihgtne winter months shes also anavidhockeyplayerandcentresaline vwm the markhamstouffville stars r competing in a league with barrie andrea meyer stouffville resident has been an integral part of stouffville district secondary schools athletic program oshawa and chingacousy and when meyer isnt on the ice she can be found on tfie slopes as shes an ardent downhill skier and snowboard- er her favourite skiing and snow- boarding resort is nearby lakeridge in uxbridge township- jy during the spring and summer months meyer can be found on the ball diamond as she plays second base in tier 1 softball with the markham wildcats while the stouffville resident enjoys to partake in all of these activities she acknowledges that some sacrifices might have to be made among them is her hockey career as she hinted this may be her last year in competing at a competitive level with the stars rep team with her oac year on the horizon meyer is aiming to retain her current honors academic standing then enter university in the fall of 2003 a member of the sdss athletic council meyer was recently selected athlete of the week meyers exploits arent only centered on the field of play off the field shes lending a helping hand to organize the schools athletic banquet in june more than 300 stu dents are expected to attend the annu al event that honours the schools atlv letic competitors in reflecting on her athletic career at stouffville district secondary school meyer has high praise for girls physical education instructor sharon macfarlane meyer feels her low profile yet enthusiastic approach to athletics has helped her and other students attain their highest potential a level that shes well on her way to attaining by the time she graduates sports digest peeweesice peterborough the stouffville peewee select clippers won the a title from the recent peterborough all saints minor hockey tournament after routing newcastle 71 in the cham pionship final the cuppers went undefeated in the tournament as they posted victories over peterborough 92 arid oshawa 32 to reach the final team members included ryan barkey nick stratas colin dickie brayden todd nick busato simon kennedy justin lawrence tyler neil matthew fockler jeremy schell brandon cowie chad kingston arid justan lougheed goaltendirig duties were shared by brad whittingstall and justin dunbar minor novice clippers up on vaughan in semis the stouffville minor ridvice clippers are off to a good start in their yorkrsimcoe semifinal hockey series against vaughan by winning the first two gafries in their bestoffiye series josh mcchesney connor caaret and michael bourgeois eacli scored once to propel the clippers to a 30 win in the series openerlastturdayv v on monday the clippers received another balanced scor ing attack as robbie actori dalton mayo arid michael mingay each scored once in a 32 win i