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18 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2012 Gearing up for Mercedes-Benz 10K HOLIDAY RUN: Led by a Mercedes-Benz, a group of runners hit the streets of downtown Oakville Easter Monday to prepare for this weekend's Mercedes-Benz Oakville 10K race. The fourth edition of the annual event, scheduled for Sunday, will feature a 10-kilometre run and walk, a 5km run and walk, a 1km junior jog and a 300m toddler trot. All finishers of the 10K race will be entered into a random draw, with the grand prize being a free one-year lease of a 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-class or a free four-month lease of an SLK convertible. For more info or to register, log onto www.mercedes10k.com. GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Atom Venom girls relevant after provincial Division 3 win By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR The acronym `NR' stands for "not ranked" when it comes to the Ontario Basketball Association standings, but Rich Robinson viewed it as something else. "Not relevant," the Oakville Venom atom girls head coach said with a laugh, reflecting on last year's rankings that had Oakville listed last out of 35 squads. Well, the Venom is certainly relevant now. Competing in its first full season of rep basketball, the under-11 squad recently completed a 24-8 season by winning the Division 3 provincial championship. Oakville won all five of its games at provincials by seven points or more, including three double-digit decisions. The Venom's entry at last year's provincials was a squad of house league players who had only played a few exhibition games together, yet managed to win a bronze medal. This year, five of those players returned to play rep full-time, joined by eight house leaguers. That put Oakville at a bit of a early disadvantage against teams with previous rep experience, but Robinson said it didn't take long for the Venom to catch up. "We came in with no real expectations, other than to have some fun. But it materialized into girls that really liked each other, got along and really liked to play basketball," the coach said. "Ten-year-old girls, if they're athletic, you can develop them pretty quickly. It came down to understanding game (situations)." Robinson got an early glimpse of his club's potential when it won a tournament in Rochester at the end of November. Shortly after, the Venom earned bronze at a more difficult competition in Newmarket. "I think it was in Rochester that we realized you could take some athletes, teach them some basics and out-athlete other teams," Robinson said. "(In Newmarket), we played tougher teams but got a bronze. I knew our athletic ability would be good enough to hang in there until the girls figured it out. Then, I realized, we'd have something special." At the provincial championships, Oakville beat the Burlington Skyhawks 24-15, St. Catharines 27-20, Guelph CYO 33-16 and Ancaster Magic 37-21 to reach the final. The Venom then handily defeated the Niagara Falls Red Raiders, the top-ranked team in Division 3, 38-28. Robinson said the club relied heavily on Mackenzie Robinson, Emily Vieira and Aisha BEST IN DIVISION 3: The Oakville Venom atom girls under-11 basketball team won the provincial Division 3 championship recently, posting a 5-0 record at the all-Ontario championships. Ongendangneda early in the season, but that the other players developed into valuable contributors by the end of the campaign. That was proven in the win over St. Catharines, when Mackenzie Robinson -- the Venom's point guard and primary ballhandler -- had to miss the game. "So many girls had their best games (at provincials)," said the coach. "We looked like a much better team. It all came together." Other members of the team are Aleah Corbeth, Rumaysa Khan, Saskia Morrison, Taylor Bondoc, Vivienne Cruz, Cassidy Eckert, Megan Bureau, Arden Goodfellow, Amanda Morris and Margaret Lovtsova. Mark Morris is the Venom's assistant coach.