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B2-The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, Apnil 29, 2003 Local pair move on in OMHA Under-l7playdowns Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Miltonians Kevin Parker (Ieft) and Maft Lenardon have advanced to round two of the OMHA Under-1 7 playdowns. ~Reding 's OFSAA qualifying bid fails short at E.C. Drury hockey circles. Since 1999, odd-numbered calendar years have seen a familiar sight come spring time - the advancement of a local pair to round two of Uic OMI-lA Under- 17 camp. Frank Fazio and Travis Van Loosen were the fn-st duo to bypass the initial playdown hurdle, wbile Christian Nomis and Ian Robertson followed suit in 2001. Now longtime teammates Matt Lenardon and Kevin Parker have kept this pattem going, having booked passage to the district tryouts at Uic University of Guelph May 24 and 26. Standout performers witb the AAA Halton Hurricanes' minor midget squad this pass year, Uic local lads were among 17 players (including two goalies) who advanced in a field of 68 hopefuls at Uic central region camp, held carlier Ibis month in Georgetown. A 6'l ", 170 lbs. defenceman with puck- musbing ability, Lenardon delivered a splendid two-way performance in round one - collecting a goal and thrce assista whilc at the same lime frustrating opposing anipers for much of Uic Uirec-game weck- end. "I'd say my efforts wcre pretsy good at both ends of Uic ice," said the 1 6-ycar-old blucliner, who overcamne a wrist injury this season and averaged about a point a game for Uic Huricanes. with equal parts grit and goal-scoring skill - thrived up front with three goals and three assista in Georgetown. Suggested the l5-year-old left Winger, 1I think t did alright." The 6' I ", 1 70-pounder was a dependable point-a-gamce contributor throughout the 2002/013 campaign, and - like Lenardon - was a big reason why Halton finished second in the regular season and made it to the league championship. Grand-scale heartbrea< was waiting for the local teens in the finals, witb Hamilton eclipsing the Hurricanes 1I-O in triple over- time. The Milton duo both rank this among their moat exciting hockey moments, and are each eyeing futures with either a Jr. B or Jr. A club - in addition to a strong showing at the University of Guelph, that is. Top players at next month's final evalua- tion camp will be chosen to attend the Team Ontario Under-17 Provincial Selection Camp in June. There, elite banîamns will be identified for participation in such events as the World Under- 17 Hockey Challenge and tic Canada Winter Games. Such notable names that have come througb the OMHA Under- 17 programn include Keith Primeau, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski and Owen Nolan. Acceas denicd. That was Uic story for Uirce Bishop Reding doubles teama, who by wsy of stiff competition werc prevcnted from advanc- ing to high achool badsninton's innermoat sanctum. The Royals' OFSAA qualfying bids fdil short at neighbouring E.C. Dnsry Wcdnesday morning, during Uic Golden Horseshoe Athietie Conférence (GHAC) championahips. BR's two senior mixcd doubles tcams dclivcrcd fairly respectable showings, both cracking Uic top six in Uic doublc-losock- out toumnament. Howcvcr, only Uic top two finishers in cach division movcd on t0 Uic AIi-Ontarios. Erinn Grecnfield and Reg Taylor placcd fîfsh on Uic strength of a 21-4 second- round victory over a duo from Oakville'a T.A. Blakelock. Sandwicbing this win wcre a 11-15, 10-15 loss to s top-secdcd pair from Hamilton and a 21-9 defeat aI Uic banda of a Georgetown squad. Their 1-2 record was cqualed by fellow Royals Jon Ram and Alexis Stoffels, who took sixth spot and pusbcd s bighly-ranked team from Burlingson's Notre Damne to a third and dcciding gamne. Thcy were hammcred 15-1 but rebound- cd to win Uic next set 17-14 before falling 15-9 in Uic tic breaker. From there, thcy dumped a pair from Hamilton 21-7 and were then climinaîcd by opponenta from Oakville'a Iroquois Ridge 21 -15. Mcanwhilc, Olivia Horbasz and Alana Petie auffered an carly exit in girls dou- bles play with back-to-back basses to teamas from Hamilton and Notre Dame. Their sub-par performance could be aI Icasî partially attributed to an ill-timed injury. Petie took a nasty whack on Uic head during round one and couldn't quite find bier groove Uirough Uic balance of ber duo's short-lived mun. The BR six-pack qualified for GHAC Uic previous wcek with top six efforts at Uic regional chamnpionabipa at EC. This made for Uic biggesî conférence contingent in Uic school's bistory. Neither EC nor Milton District wcre rep- resented at GHAC. Drury and BR will pIsay boat to thc OFSAA showcasc Thursday 10 Satur-da>'. Sneyd's Burlington dominance continues Photo by GRAHAM PAINE Bishop Redlinga Reg Taylor comPetes at Wednesday's GHAC championshl1ps at E.C. Drury Campbellville's Junior Hanley saw his domninance of Quebec's Sanair Super Speedway extended with a win in the GM Quick Service 150. Hanley overcame a race-long challenge by Randy MacDonald to take the aeries-opening event and win his third consecutive race at the 1 .3-kiome- tre tri-ova to three. April 30, 1995 Multon's expansion Jr. B lacrosse team won its first-ever home gamne, edging the neighbouring Georgetown Bulldogs 9-8. Led by three-goal scorer Andrew Wilfong, the Mavericks outscored Georgetown 2-0 in the third pei-iod no pull out the win and drew a sizeable crowd of about 500 to John Tonelli Sports Centre. April 26, 1997 The Merchants are toppled 4-1 and lose the series to Rayside-Balfour by an identica margin in their first trip to the AII-Ontario finals. With a clear size disadvantage and fatigue from back-to-back seven-game marathons against Bramnalea and Newmarket, the Merchants had little lefi for the provincial cbampionship clash and were decisive beat. By STEVE LBLANC The Champion For Roty Sneyd, Burlington can safe- ly be referrcd to as victoiy lane. Milton's 27-ycar-old apeed demon bas become a pretty reliable winncr in Uic soutb Halton community in recent yeara - and addcd to bis champi- onsbsp resume at Uic Burlington Road Runner's Good RORY Friday sbowcasc. SNEYD WiUi Uic excep- tion of a ahort-lived challenge fromn Toronto's Predrag Mladenovie, Sneyd led the five-kilometre race from atart to finish and clockcd in at an isnpressive 15:35. "He (Mladenovic) caught up to me with about a kilometre lefs, but with about 400 to 500 metres to go 1 made my move and be juat gave in. l'mn not sure wbat bsppencd to hum," rccallcd Uic annual track and field nationals participant, who beat- cd bis big city rival by 12 seconds. The Good Friday triumph was bis second in Uircc years, and booated bis win count on Uic Burlington pave- ment - by bis beat recollection - to at lest six. He's won Uic Moon tI June tbrce times and topped Uic field at boUi Uice balf-marathon and Downtown Dash. ' "It's been six or seven (victories). Ycah, l'vc had some succesa there," raid Sneyd, who'a running efforts are finan- cially backed by Burlington'a Foot Tools. "Those (Burlington) races defi- nitely feel lika bomecoming." His 5kmn resulta bave been significant- ly bètter in Uic pasî, but usually when hc'a had stiffer competition to feed from. Breaking one's top trne in any given race, be stresacd, generally doesn't bap- pen without an extemnal challenge. Whilc preparationa for bis summuer wcdding are limiting thc accomptished runncr's training these daya, be contin- ues to bold out hope of delivering a sub- , 30-minute 10kmn performance someday. That goal was sparked at st fali 's national road races in London, wherc be poat- cd a personal beat 30:45 performance. Said Sncyd, "It would probably bave to come on Uic track (which is casier Uic th road), but 1 think itsdal.That would rcally be somcthing for tIn Uie meantime, bc'll tum bis attention back 10 guiding Burlîngton's Notre Dame track team - a task bc's grown 10 love over Uic pasî four ycars as s teacher and coach aI the Caîholie high school. "I like Uic double role (coacbing and competing). I Uiink il belpa me relate better to, the stuidents," Sncyd rcmarkcd. 1I find il (coach- ig) really rewarding because with thc kida you've juat got raw talent that with juat a little instruc- tion and work you can make buge strides with Uiem. At thia point for me il takea 50 mucb 10 make any kmnd of improve- ment, but for Uicm, Uic progresa can be rcmarkable in a very short period of time." Steve LeBlanc can be reached at sic- blanc@haltonsearch.com.