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tlutrsday dec 26 2002 economist sun stouffville tribune sports there was no quit in individuals and teams in 2002 sports stars and town squads overcame obstacles for memorable 2002 by mike hayakawa staff writer refuse to lose that old sports adage has been applied to many individuals and teams that had their backs to the wall only to overcome the odds and achieved suc cess in stouffville that rallying cry appeared to be a prevalent theme throughout 2002 and more often than not it paid off in rewarding dividends and created some memorable moments in the local sports scene here is a sampling of what tran spired in early april the stouffville juvenile clippers had their backs to the wall in their ontario minor hockey association a championship series against the south point capitals trailing the bestoffive series two games to one the dippers forced a return trip to leamington after eking out a 10 overtime victory in the fourth game at stouffville arena in the rubber match dylan harrison scored his second ofthe game with 501 remaining in the third overtime session to propel the clippers to the coveted omhaatitle didnt quit these guys are just great they just didnt quit said clippers team captain tyler armstrong who was also the 2002 recipient of the dan mcneil memorial award that is handed out by the whitchurchstouffville minor hockey association later that month the stouffville pee wee clippers also gained the distinction of being provincial champions after they defeated die belle river rink rats 32 in the ontario hockey federation a title in front of almost 500 onlookers at the stouffville arena the win atoned for an earlier loss the clippers experienced at the hands ofthe rink rats in preliminary round action for the clippers their achievement marked the culmination of four hard and longyears said clippers head coach rick sooley who was also named stouffvilles 2002 sports personality of the year rick sooley stouffville peewee a clippers coach was also named stouffvilles 2002 sports personality of the year although stouffville did not field a peewee aaa hockey team cory tanaka a 13yearold stouffville resident and grade 8 student at glad park public school was a member of the richmond hill stars and delivered the gamewin ning goal in overtime to propel his team to a 10 win over die boston eagles in their division final of the 43rd annual quebec peewee tournament in womens hockey the markham- stouffville novice c stars brought home the gold medal from the ontario womens hockey association provincial playdowns with a 30 win over stratford in their championship final several members of the stouffville spirit concluded their season by garner ing individual awards anthony minicucci was the north conferences mvp and earned the same honours for die spirit when they handed out dieir individual awards jd smithson was named the clubs playoff mvp other awards went to firstyear players garrett mccrea best defenceman michael commisso most sportsmanlike kevin jaiman rookie of the yean kyle zoon most improved player and mike forgie paul k0ert lefthanded hurler helped team canada qualify for 2003 pan- american games staff photosjoerd witteveen although stouffville peewee clippers forward ben sampson dark uniform was denied a goal on this save by a kitchener rangers goalie during action in this years ontario hockey federation peewee a championships at the stouffville arena his club had the last laugh as they captured the provincial tide with a 32 win over belle river in the title tilt in april fn the final game sampson was also named the clippers player of the game coaches award gary tobin and dave dennis were named cowinners of the teams volunteer ofthe year award spirit scholarships to start the 200203 season jarmans continued improved play was noticed by the university of massachusetts minuteman hockey team who signed the secondyear spirit forward to a schol arship for the following season forward mike forgie also fulfilled a dream by earning a full ride to wayne state university in detroit heroics werent only confined in the hockey rinks in curling stouffville resident fran allan skipped her firstyear unionville curling club entry of lynne wasylyk janet stover and kathy cassin to the master womens provincial title and qualified for the national masters womens championships in medicine hat alta on the ball diamond the stouffville jones pools midgets overcame an open inggame loss in the provincial midget boys double elimination softball tour nament to win their next seven games and reach the final against scarborough although the clock struck 12 on the jones pools gang in the decid ing game they earned a berth in the canadian championships that were held in napanee in august at the nationals the jones pools entry were seventh in the roundrobin segment before rallying to win three emotional playoff games to finish third overall the season also proved to be reward ing for jones pools catcher jon ferguson who was one of four players from across the i province that the ontario amateur softball association recognized and rewarded with a 1000 oasa scholarship that was to be applied to further their education paul koert who played softball this past summer for a team in amsterdam new york earned a berth on team canada and took to the rubber at the pan american qualifiers in guatemala in november the 23yearold lefthanded hurler did his part for canada which settled the guys are just great they just didnt quit for the silver medal by pitching the club to three victories in finishing second canada quali fied for the 2003 fastball pan american games in rio isabela santa domingo in lacrosse stouffville residents jim veltman and glenn clark helped propel the toronto rock to their third national lacrosse league tide in the last four years with a 13- 12 fourth quarter come- frombehind win overthe albany attack in the championship final in albany lacrosse stars veltman who was captain of the rock gained die distinction of being named captain of canadas entry in the 2003 world indoor lacrosse champi onships in the national lacrosse leagues annual draft stouffville spirit defenceman for ward jd smithson 20 was drafted by the calgary roughnecks with their second pick and 26th overall smithson would eventually see his rights dealt to new jersey the resolve exhibited by local athletes and teams could also be found at stouffville district secondary school during the sen ior boys volleyball campaign the spartans overcame the absence of cap tain kevin mcgrath who incurred a broken arm during die regular season to earn a berth in the ofsaa aa play- downs by defeating dr ej donevan collegiate devils in the durhamyork championship game the spartans senior boys basketball came a long ways after going winless five years ago to capturing the yraa tier two title in february with a 5140 win over father michael mcgivney academy high school heroes the spartans senior boys rugby team earned a berth at the ofsaa aa playdowns and tackled the teacup championship with a 140 win over napanee district high school lindsay hermanson a grade 12 stu dent finished seventh overall in the girls field at the ofsaa golf festival at hawk ridge golf club in orillia hermansons exploits on die fairways would pay off in a full athletic scholar ship to gardnerwebb university in boiling springs north carolina cassie sparks carried the banner for sdss at the ofsaa crosscountry championships in port hope after fin ishing second in the yraa midget girls division for the grade 10 student her appearance marked the second straight year she qualified for ofsaa dana wood a 15yearold grade 10 student led a spartans track and field contingent at the yraa championships by winning three gold medals and establishing school marks in the junior girls 400m 100m and 200m members of the stouffville juvenile clippers were honoured for winning the ontario minor hockey association a level title with a parade through stouffville in early april wood was also part of a 4 x 100m relay team that included jasmine geense tiziana cotechni and jacqui harris that won gold at the ofsaa championships wood claimed a bronze in the 400m in the boys field kevin mcgrath set a school record in the senior boys javelin and earned a silver medal at ofsaa in concluding the school year sdss honoured hannah flemming as its sen ior girls mvp while shane timms and travis mcmaster shared the senior boys mvp honours in the fast lane in auto racing gormley resident ashley taws 18 became the first woman to stand on the podium at a canadian formula ford championship race after driving her be anything with barbie at walmart vehicle to a third- place finish in her first pro race at m o s p o r t international raceway in may competing in her inaugural season which saw her car temporarily stolen while racing in quebec taws con cluded it by finishing in a tie for third place in the overall series standings in other auto racing news jonathan macri motored his way to a second- place efforts in cart toyota atlantic events in portland oregon and toronto he also had a thirdplace effort in a race at milwaukee wisconsin completing his sophomore season in the cart toyota atiantic series macri finished seventh overall a secondplace finish in die cascar super series season finale at delaware speedway in london in late september enabled stouffville driver peter gibbons to earn a fourthplace overall finish in the final series standings gokart racer kyle herder won canadian senior series division tide in die sunoco ron fellows karting series in early august herder was the first competitor to win a division title of which four were up for grabs by win ning it widi two rounds remaining in the series in equestrian stouffville resident belinda ivussell was part of a four- member canadian team that competed at the world equestrian games in spain in september the 30yearold owneroperator of oakcrest farms and her mount royan a brown oldenburg gelding earned a berth on the four- member canadian team after helping the canadian team win the gold cup of grand prix title in blainville quebec after incurring a broken collarbone while riding 1 7yearold teaghan james got back up on her mount and earned a berth on a young riders equestrian team that represented canada in the gold cup in germany in october james finished fifth at the canada cup finals that was held in blainville quebec martial arts in martial arts three members of the sheffield judo club gained berths on the provincial junior team after posting top- three results at the provincial champi onships kerry lynne hulshof 16 won the 53kilogram ijf junior girls division while seiji ishiguro 18 won die 81 kg ijf junior boys division kylecheeatow 17 finished third in die60kg ijf junior boys division all three members competed at the nationals in edmonton on the slopes downhill skier katelyn button moved a step closer to fulfilling a dream of representing the national team when she was named to a six- member provincial team that would compete in events in ontario quebec and alberta in masters sports veteran longdis tance runner fred robbins headed the field in his 4549 age group category at the invitational masters mile in new york city the 47yearold stouffville resident won his age group class after being clocked in four minutes 389 sec onds iffllmimllw 2003 2q03 focus lx i jol windstar lxl ffi 4 door spj engine powor locks amfm cassette morel cash price 500 w mo lease 4 door 38 v8 power group frve star safety rating much morel cash price 21 w2st48 mo lease built for ufeih canada 6ddnatlm pay nothing for plus no down payment on the purchase financing on most new instock 2002 2003 ford vehicles 48 month purchase financing on our bestselling 2003s ob f0b3 iukes tour tost ittse pakvent lease payments for 99 days intern for 99 days down payment freight administration fees and applicable taxes apply on selected new instock 2003 fords limited time offer 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