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Thursday, June5, 2017 | 46 www.insidehaiton.com | MILTON CANABIAN CHAMPION Ld Uitimate success, enthusias keeps building at Milton District By Steve LeBlanc CANADIAN CHAMPION STAFF With participation in Ultimate Frisbee on a | sharp rise these days, it shouldn‘t be long | before it‘s included as an OFSAAâ€"sanctioned | sport. At least one local school will be well positioned when that hapâ€" pens. Led by head coach Katherine Parker, Milton District has seen a growing swell of interest in "Ultimate‘ since starting a team in 2015. This spring,. a whopping 70 students tried out for the coâ€"ed squad â€" with the 30 choâ€" | sen getting the Mustangs back to the South | Regionals after falling just short last year. "We had strong handlers (like the quarterâ€" | back) and a good mix of players with experiâ€" ence and newcomers who are just good athâ€" | letes," said Parker, whose sport â€" who those unfamiliar with Ultimate â€" can be thought / Es | of as football without the running game. ; While falling short of a victory at the recent | South Regionals in Mississauga, MD certainâ€" ‘ ly held its own against the area‘s top teams â€" battling Hamilton‘s Westmount to 7â€"7 tie and dropping close decisions to eventual finalists St. Michael‘s (6â€"3) and Port Credit (7â€"5). That was thanks in large part to the handlers‘ impressive play â€" most notably that of Thomas Coulson and Geordie Sykes. The Mustangs were also deep in female talent, with standouts J.J. | Magee, Katrina Kanbergs and Savannah Wilâ€" | son serving as reliable catchers and helping bolister the handler ranks. MD advanced to South Regionals with a | thirdâ€"place finish at GHAC, where they went 5â€"1 overall and capped things off with a 5â€"2 | win over Garth Webb. Noted Parker, "We‘re only losing six players ‘ (to graduation) and have most of our stars | back, so we‘ll be good again next year." PA t Sheridan INSTANT IMPRINYS ce Espress Labs Oakville Beaver CS COGeco msmnu: RIBBERS â€" mmrs LiVE MUSiC + ARTiSTS + CRAFTERS «+ VEMDORS AMUSEMEMT PARK + PEOPLE MOVERS EA8SY TRAMSiT Kopriva Taylor CamaDa 150 TEMT + iNDigEnous TENT & ACTiViTiES WHEELCHAiR & STROLLER FRiENDLY JUNE 23 * LOT& OF PARKiNG v~¢5’5'i h SHERIDAN COLLEGE. TRAFALGAR RORD CAMPUS FIND US QONLINE "e Â¥ W W W .ORAKVILLEF AMILY RIBF EST COM E®promptly buried it with a mere three secâ€" onds remaining. Miles Thompson then clinched the bestâ€"ofâ€" three championship series 57 seconds into overtime to sweep Saskatchewan and give the Swarm its hirst Champion‘s Cup. "We‘d actually practiced that sixâ€"man press that morning," said O‘Connor referring to the play leading to the clutch equalizer. "We prepared for situations like that to win. Our coaches deserve a lot of credit for giving us those tools." While the Rush were facing elimination Satâ€" urday, Georgia saw themselves as the desâ€" perate ones. "Only two guys on our team had won it (Champion‘s Cup) before, whereas they‘d won it the last two years," said O‘Connor, a fifthâ€"year NLL transition player who had three assists and 25 loose baills through the playoffs, including 13 in the final. "They‘d had their time." With a full week between championship seâ€" ries games, O‘Connor admits he got a little ‘antsy‘ waiting for Saturday to roll around. "At that point everyone‘s hating their day job because they‘re living for the weekend." The Champion‘s Cup triumph was reminisâ€" cent of his 2010 Founders‘ Cup victory with Purchase a Bat and get 25â€"50% OFF SPORTS m _ Dramatic finish to championship the Halton Hills Jr. Bulldogs in one intangible respect. "With both those teams the guys just really liked being around each other," said the 2013 firstâ€"round draft pick of the Toronto Rock (traded to Swarm in 2014), whose NLL title win gives him a triple crown of sorts, having also won last year‘s Mann Cup (Canadian Sr A) with the Six Nationals Chiefs. "We (Swarm) just gelled right away." An NCAA field lacrosse standout with New York‘s Hobart and William Smith Colleges, O‘Connor provided some sturdy defence and tenacious play towards the Swarm‘s leagueâ€"best 13â€"5 regular season record and bestâ€"ofâ€"three sweep of his former Rock in the East fhinal. Asked what he attributes this season‘s sucâ€" cess to, the newlyâ€"crowned NLL champ spoke of Georgia‘s overall unselfish play especially when it came to offence. "We had five guys with 70 or more points, but they were happy to spread around the scoring. "At the start of the season the goal is always that Cup and every team tells themselves they‘re going to win. Only one of them is telling the truth, the rest are liars." Purchase New Ball Glove and get 50% OFF _ Save ca/ mobile