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Times Advocate, 1991-01-09, Page 10Page 10 . Times -Advocate, January 9, 1991 SPORTS Lots of groomedtrails for cross-country skiers PINERY PARK - The winter outdoorsman is back for another season. ' While local skiers will have to drive .to London if they want to glide down the big hills, cross- country skiers have got one of the finest set of well-groomed trails right here in their own backyard. The Pinery Provincial Park, lo- cated just a few short kilometres from the village of Grand Bend has had cross-country trails since the mid 1970's. "It was in about 1978 when we expanded our trails and we're up to 52 kilometres right now," said park superintendent Terry Crabe. When skiers hit the trails at the Pinery Park, it's not before many hours of work by the park staff. "When we get enough snow, they're groomed and track -set. There is a machine we use to groom them, or flatten them. It de- pends on the snow condition." While one machine goes over the trails and packs them, another ma- chine comes along and sets the trails, one going in each direction. Crabe said 42 kilometers of the cross-country trails are set this way while another 10 are left alone and is used for skate skiing. He stressed the importance of skate skiers not to go on the 42 kilometres of tracked trails. Skate skiing is a dif- ferent style of cross-country skiing. Pinery Park is one of the very few provincial parks in Ontario that has cross-country skiing. "Most of them are closed in the winter, alot of them have trails but they're not maintained, for southern Ontario, we're one of the few with trails," said Crabe. When skiers hit the trails at the Pinery Park they should take cer- tain precautions, one being not to go out and do 2.0 kilometers the first time out. That just discourages skiers an they probably won't be back to en- joy the sport. "Our biggest precaution here is if you're skiing in a group, stay to- gether. Whenever we get someone lost, its the guy with the map who takes off." "At every junction we have a map posted, all they have to do is follow the tracks." A couple of added features to the • park is that there are four campfires along the trails going on the week- end so skiers can' stop take a break' and enjoy the scenery. There is also a ski patrol. "On the weekend we have a vol- unteer ski patrol and they have radi- ," said Crabe. Pinery Park is known for its y deer, but Crabe said skiers en't come across too many. -"The deer will stay away from them. Most people are lucky to see a deer, they run off." Going into the woods at Pinery Park No wax skis are has = e -free EXETER - For those w s want to spend more time skiing and less time in preparation, there is . ype of cross-country ski that is meant for you. According to those ho sell cross-country skis, the waxless ski is virtu- ally hassle free. Scott Bogart at the RSD Sports Den in Exeter, explains tnere is wnat ne describes as a "fish scale, in the glide zone." That's a groove about two - and -a -half feet long in the ski base. There is virtually no difference in price between the no -hassle versions and the skis in which you wax yourself. For those who enjoy waxing and putting that special attention into their skis, there are different types of waxes. The basic one is called a plus-minus wax. Application depends on whether the temperature is above (plus) or below (minus) freezing. The type of snow, crunchy or fluffy, will also determine the kind of wax used. Other 19cal stores which carry cross-country equipment are MacLeans and Canadian Tire in Exeter and Leisure Time Sports in Grand Bend. Pat Soldan of Leisure Time, explained the length of a cross-country ski varies from 30 to 220 centimeters. Why the difference? "You gauge the .length of the ski by the height of the person," said Sol- dan who added the average length is between 150 and 195 centimeters. Leisure Time Sports offers a complete line of cross-country skis and also has rentals of $12 per day or they can be rented by the hour. The two most popular type of bindings are the 75 millimeter square toed binding and the Ski Nordic System which is a steel clip, boot acuoawhich is released by the skiers poles. Poles are either made of fibreglass, wood or grafite and there is a simple method in determing what pole is best for you. Stand in your cross-country ski boots and the poles should touch the 'ground and fit under your arms. If you've got the nght poles, and skis you feel comfortable in, you're ready to hit the trails.' .F More wai - Mary Ellen Miller of Exeter, puts wax on her wooden skis prior to hitting the trails at the Morrison Dam on Saturday af- ternoon. Junior D roundup Kernick, Needham to coach west division all-star team Saturday LANGTON - Exeter's John Ker - nick and Lucan's Ken Needham will be behind the bench for the west division on Saturday when Langton hosts the Western Ontario Junior 'D' Hockey League All-Star game. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. the reception is at 5:30 p.m. in Langton, home of the Thunder- birds who are celebrating their 15th anniversary. Needham, coach of the Irish will take defenceman Todd Hayter and. captain Brian Schuyler as well as the west division's top goaltender Bob Szabo who had a 2.59 goals against average as of December 31. For the Hawks of Exeter, Ker - nick will also take three players, Jeff Dalrymple and forward Derek Shackleton. Goalie Dean Fratar- cangeli, 2.73 average, will also play, he suited up in last year's all- star game, representing the Irish. Rounding out the west division are, Rob Perrier, Mark Redden, goalie Bill Hellems (2.76), Port Stanley; Scou McDonald, Scou Wiacek, Lambeth; Shawn Reddick, Colin Dobbin, Alvinston; Rick Tales, Jason Palmer, Belmont; John Taylor, Trevor Harmer, Mitchell; Karsten Carroll, Paul McLlwain, Seaforth; Greg Weston, Shaun Tay- lor, Mt. Brydges. Bob Henderson, coach of the de- fending Ontario champion Thames - ford Trojans, ander$ 1mont's Brian Muscat will coach the east division squad. Although Muscat's Pests play in the west, they were in the east division last year. The Trojans will be represented by goalie Scou McKnight, 4.03, Justin Henry and Bob Brown. Other east division members are: Bruce Sayles, Allan Midhurst, Ayr, Todd Good, Paul Smith, Burford; David Lonsbury, Tony Mayos, Del- hi; Mark Potter, Mike Ghesquiere, Langton; Rob Hopper, Jason Coul- ter, (playing for injured Jamie Scott); Wellesley; Mark Fraser, Don Burton, goalie Jason Cassidy (4.18), Tavistock; Jeff Collings, Darrin Miller, goalie Rob Punter (4.65), Paris; Robert Bomberry, Carl Jonathon, Oshweken. Jonathon is the son of coach and former Poston Bruin Stan Jona- thon'. As of December 31, Thames - ford's Brown is the east division leading scorer with 31 goals and 29 assists for 60 points while Mark Redden of Port Stanley leads the east division at 21-21-42 followed by Exeter's Doug Clark at 19-21- 40. Dean Fratarcangell ..,goalie Ken Needham ...coach Too much individual play hurts Irish LUCAN - Wjiat went wrong with the Lucan Irish? Wednesday night they were bcaten'4-2 by the visiting Lambeth Lancers. After winning all eight games in November, the Irish are 5-4-1 since December 5th. Tonight Lu - can hosts the Port Stanley Lakers, who are just three points behind the Irish in the standings. Exeter - Hawks arc tied for second. Against the Lancers the Irish had a strong opening 20 minutes and led 2-0. But the visitors scored two unanswered goals to tie it in the second and with 1:01 left in regulation, popped the winner. "The first 20 minutes was fine. we outplayed them," said Lucan coach Ken Needham. "it's all individual play. That's all, their thinking about. We haven't had a give -and -go play in three weeks," he added. Lucan started the scoring when Jon McEachern stole the puck in the Lambeth end and put it past Brent Lewis. McEachem, a vete- ran forward, has been playing bet- ter and agrded with hfs coach about the team's biggest problem. "Everyone has been a little selfish lately. We're not wprking as a team. Everyone is afraid to hit. No one's playing it It was just 9:21 into the game when Greg Muir 1 1 _auris moped one around the net, catchinggo•, intthe other way.. Comeback: Steve Simons pu11P1 the Lancers to within one en a scramble and it was tied when Rob Fletcher got his first of two. Lucan goalie Dan Jenken appeared to be screened on Fletcher's shot. The game looked as though it was going to go, into overtime even though both teams had their chanc- es to score in the third period. Lu - can's Jamie Pearce couldn't finish off an end-to-end rush and at the other end. Jenken robbed Fletcher with a big sprawling glove save. But in the closing minutes `the Lancers were all over the Irish goal and after Scott MacDonald hit the side of the net, Fletcher backhand- ed one along the ice in behind Jenk- en. "We're not picking up the man in the slot," said Needham. "On that winning goal there was two of them there and it was a toss up which one was going to shoot it into the net." With 22 seconds left, Steve Plas- keu fired the puck down the ice and into the open rink to give the Lanc- ers their ninth win of the season. The Irish are the team to beat in the west division but McEachern says he and his teammates aren't taking their first place status for granted. "There are a lot of good teams in this division that just aren't playing Hawks iiiake It three straight good hockey. We have to come out every night ready to play." Lucan could be without the ser- vices of captain Brian Schuyler for some time as he suffered a leg inju- ry and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. Luck channs...There were only eight minor penalties called in the game, five of those to the Irish..xecutive members are look- ing for any old pictures of the team so if you've got any laying around in your attic, give them a call.. MITCHELL - A defensive game saw the Exeter Hawks beat host Mitchell Hawks 3-1. Wednesday night. It was Exeter's third straight win as they closed the gap on the division leading Lucan Irish. On Wednesday, Exeter took a 1-0 lead when Jim Dickins teamed with linematcs Derek Shackleton and Shayne Robinson at the 5:2Q mark. The visitors took a two goal lead into the first intermission as Shackleton con- nected from Robinson and David Dalrymple. Mark Reid and Herten Tinney combined to make it 3-0 at 16:32 of the second and 18 seconds later Mitchell's Jamie Hislop got one past Dean Pratarcangeli. There was no scoring in the game In which Exeter took six minor penal- ties and Mitchellhad ve. Exeter hosted the Alvinston Pryers last night and Friday take on the vis- iting Port Stanley Lakers. • Exeter Mixed Shuffleboard January 2 3 game winners Alva Heywood 235 Eldon Heywood 183 4 game winners M. Eizenga 286 Howard Johns 282 Edna Caldwell 267 Wm. Baechler 243 Shirley Wright ' 241 January 3 4 game winners Mabel McKnight 294 • Howard Johns 270 Ted Wright 223 Charles Tindall winners JohnepTindall 363 Estelle Chalmde. 354 Lloyd Lovell Hugh McKay �03 P t+p Lucan's Andy Ross, right; collided with a Lambeth Wledneso' night but It didn't slow the Lancers down as they turn the Junior D' game 4-2.