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OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, June 5, 2009 · 38 Gymnast recovers from misstep to win national bronze By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF HAMILTON -- It was the kind of thing that could ruin an athlete's confidence, but Justin Wong wouldn't let it. Wong was making his debut in the senior men's tumbling division at the Canadian Gymnastics Championships in Hamilton and was in position for a medal when, on his first pass of Monday's final, he stumbled on his landing. He tried desperately to maintain his balance but his momentum won the battle, carrying him forward before he fell off the mat and rolled across the floor. "It happened so there was no point stressing about it," Wong said. "Personally, I thought it was kind of funny." Unfazed, Wong came back to nail his next pass, earning marks ranging from 8.20 to 8.40, and winning the bronze medal at the national championships. "I did what I was "I did what I was supposed to do. My supposed to do. face stayed off the My face stayed off floor, which was the floor, which very nice," said the was very nice." Grade 10 T.A. Blakelock student. Justin Wong Wong had held on long enough on his previous pass to earn the points for completing the skill as well as picking up the difficulty marks that accompanied it. However, the stumble allowed Alberta's Chris Melemenis slip by him into second place. Still, the 16-year-old was encouraged by his senior debut at nationals, which came on the heels of winning the provincial title in April. "Once I got here, no, I wasn't that nervous," said Wong, who won a bronze in the youth division at last year's nationals. "I just wanted to compete. I was excited to see how it was going to go. I just wanted to do my best and whatever happens, happens." Wong is still a year shy of being able to compete at the senior level internationally, but his Burlington B.G.'s coach Denis Vachon said following the provincials there was no reason to hold him back. "He's a little phenom. He's probably three years ahead of where I was at his age," said the five-time Canadian tumbling champion. "The challenge just wasn't there (in the lower divisions). I wanted to make sure he was still feeling pushed and learning new skills." Gill helps Ontario win team title Sabrina Gill of the Oakville Gymnastics Club helped Ontario win the novice artistic team championship. Through Wednesday, Gill was in second place in the individual competition with 58.750 points, trailing only Victoria Moors of Cambridge (59.650). Cory Paterson, last year's national argo champion, was second in the tyro division, trailing Tariq Dowers of Mississauga by half a point (85.400 to 84.900). Both Gill and Paterson will conclude the individual competition today (Friday). STA drops girls' AA soccer final against OFSAA-bound Pats By Tim Whitnell METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Controversial call rattles Titans in Jr. boys' soccer final By Kevin Nagel METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP MILTON -- Lester B. Pearson headed to the provincial high school girls' AA soccer tournament with not a lot of rest but a load of confidence. The Patriots won the Halton senior girls' A/AA championship with a 3-1 victory over the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders Tuesday at Lions Sports Park. Goals in the second half by Kristin Ross and Keri Morrison snapped a 1-1 tie and gave Pearson the Halton title. The teams had exchanged goals in the first half as Sam Ragonetti gave Pearson a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute and Aquinas' Madeline Mann scored a minute later to tie it 1-1. The triumph gave the Pats an undefeated season in Halton play as they went 7-0 during the regular season, including a 1-0 win over Aquinas April 29. Last year, Aquinas beat Pearson in the Halton A/AA final and also in the OFSAA qualifier on penalty kicks and represented Halton at the Ontario championships. "The first 15 minutes, we were trying to get the kinks out. We adjusted at halftime and scored a (goahead) goal that put some ease in their mind," said GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER LBP coach Janet Bishop. Pearson is in Kenora for the all-Ontario AA tour- KEEPAWAY: St.Thomas Aquinas player Brittany Russo (left) uses some fancy nament which wraps up this weekend. The Pats are foot work to try and elude Lester B. Pearson's Keri Morrison. Pearson defeated seeded second in the 16-team field. the Raiders 3-1 in Tuesday's Halton high school girls' soccer A/AA final in Milton. OT rugby teams eliminated from OFSAA medal contention After easily winning their first games, Oakville Trafalgar's girls' and boys' rugby teams were both eliminated from medal contention in the second round of their respective Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) AAA/AAAA tournaments in Brampton. The OT girls opened their tournament Monday with a 27-0 pounding of A.B. Lucas. Whitney Gratton, Devon Perras, Evelyn McLean, Kiwi Riddell and Claire Sprawson all scored tries for the Red Devils, with Annika Rinas kicking a convert. OT lost its second game, however, 30 in overtime to Applewood. Applewood would go on to win OFSAA bronze. The Devils concluded the tournament with a 12-10 overtime victory over Northern Secondary. Perras scored both OT tries while Katie MILTON -- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish junior boys' soccer team had to feel fortunate about coming out of Tuesday's Halton final against the Holy Trinity Titans with a 2-0 win. The Titans dominated the play and missed three glorious scoring opportunities within a minute in the second half. One was a shot off the crossbar that ricocheted down and, to most observers in the park, crossed the goal line. The no-goal decision infuriated Trinity, but coaches would not comment publicly after the game. Fifteen minutes after the Titans' non-goal, the Irish's Justin Springer went to work, dribbling the ball around one Trinity defender and popping the ball over another before beating the keeper. He added a second goal 10 minutes later in a scramble in front of the Titans' net. "It just seemed destined that we were not going to put the ball in the net," said Holy Trinity coach Tony McConville, whose team beat Loyola 1-0 in the semifinals Monday. "I'm not going to say anything about (the disputed call)." Michael Bass, who coaches the Irish along with Clario Fuciereli and Adam Mikitzel, said, "We kept our cool. Soccer is all about a good bounce or bad bounce." Asked about his thoughts on the disputed call, Bass said, "Uh, no thoughts. The second goal cleared all doubt so we can feel good about this vicMurphy booted the decisive penalty tory." kick. Without the stellar netminding of Alex In the boys' tournament, the sev- Verrecchia, the Irish might have needed seven or enth-seeded Devils routed 10th-ranked eight goals to win the contest. Orchard Park 27-5 in their opening "He was amazing, just amazing," said Bass. game. The Irish defeated Assumption 1-0 in the semifiOT was eliminated with a 17-7 loss nals on Monday, Troy Taylor scoring, and completed to the tournament's second seed, St. the season undefeated. Springer led the team with Johns. 17 goals. The boys' tournament concludes "We just finished our opportunities," said today (Friday). Springer. "That was the difference."