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stouffville suntribune thursday oct 30 2003 23 stouffville suntribune sports johnston out to prove point tonight against newmarket rookie forward randy johnston will have no prob lem getting jacked lip for tonights stouffville spirit game the spirit meets the newmarket hurricanes at the ray twinney complex in newmarket at 730 pm the game will be broadcast live on rogers tv channel 84 the spirit 11710 and hurricanes 11410 are tied for third place in the north conference of the provincial junior a hockey league one point back of collingwood 10613 aurora 17000 the topranked team in canada remains in first newmarket resident johnston who lives a one- minute drive from the newmarket arena was a late cut of the hurricanes and coach brad selwood early last month- i dont like the coach and i dont like the organization the 17yearold said i was cut there but my heart was always here stouffville was where i wanted to play this gives me extra incen tive to go out there and prove newmarket wrong johnston and teammates rick schrank and blake pullin are all newmarketarea resi dents who played for the yorksimcoe express minor midgets last season johnston and pullin advanced to the final camp of the ontario randy johnston spirit rookie forward enjoys playing archrival newmarket hurricanes under17 program last sum mer veteran defenceman mark mitchell is the other newmarket resident on the spirit roster the spirit won a pair of laughers over the hapless huntsville wildcats 01900 last weekend 91 in stouffville saturday and 80 in huntsville friday on saturday cale tanaka and johnston had two goals each to pace the spirit shane baxter rob groom kevin hayward mark boyce and chris gray had a goal each johnston had two assists rookie defenceman simon gysbers was mgh office repairs player of the game on friday ty raine had a hat trick and two assists to pace to the spirit grant buckley had two goals with groom pullin and schrank netting singles first shutout carson devine earned three assists with hayward and kevin lord earning two each the spirit outshot the wildcats 5319 steve carota won both games the shutout was his first with stouffville spirited notes tonights game is the first televised game in team history rogers york region division is broadcasting hurricane home games only due to superior technical facili ties in newmarketthe spirit plays at aurora tomorrow for a halloween night tilttoronto raptor tickets will be drawn for at the spirits next home game next thursday against couchiching whitchurch- stouffville minor hockey association players wearing their jerseys get in free to the nov 8 game against pickeringspirit alumnus mike sullivan scored his first ncaa goal for clarkson saturday in a tie with colorado collegcmark versteeg- lytwyn also from last years team had the game winner sunday as the guelph storm defeated the sault ste marie greyhounds 21 in the ontario hockey leaguehuntsvilles coaching staff kept its players on the bench for the first inter mission saturday p tx staff photobill roberts take your best shot stoufiville district secondary school spartans tc cotechini 21 ignores a markville secondary school defender and takes a shot during mondays york region athletic association senior girls tier two basketball game at stoufiville secondary the spartans won 4644 sheffield students make presence felt in toronto the stouffvillebased sheffield judo club made it a perfect five-for- five at the recent shin bu kan invitational judo tournament at humber college in toronto all five sheffield competitors won medals firstplace honours were award ed to lea sheffield 10yearold green belt girls under 31 kilograms ben foppa 10yearold whiteyel loworange belt boys under- 27kg and brent colclough senior mens under 81 kg matthew gentles finished second in the 11yearold boys under 39 kg division tressa sheffield was third in the nineyearold orange belt girls under 27kg group bensons mission well served mite selects edge pickering the stouffville clippers tuned up for season by edging pickering 65 in a recent minor hockey exhibi tion game mite select their regular jeremy hughes scored twice while tyler wright tylor ryan taylor peterson and adam doren each added singles assists went to ryarr dunlop peterson ryan andrew burrows scott carrick and shane beaulieu by jim thomas correspondent ken benson is positive proof that academics and ath letics can be a good mix the former stouffville district secondary school grad now serving in the mis sion field near lisbon portugal established sports records that may never be equalled born in toronto benson and his parents moved to the gormley area in 1962 after attending public schools at buttonvflle dickson hill and richmond hill he enrolled at sdss while still in grade 7 was good in volleyball under the volleyball tute lage of jim rehill and peter sanderson the sdss spartans won six titles benson was named the teams top player in grades 11 12 and 13 but volleyball wasnt bensons only prime sport he also played on juvenile and junior championship fast ball teams that included pitch ing standouts jim chilvers and randy underwood played on championship fastball teams it was a privilege to watch jim chilvers pitch says benson he was brilliant we got to ride the fire truck a few times he laughs following grade 13 benson enrolled at ontario bible college in toronto before going to laurentian university in sudbury where he majored in physical education while there he cocap tained the mens volleyball team and coached a girls club squad after obtaining his teachers certificate from queens university in kingston he studied for his masters degree at the university of western ontario in london for three years benson taught at stouffville christian school however it was gods call ing that took him to sarnia where he served as a youth pastor from 1988 to 1991 later he joined a church planting team in coquitlam bc before returning to the teaching profession at a school outside vancouver moved to portugal in 1998 in 1998 the missionary church recommended he serve in viseu portugal where he remains with his wife and two daughters but once an athlete always an athlete he also serves as a track and field instructor and is a member of a running club