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The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, May 29, 2001- 23 (ireg Parsons m siservées 74Wedding Services Stag & 00e Special/Sport Events Awad resentati or, Your Event Awaits...(g0&) 875-0486 eReding racer 's OFSAA medal hopes looking awfully strong Butcher's time in midget boys 400m *among best in Ontario Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Bishop Reding's Ian Butcher hopes ta add ta his medal haul at 1h15 weekend's OFSAA Championshlps. And if meent resuits are any indication, his chances cf doing so are extremely good. By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion Ian Butcher bas to be feeling awfully confident these days. TMe Bisbop Reding midget boys runner has been constantly trimming time from the 400 metre since the high sehool track and field season began - and did so once again during Thursday's South Regional Championsbips. Amid ideal weather conditions at Hamiltons McMaster University, Butcher shed more than a second off is personal best mark to upstage Clarkson's 400m ace and finish first. The 14-year-old - who still bas another year of midget eligi- bility ahead of him - clocked in at a sensational 52.5 seconds, wbich if equaled or bettered in the slightest this weekend should almost definitely assure him a medal at OFSAA. "This kid's outstanding. Hes gotten faster every time out," said coach Maureen Morrison, of" the school's first South Regional champ in seven years. I1 could sec even another second coming off. Hes certainly a favourite to medal (at OFSAA)." Butchers 52.5s performance was less than haîf a second sby the scbool record, set in 1994 by Rob Wands - who that spning took fourtb in the OFSAA 400m to go along with is golden perform- ance in the 300m hurdles. Metro Toronto's top midget boys runner recorded a 53.86s fin- ish - making Butcher a top seed for this weekend's season finale in Etobicoke. Joining him this weekend will be OFSAA retumnee Michelle Doell, who knocked seven seconds off ber HaItonIGHAC 800mi time to take third-place honours among the junior girls at McMaster Thursday. The 16-year-old's provincial bid looked a little bleak through much of the race, but a tierce finish gave her a 2.24.9 showing - and eamned ber another trip t the innermost sancturo of high school competition. During ber first appearance in 1999, Doell took eighth in the midget girls 800m - with a time nearly identical to the one she delivered Thursday. Both Butcher and Doeîl also cracked the top 10 in the midget boys 800m and junior girls I1,500m respectively. Butcher placed nintb with a somewbat disappointing 2.14.5 finish, while Dol clocked in at 5.16.9 for seventh spot. Meanwhi le, BR sent a dozen other athletes to Thursday's South Regionals. Among tbem were Doell's younger sister Carly, wbo posted three lth place performances - in the midget girls 400m, as well as with both the midget girls 4xlOOm and open girls 4x400m relay teams. Mike MeGilI also recorded a lth place effort, in the midget boys grueling 3,000m. Rounding out the school's South Regional team were Megan Ames, Luke Brunner, Megan Burke, Diana Cosme, Jonathan Borrelli, John McDougaîl, Miroslav Moslavac, Kelsey Mountain, Ava Stofast and Kathryn Weston. -Senior Royals put 'icing on cake with GHAC win By STEVE LeBLANO The Champion The champîonship beat goes on. Wriing another chapter to its dream season at Burlington's Sherwood Park Friday afternoon, the Bishop Reding senior boys soccer aquad battled back from a pair of one-goal deficits to edge Hamilton's St. Thomas Moore 3-2 for the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference (GHAC) crown. Onel Martino punctuated the team's strongest second-half per- formance of the year, delivering a bottom-sbelf deposit - is third game winner in just eigbt days - witb under five minutes emaining to clincb the tille. "We wanted (10 win) Haltons bad. This is just icing on the cake," said jubilant co-coach Fernando Costa. Friday's cbampionsbip comeback mirrored the teamn's dramatic season tumaround. Much like the initial stages of tis spring - wbich were marred by subpar offensive efforts that resulted in a couple of disappointing losses - the Royals were too passive through the early going of the GHAC finals and were frequently beat by their opponents' tierce transitional play. Having already qualified for OFSAA with their Halton finals victory over Loyola, it was questionable whelher the local lads could pick il up in a game that did not have do-or-die implications. But BR laid those concems to rest down the stretch, exhîbiting about as mucb inlensity as they bave ail season long - even after surrendering a second goal just moments after scoring their firsl. Said goalkeeper Allen Lourenco, "TMat (second goal) kind of set us back a bit, but the guys really pulled together and worked bard for this win. TMis was pure heart and effort today." St. Thomas Moore's cager was finally beat early in the second haîf on a close-range fake by Paul Szafer. About a minute later the Royals were caught flat-footed, allow- ing steeltown's champs to walk in and restore their lead on an odd- man rush. Reding needed several more minutes to penetrate an effective neutral-zone trap before Kyle Grant buried the second equalizer, redirecting a comer kick by Stefan Linder. For the balance of the contest the eventual victors clearly had the momentum and missed on two big opportunities both before and after Martino's game-winner - which brought bis playoff scoring total to six, equaling that of Grant. Linder, Chris Casa and Malt Stockton offered spinited play for BR Fniday. The Royals bead into this weekend's provincial showcase on a six-game winning sîreak - during wbich tbey've outscored the opposition a whopping 25-3. About two dozen teams will compete at OFSAA, whicb runs Tbursday 10 Salurduky at Hamilton's Bishop Ryan Secondary Sehool. ..........-.....-....*- ....*...... . . . . --.-.-,........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ..... 1