SportsOakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 201124 Killer instinct RAIDERS ROLLING: Laura Medlock of the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (in white) pounds a spike past a Kings Christian Collegiate opponent Wednesday at Aquinas. The Raiders defeated the Cavaliers 25-5, 25-6 to improve to 6-0 on the senior girls volleyball A/AA campaign. GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER Local womens rink gunning for provincial junior crown By Tim Gall SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER For the third year in a row, the Oakville Curling Club has a team competing at the Ontario Junior Womens Curling Championships. Stephanie Van Huyse, a 19-year-old stu- dent at Trent University, is skipping the team, which also features Laura Arbour, Jessica Corrado and Kristy Hurst. Arbour and Hurst played with a different team last season, which also advanced to the provin- cial event, while Van Huyse and Corrado were there two years back. Corrado also rep- resented Oakville with a team that won the bantam mixed provincials in 2007. Its always exciting to get a shot at the provincial title, Van Huyse said before the five-day event began Wednesday in Sarnia. Each year, its our main goal and it feels really good to meet that goal. Since me and Jess are aging out next year, we are anxious to win before our time is up. We cant bank on getting the chance next year, so we will fight hard for the title this year. The team certainly got off to a good start at provincials. Oakville won its first two games by a combined margin of 21-6. Van Huyse said it would be critical to get on a roll and carry it through the week, as the team hopes to capture Oakvilles first championship since 2002. Julie Reddick cap- tured the crown that year, following Oakvilles first junior womens title in 2000. Those are the only two victories by an Oakville foursome. From my experience, theres always one team thats really on fire that week and in the zone. I look at all the teams there and anyone can win, Van Huyse said. Obviously, I believe we are the front run- ners because you have to believe you can win to win. I know we can. Of course, being one of just eight teams in Ontario to qualify for provincials is no small feat either. We had a really good weekend at region- als, Van Huyse said. We had a solid start and kept it going. We played consistent and made shots when we had to. We were able to outplay our opponents in each game. Draws at provincials conclude tomorrow (Saturday), with the final slated for Sunday. Bantam skip not intimidated by facing older competition A 16-year-old Oakville resident is com- peting at this weeks Ontario Junior Mens Curling Championships, despite playing on a bantam team. White Oaks student Jack Lindsay has skipped a bantam entry all the way to the provincial showcase involving junior teams. Its an event normally won by the true junior players aged 18-20. But Lindsay, who is concluding his last year of bantam competition before official- ly entering the junior ranks next year, is hoping his team will do well against the older players competing in Sarnia this week. Action got underway Wednesday and concludes with playoffs on the weekend. Both bantam and junior leagues have a maximum age, but there is no minimum age for juniors. Im really excited about getting a shot at a junior provincial title, especially as a bantam team, Lindsay said before the event began. Its a great accomplishment for anyone, and Im very proud of how hard my team has worked. Winning junior provincials is definite- ly a big dream, but bantam is our main focus this year. The bantam playdowns take place a lit- tle later this year, and Lindsay hopes to be back to defend his bantam title from 2010. I am very proud of my accomplish- ments thus far, he said in reference to his curling resume, which also sports a silver medal from last years Ontario Winter Games and a bantam provincial runner-up spot in 2009. Not many people have had the success I have been lucky to have at such a young age. This year, his team includes two high school students from Burlington Patrick Clarke and Zack Shurtleff playing lead and second respectively as well as Ben Bernier from Newmarket, who throws fourth stones. Lindsay, who practices at the Oakville Curling Club, is the skip of the team. Tim Gall, Special to the Beaver