8 - The Prince George Citizen - Tuesday, April 29, 2003
                                                                               JIM SWANSON Sports Editor 562-2441 Ext. 400
Sports
                                                                     CITIZEN SPORTS Fax line: 562-7453 E-mail: sports@prlncegeorgecltlzen.com Ted Clarke, 562-2441 ext. 401 Jason Peters, 562-2441 ext. 402 DIRECT SPORTS LINE: 562-3101
Judo popularity on the rise in P.G.
                                                                                                 by TED CLARKE Citizen staff
  Judo has a solid grip on Prince George.
  Unprecedented growth in the sport the past few years has filled three local clubs and that’s translated into success at the provincial and national level.
  As many as 17 athletes from our city will compete in either the senior national championships next month or the junior nationals in July.
  “There are more clubs now and that gives a bit of variety,” said College Heights club head instructor Christian Hausot. “There are just a lot of good people in the city and if we get them to do judo and teach them properly they’ll stick to it. They only stick if they have success and that’s what’s happening.”
  The city now has three clubs — the Prince George Judo Club, College Heights Judo Club and Hart Judo Academy — and all are thriving.
  “The three clubs all travel lots and are competing a lot more and the level of judo in Prince George has just gone way up because of that,” said Prince George club coach Aline Strasdin.
  The Hart club has about 120 members and 60 make up the Prince George club. College Heights is bursting at the seams with 153 members in its College Heights Plaza location, which makes it the largest judo club in Canada west of Toronto. The club will move to a larger location
in Spruceland Mall in June.
  Hart Academy head instructor Bruce Kamstra predicts Prince George will have at least a few national medal winners in this and in coming seasons.
  “With all these clubs in the Prince George area, we’re going to be a powerhouse in B.C. for sure just because of our numbers,” Kamstra said. “Christian loves judo more than life itself and Aline has a real passion for judo and the kids get their enthusiasm for the sport from the instructors.”
  Eight members of the College Heights club, including Kaitlyn Woodhouse, Mason Schneider, Ted Dillman, Kyle McGregor, Daniel Yurussi, Jenna McGregor, Christina Goldthorpe and Briana Woodhouse are on the B.C. junior team.
  The junior squad also includes Jessica Schmit of the Hart Judo Academy, and Prince George club members Kyle Adams, Silvia Amodeo, Nick Angus and Marina Crick. Prince George club member Ashley Strasdin is also in the running for a spot but will have to beat Sheena Timleck of the Hart club in a fight-off to qualify. Shaun Zoemack of the Prince George club is listed as an alternate for the team.
  Kaitlyn Woodhouse, Amodeo and College Heights club members Randy McGregor and Adriano Bernardo will fly the city’s flag competing in the senior national championships, May 24-26 in Saskatoon.
 Miworth race a breeze for Bilodeau
  A cool, blustery wind couldn’t put the freeze on Trent Bilodeau.
  Bilodeau easily won a Prince George Roadrun-ners 8.5 kilometre race Sunday in Miworth. Bilodeau competed in the open male category and stopped the clock at 53 minutes 58 seconds, almost a full minute ahead of the second-place runner, William Owen (54:57).
  A 5km distance was also part of the Miworth run. The overall 5km winner was Sean Kennedy, who competed in the open male category and finished in a time of 17:29.
  In the 8.5km race, class winners were Jill Rowe (grand masters female, 1:28:35); Lynne Kehler (masters female, 1:07:11); Nadine Atwell (open female, 1:02:26); Ron Empey (grand masters
male, 58:42); and Kevin Davidson (masters male, 1:01:29).
  In the 5km distance, runners who won their categories were Suzanne Sharp (grand masters female, 25:21); Kirsty Flick and Kali Flick (junior female, both 23:22); Karen MacKay (masters female, 25:08); Amy Ford and Hippy Hoehn (open female, 20:33); David Liscumb (grand masters male, 21:38); Tim Kostovich (junior male, 31:21); and John Huybers (masters male, 21:59).
  In total, 61 runners participated, including Andrea Jancicka of Victoria. Jancicka, in the open female category, completed the 5 km distance in a time 27:42.
  The next event for the Roadrunners is the Pineview 10km on May 7.
                                                                                                                      Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Darien Chow of Duchess Park has the edge over Kat Sewell of John Mclnnis In the pursuit of a loose ball during the final game at the Grade 8 district tournament.
Duchess Park pulls off upset
         by JASON PETERS
                  Citizen staff
    A win can't get much sweeter.
    Duchess Park 1 had not beaten the John Mclnnis Royals all season in Grade 8 girls basketball. But, Saturday night at PGSS, Duchess used a dominant second half to knock the crown off the Royals and claim the district championship title.
    Duchess, seeded second to the Royals in the 11-team tournament, outscored John Mclnnis 15-2 after the halftime break and left the court with a 22-17 victory. Duchess Park’s first lead of the game came late in the fourth quarter when guard Sam Martin found all net from three feet inside the three-point line. Her long-range bomb put Duchess ahead 18-17.
    A field goal by Gaby Lavaggi gave Duchess some breathing room and Martin then ended the scoring with a banker off the glass from the top of the key.
    “That (game-winning) basket was a little fluky but she played excellent,” Duchess coach Kristen Haines said of Martin, who finished the night with five points. “I wasn’t too sure if it was going to go in but that turned out to be the winner right there. After that, we just kept putting them in and kept going.”
Lavaggi and Melissa Kiefer also chipped in with five points each for Duchess.
  The Royals got a great final game from Jessica Daniels, who led her team with 10 points. John Mclnnis, however, failed to build on the 15-7 lead it had at halftime. Turnovers and a steady string of shots that would not fall doomed the Royals in the second half.
  “We kind of lost our intensity,” said John Mclnnis coach Corrin Peet. “We thought we had the game and we got a bit too egotistical. We stopped hustling. Maybe we ran out of energy.” Other members of the district champion Duchess team are Kayla Nishino-Walberg, Laura Fettis, Katelynn Buchner, Jocelyn Siddall, Kayla Bertrand, Brittani Duncalf and Darien Chow.
  “They did excellent,” Haines said of her players and the season they had. “They’ve improved so much and they’re so talented. They’re going to be an excellent team when they’re in Grade 12.”
  D.P. Todd finished third in the tournament and was named most sportsmanlike team.
  ■ In the boys Grade 8 district championship tournament at D.P. Todd, Cedars Christian School defeated Duchess Park in the tournament final and D.P. Todd downed Lakewood for bronze.
Gordon golden in Terrace
  In a city known for its great fishing, Kayla Gordon hooked four gold medals.
  Gordon, a member of the Prince George Gymnastics Club, was in top form at the Terrace Peaks Invitational on the weekend. Competing in the KIP (Kids in Progress) division, she grabbed gold medals in vault, bars, beam and floor.
  One of Gordon’s clubmates, Taylor Lamothe, earned three golds (vault, bars, beam) and a silver (floor) in KIP.
  Also in KIP, Aliesha McCabe, Caitlin Nelson and Tiana Rossi all leaped to gold medals in vault.
  In other local results, Merissa Sigfusson placed
first overall in Level 1 argo. On her individual events, she took first on bars, second on vault, sixth on beam and sixth on floor. Top-three overall finishes were also produced by Alexa Lamothe (second in Level 1 argo), Charlotte Murray (second in Level 2 novice), Barb Olson (second in Level 2 open), Danielle Steele (third in Level 1 argo) and Corey Rossi (third in Level 2 novice).
  ■ The Zone 8 Championships will be held on Saturday at the Prince George Gymnastics Club. Gymnasts from Prince George, Quesnel, Williams Lake, Mackenzie, Fort St. John and Valemount will attend.
Lakers lose Fox for rest of playoffs
  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers forward Rick Fox of Toronto will miss the rest of the post-season with a torn tendon in his left foot that will require surgery.
  An MRI test done Monday before the team departed Los Angeles revealed the damage. There was no estimated timetable for Fox’s return. Fox hasn’t decided yet when he’ll have the operation,
team spokesman John Black said before the Lakers practiced in Minneapolis.
   Fox was hurt early in the first quarter of Sunday’s 102-97 win.
   Fox averaged eight points in the first three games of the best-of-seven series. The first-round series is tied at two games apiece, with Game 5 at Minnesota tonight.
Under-16 Heat red hot at club volleyball provincials
                                                                                                 by JASON PETERS Citizen staff
  At the beginning of club volleyball season, members of the Prince George Heat were given a choice.
  On the backs of their jerseys, right between the shoulder blades, they could either affix their last names or the name of the city they were representing. To a man, they opted to have ‘Prince George’ fill the space.
  In Burnaby on the weekend, the Heat gave Prince George a provincial championship in the boys under-16 division.
  “They wanted ‘Prince George’ because they wanted everybody to know that the provincial champions are from Prince George,” said Heat coach John Masich, whose team wrapped up the B.C. title on Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Fraser Valley. "That’s what these guys are about — team effort and they’re proud of their community.”
  In the tournament final, the top-seeded Heat downed third-ranked Fraser Valley 25-22, 25-21.
  “It was always kind of close at the beginning (of our matches) and then we would just start pulling away," said Masich, who is assisted by James Fowlie. “We just had way too many guns. Our three bench players could start on any other team in that tournament. And our starters were just amazing for the last three matches.”
  The Heat swept all three of its matches in round robin play and then beat Vancouver in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal match against East Kootenay. The East Kootenay club was the only opponent to take a set off the Heat in the tournament, 25-23 in the first. After that, the Heat melted the East Kootenay attack with 25-18 and 15-4 victories. The key factor for Prince George was neutralizing East Kootenay power hitter Blake Giles.
  “He had six or seven kills and six or seven points on serve (in the first set) but he was their
whole team and we adjusted in the second set,” Masich said. “He had one or two hits in the next two sets. Our blocking was big.”
   As an indication of just how talented the Heat is, at the end of the tournament eight team members were invited to attend the Team B.C. tryout camp for the age group, which will be held in July in Vancouver. Heat players asked to attend the camp were Bryce Asham, Curtis Mayes, Byron Jung, Connor Steeves, Ryan Thibault, Scott Fowhe, Robert Lanenga and Colen Wilson. Other members of the B.C. champion Heat are Hanspaul Pannu and Gerren Martin.
   Asham, a power hitter, and Mayes, a middle blocker, were named all-stars at the provincial tournament, held at Simon Fraser University.
   The Heat will now attend club nationals, set for the end of May in Calgary.
   Top-Flite, an under-16 girls team from Prince George, placed seventh in its provincial tournament. Top-Flite was ranked third heading into the
event but dropped its final two playoff matches in three sets, the first loss to Nanaimo and the second to Thunder Elite of Vancouver.
  ■ While the Heat was winning gold in Burnaby, the P.G. Impact was pulling off the same feat in Coquitlam at the boys under-15 provincial tournament. The Impact, coached by Glenn Wong, defeated White Rock 25-16, 25-12 in the championship final. The Impact used a 25-18, 25-20 semifinal victory against Victoria to advance to the championship match.
  Overall in the tournament, the Impact dropped just one set.
  Team members are Lloyd Bjorklund, Alex Burkinshaw, Jeremy Iwanosky, Chris Jewesson, Simon Loewen, Alex Reed, Kyle Robertson, Jared Simpson, Jamie Steel, Mitch Tzvetcoff, Brennan Veeken, Dustin Wilson and Scott Zacharuk. The assistant coach is Jay-Anna Major Briere.
  The Impact will attend nationals for the under-15 age group in Calgary at the end of May.
10 years later, Seles still traumatized by stabbing
 Monica Seles was stabbed by a deranged Steffi Graf fan In 1993 while playing In the Hamburg Open.
AP file photo
                                                                                               Associated Press
  Women’s tennis changed dramatically 10 years ago, altered forever in the middle of an otherwise ordinary match by a man with a knife.
                                                                                       Monica Seles was resting during a changeover at the Hamburg Open.
She had gone through hundreds of them in a career that had taken her to the top of women’s tennis.
  This one was not routine.
  The 19-year-old winner of six Grand Slam titles in the previous two years was towelling off in a chair, catching her breath for the next game against Magdalena Maleeva.
She had been sidelined for more than two months with a viral infection. She would have to pace herself in a match she was leading 6-4,4-3.
  Then, in an instant, Seles felt a sharp pain in her back.
  Guenter Parche had made his way through the stands to courtside. With no one stopping him, the German came up behind Seles and plunged a 12-centimetre knife into her back, just below her left shoulder blade.
  Seles screamed and collapsed, her face contorted by shock and pain. Aides rushed to her and she was taken to Hamburg Hospital.
  “Never mind the personal implications, the life-altering event that was,” Martina Navratilova said. “It changed the course of tennis history. We’ll never know what she might have been, how many more slams she would have won.”
  The attack reverberated across sports. Players became more wary of fans, teams and organizers were forced to re-examine security arrangements.
  Even now, with Wednesday the 10th anniversary of the attack in Germany, Seles thinks the prominent players are vulnerable.
                                                                                 “You’re totally accessible,” she said. “There’s no other sport that you’re as accessible as in tennis.”
                                                                                 Seles does not like to talk about that violent day in Germany, but last month at a Florida tournament
she was asked about her career.
   “I really don’t dwell in the past,” she said. “Would I change? Yeah, I wish I didn’t get stabbed and played and competed at the highest level for those few years.”
   Parche was obsessed with Steffi Graf, who was competing with Seles for the top spot in women’s tennis. By injuring Seles, he reasoned, he would give Graf an edge. He was right about that.
   Navratilova had Chris Evert to create one of the great rivalries in sports. But Graf never really had Seles, who arrived on the scene after Graf swept the four Grand Slam tournaments in 1988.
   Seles was the No. 1 player when she was attacked. She had won the Australian, French and U.S. Open titles in each of the previous two years. There had been three straight Australian crowns after Graf had won three in a row there. Seles had won 30 singles titles in just five years, eight of them Grand Slams.