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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 11, 2008 - 41 Another OFSAA medal haul BRONZE EFFORTS: Right, Daniel Mathie of Abbey Park (13) runs down the track on his way to a bronze medal in the midget boys' 3,000-metre race at last week's provincial high school track-andfield championships in Hamilton. Below, Loyola Hawks senior girls' 4x100m relay team members (left to right) Megan O'Neill, Ashlie Tracey, Ashara Cadogan and Kacy Gray show off the bronze medals they earned in Friday's final. Oakville runners win six medals at provincial track finals By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR HAMILTON -- Another OFSAA track-and-field meet, another medal haul for local runners. Oakville athletes won a total of six medals at the provincial high school championships held last week in Hamilton, led by a gold-medal effort from St. Thomas Aquinas student Miana Griffiths (senior girls' 100-metre dash). Aquinas teammate Colleen Hennessy was the lone local multi-medalist, earning silver in the junior girls' 1,500m and claiming bronze in the 3,000m. Abbey Park's Daniel Mathie was the other individual medal-winner, placing third in the midget boys' 3,000m. The other two Oakville medals came in relay. Loyola's senior girls' 4x100m team won bronze, as did Abbey Park's open boys' 4x400m squad -- denied silver in a photo finish. Nearly cracking the podium were Abbey Park's Michael Rose (fourth in the senior boys' 400m), Mathie (fifth in midget boys' 1,500m) and Iroquois Ridge's Stephanie MacNeill (sixth in senior girls' 3,000m). Miana Griffiths MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER ship offers to choose from. She has opted to attend the University of Guelph in the fall. Griffiths also ran in Saturday's 200m final, placing seventh. Colleen Hennessy Hennessy completed a season collection of OFSAA running medals, adding silver and bronze to the gold she won at last fall's provincial crosscountry championships. As a long-distance specialist, Hennessy said she expected to do better in the 3,000m than the 1,500m. However, the 15-year-old suffered from tendonitis in her hips during the spring and missed six weeks of training, something she felt hurt her stamina. "I was out (of action) in April and the beginning of May," she said. "When I came second (in Friday's 1,500m), my coach said if I hadn't been injured, maybe something else could have happened." Hennessy utilized similar strategies in both of her races, getting out to the front group and then sitting back during the middle portion of the race before making a final push. "When it's windy, it helps to be behind somebody," said the Grade 10 student, who is considering running the 800m distance next year. Hennessy finished the 1,500m in 4:43.07, her best time of the year. She was less than two seconds behind Toronto runner Megan Beverley. In Saturday's 3,000m, Hennessy crossed the line in 10:36.47. Daniel Mathie Mathie knew first place wasn't a realistic goal in the midget boys' 3,000m Saturday, and for good reason. Douglas' Tristan Woodfine lived up to his billing as the race's heavy favourite, winning with an OFSAA-record time of 9:03.02. "I was shooting for second or third, but trying my best to keep up with him," said Mathie. Mathie, 15, came up with a personal-best time of his own, finishing in 9:14.43 to place a comfortable third. Another year of training was enough for Griffiths to improve on last year's second-place showing in Friday's senior girls' 100m dash. The 18-year-old Griffiths edged out Brampton's Shannae Steele -- an opponent she was very familiar with from meets at York University and the University of Toronto -- by three one-hundredths of a second, winning in 11.98 seconds. "A lot of hard work," Griffiths said when asked what enabled her to reach the top of the podium. "If you don't put anything into it, you can't get anything out of it. It paid off (Friday)." Griffiths' time in the final was 11 one-hundredths of a second slower than her qualifying time, something she attributed to a strong headwind during the race. She has received plenty of attention from American universities this year, having 21 scholar- See Hawks page 42 Tough start to NFC season for Longhorns Team loses starting QB, then drops one-point contest to Milton By Adam Johnston SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER The first week of the Northern Football Conference season hasn't exactly gone the way the Oakville Longhorns had hoped. The senior men's squad lost its starting quarterback, Tommy Denison, at the beginning of the week as the result of a last-minute job transfer. That forced back-up quarterback Josh Spanik into action for Saturday's season-opening defeat to the rival Milton Marauders. However, Longhorns head coach Barry Emo is still optimistic following his team's 24-23 loss at Bronte Athletic Field. Instead of lamenting the change at the pivot position, he chooses to attribute the loss to first-game jitters. "We got off to a slow start," said Emo, whose team was down 17-7 at the end of the first half. "A couple of miscues and some turnovers early on. It's kind of to be expected with it being the first game of the year; it was our first go-around, really." Spanik was the last quarterback in the league to lead a team to an undefeated season, doing so with the Marauders in 2005. "Josh is a proven quarterback in this league," said Emo. "He's certainly a capable replacement. Offensively, I think we're going to be good. We have some (good) receivers and our running game was there tonight, which we weren't successful doing last year." Spanik knows that he will have to be effective under centre for his team to succeed this year. "I expect a lot of passing this year. A little running to average it out, but basically we are a throwing offence," said Spanik. "I've been in this situation before, so it's not the first time this has happened to me. Just got to make the best of it." Spanik did make the most of his first appearance this season, passing for two touchdowns in the loss, including one in the fourth quarter to put the Longhorns ahead 23-17. However, the Marauders answered with a late fourth-quarter touchdown and conversion of their own to take the lead by one. Oakville's defense had a strong second half, recording two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Emo has high expectations for the Longhorns this season and expects his team will bounce back from this early loss. "Our expectations are to win a national championship," he said. "This is only one game. The season is nothing but peaks and valleys. It's how you come out of those peaks and valleys that determines how good a football team you are." The Longhorns will be in action again Saturday, when they visit the Toronto Raiders. Oakville's next home game is scheduled for June 28 against Tri City. ROBERT TETERUCK / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER HEADING DOWNFIELD: Oakville Longhorns' Dan Seymour looks for yardage during Saturday's Northern Football Conference contest against Milton. Oakville fell to the Milton Marauders, 24-23.