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sbffviltesimuhl rip tktltedafimaywzm 53 stouffville suntribune staff photomike barrett stretching it to the limit pickering native jason dale 16 stretches in the stouffville arena corridor prior to taking to the ice last weekend with the hopes of making the stouffville spirit junior a hockey club the provincial junior a hockey league team hosted more than 100 players from across ontario at its annual spring tryout camp the teams main camp begins in mid-august- spartan boys baseball team hope lightning strikes twice sdss team earns split in first two york outings the stouffville district secondary school spartans varsity boys baseball team hopes to avoid the sophomore jinx making their debut on the ball diamond last season the spartans recorded a nifty 51 regular season record in the york region athletic association tier two league before bowing out in the first round of the playoffs while two games do not constitute an entire season the spartans are off to another pos itive start this season having won their opener last week in resounding fashion over the richmond hill high school raiders 100 before dropping a 138 decision to markville secondary school monday with just two players return ing from last seasons squad in catcher jon wonch and pitcher mark lofthouse who was cred ited with the win in last weeks opener it might appear the spartans could face a huge challenge this season in repli cating or even improving on last seasons accomplishments but dont tell that to spartans head coach andy stoikos when the school announced tryouts for this years squad stoikos said enthusiasm at the school was noticeably higher than last season we had over 30 kids come out and we had to make some difficult decisions to make in finalizing our team there was a lot of talent to choose from he said in finalizing this years 15- member unit among new faces that have impressed stoikos and assistant coach jeff fong include second baseman landon wideman short stop will acton a member of the stouffville spirit junior a hockey club and son of toronto maple leafs assistant coach keith acton and pitcher chris raymer we had a successful year last year but well see what happens the kids are looking forward to the season a cau tiously optimistic stoikos said midget tracksters shine at invitational meets buoyed by a strong perform ance from its midget boys and girls contingent the spartans track and field- team finished 13th out of 110 teams and third overall in the midget division at last weekends cardinal carter classic in etobicoke natalie geiger anchored the midget girls team after break ing three school records in win ning the 100metre 200m and 400m events a grade 9 stu- dent geiger won the 100m in 1259 seconds the 200m in 2576 and 400m in 5808 in the midget boys field james beare set a school record in the high jump and finished second with a leap of 170m dan coskun threw two per sonal bests to place third in the shot put and discus in the javelin brodie atkinson finished third sixthplace efforts came from kyle cussion in the javelin and malcolm forbes 3000m in the senior boys group dale passfield set a school record in the javelin with a toss of 4286m to finish seventh andrea carins was eighth in the senior girls javelin spartans track coach steve jimmo was quite pleased with the effort of his team in partic ular he praised the school recordsetting efforts of geiger beare and passfield the effort put fourth by the see geiger page 34 plymouth serves stouffville resident his 0hl draft notice beavs physical presence enticed whalers to pick him in the third round by mike hayakawa staff writer when chad beal played with the york simcoe express peewees two years ago his coach gave him some advice he took to heart the 16yearold stouffville resi dent recalled anthony circelli telling him he had some tools that could take him a long ways in the game beal remembered during saturdays 2005 ontario hockey league priority selection the plymouth whalers chose the six- foot oneinch 215pound centre in the third round 49th overall its definitely a big step in my hockey career said beal agrade 10 student at stouffville district secondary school during a break from class tuesday playing this past season with the wexford raiders minor midgets in toronto he compiled 23 goals and 35 assists for 58 points and 172 penalty minutes in 49 games he confessed he was surprised to be selected by the whalers he beal gives us some size and makes it easier to go into some tough buildings like windsor and saulte ste marie in days leading up to the draft beal had extensive talks with the oshawa generals and kitchener rangers the whalers called his home too but beal wasnt in i thought that l would go some where closer like oshawa or kitchener he said as for being chosen in the third round beal said that didnt come as much of a surprise since his coach with the raiders pat curcio told him he would go in the first or sec- ond round i saw both rounds go by on the internet and when i wasnt picked then i thought that i would go in the third round said beal who also played for the stouffville district secondary school spartans junior boys squad this year beal hopes to make the whalers and bring his physical game to the suburban detroit team in my first year i dont think ill play much maybe on the fourth line but i hope to make some big hits and score a few goals he said whalers head coach mike vellucci feels beals selection will fill a big void for his club which was the need for a physical player beals a big centerman said vellucci on the whalers website he gives us some size and makes it easier to go into tough buildings like windsor and sault ste marie a native of aurora beal began his minor hockey career when he was four years old and worked his way up the ranks starting at the aa rep level in aurora before moving to the york simcoe express for three years starting at the minor peewee level he joined the raiders this past sea son should beal not make the whalers he will play for the stouffville spirit of the provincial junior a hockey league if he makes the whalers hell play with fellow stouffville resident cory tahaka who just completed his first year in the ohl for more on the ohl draft log on to httpohldraftilapcomps2005 stoufrville resident chad beal 16 played minor hockey this past sea son with the wexford raiders minor midgets and for the i stouffville district secondary school spartans junior boys team i