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rr mmm mmmmmmmmmm stouffritte suntribune thursday april 17 2003 23 stouffville suntribune macria iii lorig beach grand prix jonathan macri couldnt ask for a better start to the current auto racing campaign italang to the streets- of long beach california last weekend for the second leg of the 2003 toyota atlantic race at the toyota grand prix of long beach the 21yearold gdrmley resident earned his second trip to the victory podium after steer ing his no 84 ntn bearings vehicle to a thirdplace finish the result came on the heels of a secondplace effort in the inaugural race last month at monterrey mexico although he didnt take the check ered flag macri could find few faults with how his vehicle handled as well he had no qualms with the final result overall it was an excellent race weekend we walked away with a sec ond podium finish and made some good gains on the car said macri who qualified fifth on the grid for the 32lap event although the series doesnt resume until may 31 in milwaukee wisconsin macri remains optimistic the momentum gained from the first two races will continue to work in his favour polestar atlantic did- a great job with the car and i thinkvvell contin- ue to make more gains in the next few races weve experienced some really good momentum in the first two faces and well be looking to carry it over to milwaukee well be pushing for another podium finish there he added aj allmendinger took the check ered flag at lorig beach while aaron justus finished second by virtue of his thirdplace effort macri maintains his secondoplace standing in the overall championship series standings tied with allmendinger with 30 points the pair are just three points behind series leader michael valiante here you take it stouffville district secondary schools andrew haines foreground laterals the ball off to a teammate before being taken to the ground by father michael mcgrvney catholic academys rami accowmeh during mondays preseason york region athletic association senior boys rugbycontestat mcghmeythe visiting spartans prevailed 3612 the yraa regular season is set to begin april 30 the spartans first game is tentatively slated for may 5 sjoerd witteveen photo minor peewee clippers second in markham tournament the stouffville minor peewee clippers ended their hockey season with a secondplace finish in the recent markham islanders tournament after they were edged 3- 2 in double overtime by the markham waxers in the title tilt tyler azan accounted for both clipper goals while roger ianuzzo steven demelo and denver gray each earned assists in reaching the final the clippers battled the richmond hill stars to a 22 tie in its first game jason deveny had a goal and ah assist while chris glueckler added one goal azan drew one assist the clippers then faced the waxers and droppeda 52 decision ianuzzo and josh montesano each scored once for the clippers dean glueckler gray chris tambos and demelo were credited with assists sparked by a twogoal effort from azan the clippers turned back the host markham islanders 62 demelo andrew mingay gluecker and tom mcleod added singles glueckler drew two helpers while dylan seymour mingay mcleod paul higgins and tambos each had one advancing to the semi finals the clippers received a twogoal effort from demelo and singles from mcleod and azan to edge malton 43 seymour deveny gray and mcleod each had one assist jake robinson and colin hilts split goaltending duties also contributing to the clubs sue- cess were casey todd and zack stevens midget girls runnersup in regular season playoffs jonathan macri with two podium finishes this season the 21yearold gorrnley resident is in second place in the overall standings the markhamstouffville midget aa stars skated home with the silver medal from the recent north metro girls hockey league championships the stars followed their secondplace regular season finish by defeating mississauga 51 in the semi final match before losing to north york aeros 42 in the championship game to reach the championship week end the stars overcame a tough brampton squad by taking the series four points to two jmni the stars won the first game of the series 63 and tied the next two games inland 33 scoring for the stars were lindsay brown christine upton stephanie giliberto andrea bevan jessica lister ashley lucas carolyn fauteux emily gamble danielle beach and sarah magee earning assists werev cassandra sparks maddie wilkinson erin carter arid kristy ashtdn liz knox and sarah mcconnachie shared goaltending duties and were solid in goal throughout the playoffs minor hockey signs aaa deal with markham by mike hayakawa staff writer representatives from the wwtchurchstouffville minor hockey association couldnt be happier these days the same could be said for members of the markham minor hockey assotiation v what the two minor hockey groupsare celebrating is a marriage made in heaven just recently the two groups reached an agreement where aaacalibre minor hockey players who reside within the boundaries of whitchurchstounyille can now play in markham under a new association called the markham waxers aaa zone this will include players starting from novice up to and including midgets themove takes place immediately said joe corriacchia president of the wwtchurchstouffville association and bill jefferson markham minor hockey association president in recent years the richmond hill stare were the aaa cen tre for stouffville aaacalibre players before that the area aaa centre was the lindsaybased central ontario wolves stouffville players already playing in richmond hill can remain with the stars organization to rationalizing the move cornacchia and jefferson cited examples in which the two neighbouring centres share essen tial facilities like the markham stouffville hospital and stu dents from markham and stouffville attend the same high schools andplay for the same high school hockey teams in some instances t v its a natural for us cornacchia said we had to get ugly this year the whole thing in the past was ridiculous added jefferson of the prior working arrangement with the good friendships that weve had tiirough the years with stoufryffle this is a good move for both parties the two minor hockey association presidents noted the attempt by the two groups to form a working agreement had been in the works over the last seven years however prior amalgamation attempts were met with resistance by the ontario minor hockey association weve been fighting the omha for years and they always said no said cornacchia we had to get ugly thisyear by being ugly cornacchia revealed the two organizations threat ened legal action on the omha saner heads prevailed aaa team tryouts for the 200304 campaign start soon and will be staged in markham and stouffville during the year teams will playsome home games in markham arid some in stouffville its good for botiv cen tres said jefferson whkchurdistouffrille minor hockey association president joe cofbacchta left and martoham minor hockey association president b jefferson spent countless hounreadi an aremrt whereby aaacafibre player from whitdiurchstoufrnlle can now play in markham under the new markham waxers aaa zone mike barrett photo