24 Sports Oakville Beaver www.aplushomes.ca from 2 .4% ·Full MLS ·Full Service Call ADAM CAMPBELL Broker 905-844-4444 SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 2007 THE ANCHOR: Abbey Park's Michael Trnkus, a silver medalist in the 400-metre dash at last year's provincial high school track-andfield championships, is the anchor of the Eagles' open boys' 4x400m relay team. The Eagles won the 4x400m relay at last week's south regional meet in St. Catharines and are the top-ranked team in their division heading into the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) meet that begins tomorrow in Ottawa. RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER Eagles relay team top seed heading into OFSAA track By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF ST. CATHARINES -- By the time Jimmy Tat handed off the baton for the anchor leg of the open boys' 4x400-metre relay, the Abbey Park Eagles had already put some distance between themselves and the competition. Having one of the best 400m runners in the province to seal the deal was an added bonus. Michael Trnkus, a silver medalist in the 400m at last year's provincial high school championships, brought home the victory for Abbey Park at Friday's south regional track-and-field meet in St. Catharines as the Eagles won in a time of 3:24.24. That time sends Trnkus, Tat and teammates Kevin Cox and Brad Amos into this week's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships in Ottawa as the top-seeded team. Trnkus wasn't exactly squaring off with a slowpoke on the anchor leg. Notre Dame's Nick Chiarot had won both the 100m and 200m titles at the regional meet but facing Trnkus in his specialty -- the Abbey Park student won the regional junior 400m on Thursday -- Chiarot didn't have enough gas in the tank to close the gap. Cox got the Eagles off to a strong start, running the lead leg. Amos and Tat extended that advantage and Trnkus brought it home. In the process, the team cut more than seven seconds off its winning time at the previous week's Halton/Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference championships. "We weren't running all day," Cox said of the lighter schedule at the regional meet that had the team better prepared to run in the final event of Friday's meet, explaining his team's improved time. Although Abbey Park was seeded third for the regional meet, its victory did not come as a surprise to Trnkus. "We knew we had good competition but we knew we're all fast and we were running well," he said. The relay victory was the seventh victory by Oakville athletes at the regional meet. Earlier in the meet, regional titles were won by St. Thomas Aquinas' Miana Griffiths (senior girls' 200m), Holy Trinity's Gerald Morris (senior boys' javelin), King's Christian Collegiate's Chantelle Robbertse (midget girls' high jump) and Abbey Park's Julia Friesen (junior girls' 3,000m), Jade Johnson (midget girls' 800m) and Trnkus (junior boys' 200m). Trnkus is seeded third for OFSAA but less than one-tenth of a second separates the seed times for the top three runners. Oakville runners will also be in the hunt for medals in the junior girls' 3,000m. Friesen is seeded third while Loyola's Paulina Maher and Lindsay Bryant are fourth and fifth, respectively. Griffiths is seeded eighth in both the senior girls' 100m and 200m. Morris is seeded ninth in the senior boys' javelin after adding more than three metres to his GHAC-winning throw, earning gold with a throw of 50.80m. -- See page 27 for a list of local top-eight finishers at the regional meet. OAKVILLE SOCCER CLUB REGISTER YOUR BUDDING SOCCER SUPERSTAR IN OUR SUMMER CAMP SERIES TODAY!! JULY JULY AUGUST CHEER ON THE TORONTO FC special packages for members only by the OAKVILLE SOCCER CLUB RANGERS FC CAMP JULY 30 - AUGUST Check website: www.oakville-socce for complete details & registration form. ete schedule 849-4436 ext. 27 or ville-soccer.on.ca O PLACE YOUR ORDER Coming Soon.... Details on ticket sales for AUGUST 5th vs. LA GALAXY Oakville Soccer Club www.oakville-soccer.on.ca A Proud Sponsor of Oakville Soccer Club Sponsored by: