Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-06-12, Page 16This Week in .press lose two games in Ha • Exeter wins Masters tourn S.HDH.S honors top athletes Awards banquet wraps up successful 1995-96 athletic season, 85 students win awards EXETER - South Huron District High School took a time-out last Tuesday to recognize and honor the school's top athletes. The South Huron Athletic Awards Banquet, held in the gym- nasium, marked the end of a suc- cessful 1995-96 season as 85 awards were handed out to the stu- dents that excelled in their chosen sport. South Huron wrapped up their athletic ppogram on a winning note last week when track and field ath- lete, Josh Watson won an All - Ontario Championship in the 1500 m wheelchair event after clinching the OFSAA west regional pre- liminaries. The junior boys volleyball team were Huron -Perth finalists and SHDHS award recipients. From back row left, Adam Jean (Paw Award), Bryan with a "y" McAllister (Panther Award), Marty Debruyn (senior boy athlete of the year), Dave Farquhar (junior boy athlete of the year). Front row from left, Cara Gardner (senior girl student of the year), Lori Richardson (junior girl athlete of the year) and Usa Campbell (Paw Award). Watson wins All -Ontario Championship at OFSAA TORONTO - Josh Watson has won an All -Ontario Champion- ship at the OFSAA track and field meet held at Kitchener's Centennial Stadium on Friday. Watson won a gold medal after winning the 1,500 m. open boys wheelchair event covering the distance in 8:12.57minutes, a new personal best for Watson who beat the second place com- petitor by two minutes and twenty seconds. The grade 12 South Huron District High School student shaved 32 seconds oft his last best time during WOSSA last year. That same year he placed third in OFSAA but he was to finally achieve the recognition of being the fastest in the ince and he iso Ile this yea Watson sari ` `e sea: time for training. "I did it out of determination," he said adding that he already has another gold medal in sight for next year. WOSSA semi-finalists, the junior boys basketball team clinched a Huron Championship and placed second in Huron -Perth. The midget boys basketball won a Huron Championship as did the junior boys soccer team who then placed second in Huron -Perth. Enriched with an abundance of talent, the senior boys soccer team blossomed last season to easily clinch a Huron -Perth Champion- ship and gave the big city schools a run for their money at WOSSA before finishing as semi-finalists. Despite a hard-fought game the field hockey team lost their bid for another A11 -Ontario crown placing third at OFSAA in an emotional tourney prior to claiming the Hu- ron -Perth and WOSSA Champion- ships. However, their plight re- kindled the school's spirit as a bus load of fans travelled to Toronto to cheer them on. Growing beneath the shadow of South Huron's defunct football program, the Rugby team has gained a lot of popularity and this year a girls' rugby team was intro- duced. During the banquet special awards were given to 17 individual students who had an exceptional year with their athletics and ac- ademics. Joe Maskell, John Maskell and Dwayne McNab won the John Pe- ters o-ters Memorial Award for their dedication to the sport of bas- ketball. Heather Davies and Marty Debruyn won the Mike Prendergast Memorial Award for combining excellence in academics and bas- ketball. Adam Jean earned the Jer- emy Truemner. Memorial Award for his display of leadership, in- tegrity and sportsmanship. Students Sunny Dinney, Wilhelm, Mark Bell and Dave Farquhar will rep- resent SHDHS at the On- tario Education Lead- ership Camp and the athletes of the year were seniors,Cara Gardner and Marty Debruyn. Junior winners were Lori Rich- ardson and Dave Far- quhar. The Paw Award re- cipients, presented to a male and fe- male currently taking a physical education course while playing two major sports were Lisa Campbell and Adam Jean. The prestigious Panther Award given to a gradu- ating student for outstanding achievement and contribution to athletics at South Huron throughout high school went to Bryan McAl- lister. When guest speaker, Jon Fore- man, track and field athlete and team captain for the University of Western Ontario, addressed the young athletes he reminded them of the benefits of playing sports but asked them to look at athletics from a broader perspective. Theresa "Raw talent and hard work will always lead to success no matter what you do." "Raw talent and hand work will always lead to success no matter what you do," said Foreman. "In the end when you hang up your athletic gear, the values and social bonds you've made will stay with you for a long time." In her opening remarks Pat Rowe, Athletic Director, asked the students to thank their coaches and other teachers who vol- unteered their time to develop them as ath- letes. "Every year our coaches spend endless hours coaching...we sometimes take them for granted but without them sports at this school would not be possible," she said. In a more serious note, Rowe ad- . dressed the audience of young ath- letes and their parents warning them that cutbacks and downsizing will change the face of high school sports. In the future, and perhaps starting as soon as the next school year, there will be less sports of- fered to students and the whole athletic program may become a user -pay system. "The golden age of high school sports is over. We are going to have° to take a good look at what sports will be offered but it's not an en- couraging picture," said Rowe. Rugbytean:i, a measure of suc t EXETER « Ass, the athletid year fdr Sobth Huron District High School draws to :a close, many of the teams will look back upon last season and measure their success by how many wins they've had. However, the most successful athletic teams could very well be the ones that recorded the least wins. The SHDHS boys rugby team finished the season with one win tight losses and a tie. Similarly, the girls rugby team had a one win and four losses to their record. But there are other ways to measure success. The fact that South Huron has a girls team is a success story considering one had not ex- isted the year before. Physical education teacher Terry O'Rourke introduced an exhibition girls team this year that became popular instantly and O'Rourke ' said the girls didn't take long to get used to. the tackling. 1t took then; half a game to get use to it but after that they realized it's not that tough," he said. Most of their games were designed to give them the opportunity to apply some of the skills and strategies of the sport which can be very confusing to the uneducated spectator. Ahnost all of the five schools in Huron -Perth that have a girls rugby program are well es- tablished and far more experienced, but South' Huron did manage to win 10-5 against St Mar- ys. The boys team claimed their only victory over F.E. Madill winning the game at the Hu- ron -Perth tournament. Only in its third year the boys rugby program has come a long way in developing players as well as attracting a number of interested spectators. Between both teams there were ap- proximately 50 students involved with the sport. O'Rourke said he tries to prevent the • season schedule from ° ' i ng with ex- isting programs but he feels rugby appeals to a majority of students who don't normally participate in other sports. Despite the little air time rugby receives on local television sports networks, or the lack of a popular super -star team such as the highly tooted Toronto Raptors boasting a horde of commercial icons, rugby has managed to grow in popularity among SHDHS students. For both boys and girls. Yet O'Rourke said he measures the success of the, school's rugby programs differently. During an athletic banquet held at SHDHS last Tuesday, O'Rourke explained. "I feel we had a good season. Rugby is a rough sport and this year we only had one broken nose, one dislocated shoulder, llttle loss of blood and a slight fracture of the meta- carpal bone." The Brands, a day at the track By anis Scos T -A Reporter , EXETER - Mark and Brenda Brand of Exeter are not your average married couple. Five dams a week they are preoccupied with their work and raising their two children, but on weekends, they can be found drag racing their family vehicles down the quarter mile track at Grand Bend Mo- torplex. Mark has been racing at the track since it officially opened last year. He drives a 1979 Super stock 2-28 with a 275 horse power engine. Af- ter watching Mark race last year Brenda deckled to try her hand at it and this year she started racing a 1983 Jeep Eagle street car with a stock engine. Last month, Motorplex held its first annual Street Nationals, a race strictly for street cars. Mark and Brenda entered the 35 car contest but after a few elimination runs it came down to the last five cars and sud- denly Brenda and Mark found themselves tip against each other. Side -by side at the starting line, with both engines reving, all mar- riage vows are forgotten as one spouse tries to outdo the other when the light turns green. With the loser facing elimination and the winner looking at a month's worth of breakfast table bragging rights, it was husband against wife in a streetcar showdown. Mark won the race eliminating his wife from the contest and went on to beat a Cavalier in the finals to claim the giant five foot trophy awarded to the first place racer. Brenda placed fourth overall. The Brands participate in what is called bracket racing. A common misconception about drag racing depicts two cars racing side by side with the winner going to whoever crosses the finish line first. Bracket racing isn't about how fast you go, it's how consistent you run your car. Prior to the race drivers are allowed time trials or practice runs to see how fast their car is running. From that they predict how fast their car will run down the track. This is called a dial -in time and the driver closest to their time wins. Both Mark and Brenda broke -out meaning they went faster than their dial -ins, how- ever, Mark's time was closer so he was declared the winner. Brenda said she wasn't bitter about the loss even though Mark was gloating about the win for the rest of the week "It's just for fun, besides he has more experience than I do," she said. Mark admitted he felt bad having to eliminate his wife from the race...for about two minutes. The week before she won second place In the tro- phy cldss and rubbed it in as far as it ,*ld get. The Brands, with their son Nick and daughter Kaitlyn go to the track every weekend, and Mark who is seriously con- sidering oo-sidering buying a faster car to rage in the pro class next year, considers himself fortunate that his wife and children sham his passion for drag racing. "It's very much a family out- ing and it really encourages me to know they are involved like that," said Mark. 1�