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42 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 Sr. Titans improved, but OT still the volleyball king By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The Holy Trinity Titans couldn't hide their disappointment after losing their first game of the Halton high school senior boys' volleyball season, but coach Melissa Olmstead could be heard trying to put it in perspective for one of her players following Wednesday's match. "These guys were in the Halton final last year," she said of the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils. "They went to OFSAA." Actually, OT was upset in the semifinals last year but Olmstead could be forgiven. OT had been in six of the previous seven Halton title games, winning five of them, and earned a provincial title during that stretch. Her point was this: the Titans had just lost to the most dominant team in Halton over the past decade. That Olmstead's players didn't recognize that fact highlights why the team's 3-0 start to the season came as a bit of surprise. Although it won a junior boys' volleyball title in 2002, the year the school opened, Holy Trinity has rarely been considered a boys' volleyball power. It went 3-7 last year, but already matched that win total with wins over Nelson, Loyola -- both those schools had winning records last season -- and Iroquois Ridge to begin this season. Usually when a team shows that kind of improvement, it is because of an influx of players from a strong junior team, but the junior Titans were only 1-9 a year ago. Instead, Olmstead attributes the quick start to a change in attitude. "They've matured a lot," she said. "One of the biggest changes has been that when they got behind last year, they let that bother them and they would lose the game. Now when they get behind, they don't say the game is over." While Trinity may not carry the same status as other sports at the school, Olmstead is trying to build the volleyball program with strong all-around athletes. For many of the players, volleyball is not their first sport. Trinity was missing Vince Cambruzzi (baseball) and Travis James (hockey) for Wednesday's game against OT because they were playing with their rep teams. Strong play in the front row by Eric Marcotte and James Mechino helped keep the Titans in the second game but OT eventually pulled away, taking five of the last seven points to win 25-19, after taking the opener 25-15. Both teams are now 3-1 on the season. While Trinity's inexperience may have hurt it against OT, being a little green may have helped it as well. "They weren't intimidated by them," Olmstead said. Even if they should have been. GREAT WALL: Holy Trinity's Ryan Deardon (in black) watches as his hit is blocked by the Oakville Trafalgar tandem of Bruno Svajger (left) and Kevin Jepson during Wednesday's Halton high school senior boys' volleyball match at Trinity. The Titans had enjoyed a 3-0 start to the season, but OT handed Trinity its first loss of the year, prevailing by scores of 25-19, 25-15. LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER Wheelchair racer adjusts sights to 2012 Paralympics Four years. Four seconds. Those are the two durations that will define Josh Cassidy's preparation for the next Paralympic Games in London. Four years is how long he will have to wait for another shot at a Paralympic medal. Four seconds is the gap he will have to close between himself and the world's best. And when those four seconds can be made up anywhere over the course of five kilometres, Cassidy knows he is not far off the podium. Cassidy finished 10th in the men's 5,000metre wheelchair event at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, but his time of 10 minutes, 26.15 seconds was less than four seconds behind gold medalist Prawat Wahoram of Thailand. "I was happy with it," said Cassidy. "I didn't get the medal I was hoping for. Realistically, I was aiming for third to sixth. But if you re-ran some of these races right now, it would be totally different." Cassidy had turned in a personal-best time of 10:15.11 in qualifying, but the final turned into a slower, more tactical race. Josh Cassidy "Everyone was a bit more, not nervous, but cautious. You don't want to get boxed in where you can't get out for a final sprint," he said. "I didn't make any bad decisions, though." Cassidy was originally identified as a Paralympic candidate for the 2012 Games but he arrived ahead of schedule, making big gains over the past year to earn a spot on the Canadian team for Beijing. The 23-yearold Sheridan College student also competed in the 1,500m and 800m distances but didn't qualify for the final, missing moving on to the semifinals in the 800m by four onehundredths of a second. Cassidy believes his experience in Beijing will pay off in London, if not on the track than just in what to expect prior to races at an event of that magnitude. And what Cassidy had achieved in just getting to Beijing hit home during the opening ceremonies, where the hosts again spared no expense to put on a spectacular show. "It was amazing," he said. "The biggest thing for me was seeing the torch being lit. I didn't expect to get emotional, but I did. I started to realize where I was and what I did to get there. I just started thinking, now is the time." While that time is now four years in the future, Cassidy is wasting no time in his bid to drop those seconds that would put him on the Paralympic podium. Over the next five weeks, he'll compete in two races in England before returning to North America for the New York City Marathon. -- Herb Garbutt www.icesports.com 905-845-6989