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p6 the tribunerwednesdaybrcember 31 1997 st the tribune sports leisure got a score call our hotline at 6402100 tournament hockey action multiservice electrics michael short left closes in to gather this loose puck from behind his net during this atom division contest in the annual whitchurch stouffville minor hockey association christmas hockey tournament at the rec cen tre on saturday shorts teammate nicholas singh centre tries to prevent schell lumbers niko las ristich from getting to the puck phm by lori emmerson spirit preparing for a crucial weekend test bruce stapley correspondent the spirit of stouffville begin their playoffpush with a weekend set which sees them in couchich- ing friday and at the rec centre saturday to host the tren ton sting the last place spirit will be out to gain ground on the provin cial junior a hockey league phillips division fifth- place terriers on friday the ter riers currently sit six points up on their stouffville rivals on saturday night against the ruddock divisionleading sting the spirit will be looking to erase memories of an earlier 43 loss in a game which saw them leading 30 heading into the third period nov 7 in trenton the spirit managed a win a loss and a tie at the 1997 new market junior a showcase tour nament which began over the weekend the stouffville squad opened with a 51 loss to the west con ference mackenzie division sec ond place bramalea blues satur day morning joe byles had the lone stouffville goal giving the spirit a 10 lead through the mid way point of the second period the spirit fell behind 20 before bouncing back to record a 52 win over the georgetown raiders later in the day the raiders are last in the west conference mackinnon division darcy king had the hat trick with dave zelasko and jeff marshall adding singles gn sunday against the cobourg cougars of the ruddock division king netted another pair while linemate kevin edgar set up a trio of markers in a 44 draw geoff keillor and phil barski also scored the spirit opened up a 40 first period lead before com ing unglued the spirit ended up second in their four team division the top teams in the seven divisions advanced to mondays playoff round saturdays game with trenton starts at 730 pm major peewees win two of three a loss a close win and a onesided victory that was the bottom line for the barker roofing major peewee clippers in hockey games played recently the clippers fell 63 to keswick on the road dec 17 with anthony tsiopoulos net ting two stouffville goals to go with a solo by jesse miller robert hooper broke loose for a hat trick to power the clippers 43 win over ajax in another away game three days later tyler mcmaster had the other stouffville mark er lues hunter held the ajax shooters at bay in the clippers net at home on dec 21 it was justin cheshires turn to stone the opposition in the stouffville goal in a 61 triumph over noble king robert hooper marcus dannunzio and miller each had a goal and two assists tsiopoulos kyle sandiford and mcmaster also scored miller and dannunzio each had three assists over the three games cody bennett hooper cam davis and michael comacchia collected two helpers apiece athletes make 9 in bruce stapley correspondent local athletes did stouffville proud in 1997 with victories in a variety of sporting events and abroad the following is the first of two installments of what transpired in 1997 january a struggling spirit of stouffville junior a hockey club dealt away local minor hockey product geoff smith to provincial league phillips division frontrunners the newmarket 87 s at the start of 1 997 this allowed smith a chance to reach the playoffs in his final year of juniorlevel play just before his departure smith helped lead the team to three straight wins as the spirit struggled to stay in playoff contention the stouffville district secondary school sdss spartans hockey club opened the year by winning the st michaels college school invitational junior hockey tournament despite the absence of five of their top players peter mabley was named tournament mvp february stouffvilles stingrays ii squad opened the year by winning their tier hltitle at the midget girls open vol leyball tournament the stingrays 1 squad meanwhile brought home the silver in tier ii competition the sdss spartans junior girls vol leyball team continued a stellar season by successfully defending their title at this years annual collingwood tour nament stouffvilles domination of the vol leyball circuit continued as the sdss spartans midget girls team placed first at a tournament in pickering they earned a berth in the finals by sweeping both the quarter- and semi final rounds f darcy king centreman for the spir it of stouffville was named the ontario hockey association provin cial junior a hockey leagues most improved player over the course of the 199697 season stouffville area show jumper john pearce enjoyed a string of tournament successes in late january and early february his dutch warmblbod geld- irig vagabond carried him to first and third place finishes at a pair of compe titions while mare spanish eyes gave him a fourth place finish at the presti gious gulfstream grand prix the sheffield judo club continued a string of tournament successes as five members earned the right to represent ontario at the canadian judo champi onships in halifax bronze medal yic- f tones at the ontario juvenile t judo championships gave members of the club spots as first alternates in their respective categories the stingrays i volleyball team rounded out the month with a first place at the 24team midget girls qualifier in cambridge march musslemans lake resident alexan der white helped the newmarket stingrays swim club make an impres sive showing at the swim ontario provincial age group championships in ottawa the team brought home gold in the 4x50metre free relay and bronze in the 4x50m medley relay improving their national ranking in these events to second and fourth respectively internal restructuring and a promise of more ice time allowed stouffville to hold on to its junior a hockey club and set the stage for an improved 199798 season from the spirit of stouffville at the conclusion of the 199697 season team owner ed hakonson had suggested he may move the team elsewhere members of the sheffield judo club continued to make their presence felt with jason hewlett taking first place honours in his category at the ontario novice championships the club also won two silver and two bronze medals in the competition april local equestrian enthusiast harold van dyke passed away this month at the age of 63 mr van dyke was a co- founder of the ontario arabian racing association he suffered a heart attack minutes after tending to his beloved world champion arabian sanman evan cain was the 1 997 recipient of the dan mcneil memorial trophy the stouffville all ontario clippers once again defeated the uxbridge bruins alumni in the fifth annual challenge cup competition stouf- fville is undefeated in the event which lis played in memory of dan mcneil a former clippers and bruin proceeds went to the childrens wish founda tion claremont snowbqarder amy huleatt completed an impressive sea son this month when she finished 1 5th jn the nation at british columbias canadian sriowboarding champi onships her victory in the open class in the provincial finals at blue mountain also carried her a spot on team cana da as they competed in the junior world snowboarding championships in finland local runner keith kavluk finally realized his dream of completing the boston marathon in under three hours placing 598th of 12000 kavluk achieved the time he had been aiming for in four previous attempts