Team BC RSS News

RUGBY'S NATHAN HIRAYAMA HELPS CANADA TO INTERNATIONAL WIN (2/3/2012)

2/3/2012

The Canadian men's rugby sevens topped their pool of France, Australia and Kenya yesterday, Feb.2 at the Wellington Sevens tournament in New Zealand. Coached by Geraint John, Vikes members Sean Duke (Vancouver, BC) and Nathan Hirayama (Team BC 2005 Canada Summer Games - Richmond, BC) helped the Canadian side secure succession into the quarter finals after victories over France and Kenya.

SOCCER'S SUMMER CLARKE TO DRESS FOR NATIONAL SIDE (2/1/2012)

2/1/2012

Summer Clarke's (Team BC 2011 Western Canada Summer Games) U17 national team commitments have taken her to Florida this week for a 10-day training camp that is highlighted by a friendly against Germany on Saturday.

The Richmond native is among 22 players invited to participate as Canada prepares for the upcoming 2012 CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championship in Guatemala this May. The eight team championship will qualify three teams to the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup later this year.

After an outstanding 2011 campaign that saw Clarke help the Richmond Red Hot Selects win the U16 Provincial Cup then play for Team B.C., the fleet footed forward earned an invitation to a national team camp in California last August and has been a fixture with the program since. In December, she helped Canada complete a two game sweep of Mexico by scoring a goal in a 2-0 series opening win.

The Florida camp marks head coach Bryan Rosenfeld's fourth project with the 1995-born players since the summer.

"The Germany international match will be a good test for our team," said Rosenfeld. "At the same time, we must keep things in perspective as it is a friendly and not an official competition match."

Source: Richmond News

PRINCE GEORGE SPORTS HALL OF FAME RECOGNIZES TEAM BC ATHLETES (2/1/2012)

2/1/2012

A dozen of the city's top young athletes will be recognized for their achievements by the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame on March 31.

That night, at the Hart Community Centre, the PGSHOF will hand out Youth Excellence Awards to Sarah Beaudry (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games - biathlon), Danica Ludlow (Team BC 2011 Western Canada Summer Games - swimming), Erika Morris (Team BC 2011 Western Canada Summer Games - volleyball), Emma Balazs (track and field, cross country running), Sarah Gomes (soccer), Ashley Anderson (diving), Colin Carson (volleyball), Brett Bulmer (hockey), Jeff Strong (five-pin bowling), Brian Clyne (taekwon-do), Jesse Pettis (motocross) and Brandon Deschamps (football).

The awards will be presented during the hall of fame's ninth induction banquet. The latest inductees are Lyle Dickieson (canoeing, speed skating), Niilo Itkonen (cross country skiing), David Jenkins (lacrosse), Dale McMann (softball) and Sylvia Hausot (judo).

The guest speaker is Stuart Ballantyne, CEO of the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

Source: Prince George Citizen

SWIMMER RICHARD WEINBERGER EDGES CLOSER TO OLYMPIC BERTH (2/1/2012)

2/1/2012

Canada has never qualified a swimmer for any open-water event at the Olympics. Don't bet against Richard Weinberger (Team BC 2009 Canada Summer Games) of Victoria being the first Canuck to do so.

The rapidly emerging 10K star continues leaving a splashy imprint on the path to the 2012 London Summer Games. So much so he may be edging in to join pool swimmer Ryan Cochrane, triathlete Paula Findlay and rowers David Calder, Malcolm Howard and Lindsay Jennerich as an Island-based podium threat for London 2012.

Weinberger, who has yet to qualify for the Olympics despite recording some of the most impressive and noteworthy results of the past year, took another big stroke toward London by winning the bronze medal at the World Cup race Sunday in Santos, Brazil.

It was a near blanket finish as the UVic/Pacific Coast Club swimmer was across in two hours 11 minutes 42.34 seconds, behind world champion Spyros Gianniotis of Greece (2: 11: 39.51) and secondplace Nicola Bolzonello of Italy (2: 11: 41.44).

The race featured seven swimmers who have qualified for the Olympics and Weinberger placed ahead of six of them.

That followed Weinberger's victory last summer in the official Olympic test race in the Serpentine at Hyde Park and his gold medal in the 2011 Pan American Games at Guadalajara, Mexico.

"I'm very excited about this performance. It gives me a lot of confidence and it proves my strong results last year were no fluke,'' Weinberger said in a statement.

"To be racing side by side and keeping pace with a guy like [world champion] Spyros was exhilarating."

The 21-year-old Victorian already has accomplished that in beating Spyros Gianniotis - and also world championship silvermedallist Thomas Lurz of Germany - last year in the Olympic test race at London.

But that came after the 2011 world championships in Shanghai, from which the top 10 qualified for the Olympics. Weinberger was 17th at the worlds but has been torrid since.

The UVic economics major has certainly come a long way in the short time since winning two gold medals at the 2009 Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island.

"Richard can race with anyone," says veteran Victoria mentor Ron Jacks, who coaches Weinberger in open water.

Weinberger, who also trains at Saanich Commonwealth Place, is more used to the much colder waters of Elk and Thetis lakes than the warm waves of Brazil.

"The conditions were not in my favour, but still it is important for me to race in those kinds of situations," he added, in the statement.

"In London, the waters will be cold and flat and that'll be perfect for me."

Weinberger will be gunning for the last Olympic qualifier in June in Portugal.

Source: Victoria Times Colonist

BC'S MULTI-SPORT GAMES PREPARES ATHLETES FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION (1/31/2012)

1/31/2012

BC Winter Games offer an invaluable experience for young athletes, says Vanderhoof biathlon coach Paul Collard.

"It's a very important development step for them because it's the first multi-sport competition for most young athletes," the head of the Nechako Valley Sporting Association said.

Collard explains that multi-sport events like the BC Winter Games, give athletes a whole different experience.

"It's just a completely different feeling than being at a single sport competition," Collard said.

B.C. is lucky to have a number of these high level contests, to offer young athletes the experience needed to springboard them onto national and international multi-sport competitions.

"We get them started with the Northern Games," Collard explained, "then the BC Winter Games, Canada Games, then World Youth and now, initiated just this year, the Junior Winter Olympics."

The Nechako Valley area had an experienced BC Winter Games competitor hit the junior world stage this year, since Sarah Beaudry (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) was racing in the Junior Winter Olympics in Innsbruck Austria a couple of weeks ago. Last year she took a gold at the Canada Winter Games.

Beaudry trains with the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club in Prince George for biathlon.

There's many similarities between skiing style for cross country and biathlon (Biathlon if you weren't aware, incorporates target shooting as well as racing.)

Collard explained that the biathlon and cross country skiers train together at the club level, but they have different organizations representing their sport.

Source: Vanderhoof Omineca Express

SWIMMER RICHARD WEINBERGER WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT WORLD CUP (1/30/2012)

1/30/2012

Richard Weinberger (Team BC 2009 Canada Summer Games) of Victoria took another big step towards earning a berth on the Olympic team on Sunday winning the bronze medal in the men’s 10 kilometre race at a marathon swimming World Cup.

World champion Spiros Gianniotis of Greece won the gold medal in two hours and 11 minutes and 39.51 seconds. Nicola Bolzonello of Italy was second in 2:11:41.44 and Weinberger followed closely in 2:11:42.34.

Seven Olympic qualifiers from last year’s world championships were in the race and Weinberger finished ahead of six of them.

‘’I’m very excited about this performance,’’ said Weinberger, 21. ‘’It gives me a lot of confidence and it proves my strong results last year were no fluke.’’

Weinberger emerged on the international scene last year as a serious medal threat for the London Games highlighted by a victory on the Olympic course at a test event in the British capital.

‘’To be racing side by side and keeping pace with a guy like Spiros was exhilarating,’’ he said. ‘’There is still a long journey ahead but with continued serious training and hard work I feel that one day I can surpass him.’’

Sunday’s race was held in warm and choppy waters totally opposite conditions to those he’ll likely face in London

‘’The conditions were not in my favour today but still it is important for me to race in those kinds of situations,’’ Weinberger said. ‘’In London the waters will be cold and flat and that’ll be perfect for me.’’

The top-placing Canadian swimmer at either today’s race or the World Cup next Saturday in Argentina will be selected to attend the Olympic Marathon Qualifier in Portugal next June with hopes of grabbing one of the remaining Olympic spots.

Swimming Canada, the governing body for competitive swimming in Canada, will be selecting a team of 4 athletes (2 male, 2 female), to race under the maple leaf banner at the Olympic Marathon Qualifier.

TENNIS STAR REBECCA MARINO WITHDRAWS FROM FED CUP (1/27/2012)

1/27/2012

Tennis Canada announced Thursday that Rebecca Marino (Team BC 2005 Canada Summer Games, Vancouver, BC) has withdrawn from Fed Cup for personal family matters. Marie-Ève Pelletier (Repentigny, QC) will replace her on the Miele Canadian Fed Cup team which also includes Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, QC), Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) and Aleksandra Wozniak (Blainville, QC). The squad will compete in the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Americas Zone Group I event set to be held from January 30 to February 4, 2012 in Curitiba, Brazil.

CROSS COUNTRY SKIERS SHINE IN CANMORE (1/26/2012)

1/26/2012

Black Jack skiers put on a fine show at the Haywood NorAm Western Canadian Cross Country Ski Championships in Canmore on the weekend.

Close to 400 skiers participated in the event that saw British Columbia skiers win gold in seven of 10 categories and Black Jack skiers pick up multiple medals during the three-day event.

"We did quite good," said Black Jack coach Dave Wood. "Across the board the team did very well."

Former Black Jack skier Geoffrey Richards (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) cemented his spot as one of the nations best junior racers finishing first overall, while Black Jack's David Palmer picked up the silver.

Richards and Palmer finished first- and- second-place respectively for juniors in the Open Men's 15 and 10-K classic, while Julien Locke narrowly missed the podium, coming fourth in the junior men's 1.4-km free sprint while Richards claimed seventh.

Richards was selected to the World Junior Championship team after the trials in Whistler earlier this month while Palmer narrowly missed a spot.

"At the world junior trials he (Palmer) ended up ranked sixth overall and four were selected," said Wood. "This year he's been pretty solid in and around two to four in the junior category."

Palmer's specialty is the distance races as his finishes in the 10- and-15-K races indicate, added Wood.

Black Jack's Jillian Reynolds replicated last year's finish, collecting silver in the junior girls 5-K, as well as sixth in both the 10-km Classic and 0.8-km free sprint.

Teammate Susanne Fraser also won a silver medal in the junior girls 10-K and finished fifth in the sprint and 10th in the 5-K.

Former Black Jack skier Rebecca Reid (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) finished seventh overall for junior women's.

Shawn Degroot battled for bronze in the junior boys 7.5 km classic, fourth in the 10 K and sixth in the 1.2 km sprint
Daniel Merlo also had a good performance, racing to a third-place finish in the Midget Boys 2.5 km Classic and fifth in the 3.3 km.

Thirteen Black Jack skiers attended the Westerns in Canmore including young skiers like Merlo, Anika Nykanen, Megan Heximer, Robyn Locke, Michaela McLean, and Bronwyn Moore, who enjoyed a chance to ski in a major competition.

"We are a small club but one of the top performing clubs in the country," added Wood.

Merlo along with Nykanen will represent the Zone 1 Kootenay Team at the B.C. Winter Games next month in Vernon.

The next stop on the Black Jack ski season is the B.C. Cup in Prince George next weekend followed by the B.C. Championships and possibly the Eastern Canadians in Ottawa.

Courtesy: Trail Daily Times

VOLLEYBALL GOLD MEDALLIST COMMITS TO CAMOSUN COLLEGE (1/25/2012)

1/25/2012

The Camosun College Chargers women's volleyball team has landed one of the top prospect in the province.

Erika Morris (Team BC 2011 Western Canada Summer Games), a sixfoot-one outside hitter, is currently in Grade 12 at Prince George Secondary. She won gold last year with the B.C. team at the U-17 Western Canada Summer Games in Kamloops and gold again with B.C. at the U-18 National Team Challenge Cup in Winnipeg with current Camosun players Kelsey Clarke and Olivia Redden.

Morris was named to the the Province's Super 15 Female Senior's Class of 2012, as voted on by the head coaches of B.C.'s CIS volleyball programs. She received offers from several institutions but chose Camosun for the opportunity to play for Chargers head coach Chris Dahl, with whom she has worked on Team B.C. and the NTCC program over the summer.

"He [Dahl] is from Prince George and I worked with him last summer," said Morris in an interview with the Prince George Citizen.

"He is just a really honest good guy and a really good coach. I agree with lots of his techniques and philosophies."

Dahl is happy with landing the star player.

"Erika's commitment to the Chargers is another significant step in the growth of our program," he said, in a statement.

"She is a determined athlete. We look forward to advancing her game with the Camosun program."

The Chargers volleyball teams have byes this weekend and return to Pacwest action Feb. 3-4 against Douglas College in New Westminster.

Source: Victoria Times Colonist

VOTE FOR TEAM BC'S DYLAN ARMSTRONG AS SPORT BC'S TOP BC ATHLETE OF 2011 (1/24/2012)

1/24/2012

Sport BC, in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, encourages all British Columbians to have their say in naming the top BC athlete of 2011 by voting online at SportBC.com. The athlete who receives the highest number of votes will be honoured with the Best of BC award for his or her achievements at Sport BC’s 46th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards presented by TELUS.

Voters will be asked to choose the athlete they feel best represented BC nationally or internationally in either a professional or amateur sport from the following finalists:
• Dylan Armstrong (Team BC 2001 Canada Summer Games, Kamloops, BC) – Athletics, 2011 Pan American Games Gold Medalist
• Andrew Harris (Nanaimo, BC) – Football, 99th Grey Cup – Most Outstanding Canadian
• Paul McCallum (Surrey, BC) – Football, Record most consecutive field goals in the CFL
• Mark Recchi (Kamloops, BC) – Ice Hockey, Stanley Cup winning season
• Christine Sinclair (Burnaby, BC) – Soccer, 2011 Pan American Games Gold Medalist & flag bearer

The online vote, along with athlete profiles, can be found at SportBC.com/bestofbc. Voting closes on February 27, 2012 and the people’s choice for Best of BC will be revealed the following day. Previous winners of the Best of BC Award include Lauren Woolstencroft (Para Alpine Ski, 2010), Justin Morneau (Baseball, 2008) and Steve Nash (Team BC 1993 Canada Summer Games, Basketball, 2005 & 2006).

SIX TEAM BC ALUMNI WIN NATIONAL MEDALS AT FIGURE SKATING'S CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (1/23/2012)

1/23/2012

Six Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games alumni won National medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Moncton, NB.

Mitchell Gordon won the Gold medal and is the Junior Mens Champion of Canada
Madeline Edwards and Zhao Kai Pang won a Silver medal in Junior Dance
Haley Sales won a Bronze medal in Novice Women
Noa Bruser and Timothy Lum won a Bronze in Junior Dance

Aaron Lowe, 2011 Canada Winter Games Figure skating coach, coaches Edwards & Pang and Bruser & Lum.

BIATHLETE SARAH BEAUDRY 9TH AT YOUTH WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES (1/23/2012)

1/23/2012

Sarah Beaudry (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) of Prince George helped Canada to a 9th place finish out of 18 teams in the Biathlon mixed relay (2 men and 2 women per nation) at the Youth Olympic Games in Austria. The Canadians finished in 1:17:29.3 which was 6:22.5 off the gold medal pace.

Earlier in the week, Beaudry, a grade 12 Duchess Park student, ended up 14th out of 47 in the women's 7.5km Pursuit and 22nd in the 6km sprint.

Source: 94Xfm

SKI CROSS CHAMPION KELSEY SERWA'S INJURY ENDS SEASON (1/19/2012)

1/19/2012

Reigning ski cross world champion and X Games gold medallist Kelsey Serwa (Team BC 2007 Canada Winter Games) will sit out the rest of the 2011-12 World Cup season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during a race in Alpe d’Huez, France.

The 22-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., won the first two World Cup races of the season and was leading the overall standings when she landed awkwardly during the women’s final in Alpe d’Huez on Jan. 11. Serwa returned to Canada earlier this week and test results confirmed she has an ACL rupture, which will require surgery.

“I stepped on the pole of the girl in front of me before a jump,” explained Serwa. “I caught my leg and it got me all twisted and rotated – I was flying through the air. I landed on my feet but I was still rotating.

“I’m done for the year.”

Serwa has been a revelation since switching to ski cross from alpine in 2008. She’s become one of the sport’s biggest stars and looked like she had a shot at winning her first Crystal Globe after making a superb start to the current World Cup season.

“I’ll have to save it for another year,” Serwa said of the battle for the overall World Cup title. “I’m just going to rest and recover, try to keep my muscle (strength) and stay in a positive mindset. You hear of so many examples of people coming back before they are ready. I will see where I am at the start of next season.”

Serwa showed great courage to win world championship gold in 2011, only days after injuring her back en route to winning X Games gold. Although her back bothered her towards the end of last season, the ACL tear is the first serious injury of Serwa’s career. A date has not yet been set for surgery.

“I’ve just been thinking that of all the years you could get injured, this isn’t a bad year to do it,” said Serwa of the fact that there’s no world championships or Olympic Games this season.

“I’ve gone this long without having any major injuries.”

Eric Archer, head coach of the Canadian ski cross team, said injuries are an unfortunate reality of the sport.

“There’s no doubt she would have been in the mix at the end of the season (for the overall) and she knows that,” Archer said. “Kelsey’s crash was something that just happened. When she hit the ground, that’s when the injury happened.

“She’s got a positive attitude and she will do what she needs to do to get back for next season.”

Georgia Simmerling, of West Vancouver, B.C., is also currently out with a knee injury, which is described as “day to day.” She is hoping to return to competition this season, possibly as soon as the Blue Mountain, Ont., World Cup stop, which takes place Feb. 2-3.

CURLER CORRYN BROWN WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT 2012 WINTER YOUTH OLYMPICS (1/18/2012)

1/18/2012

Kamloops' Corryn Brown (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) and Team Canada’s curling rink won Canada’s first medal at the 2012 Youth Olympics in Austria. Her team defeated Sweden 6-4 to take the Bronze medal. Team Canada includes lead Emily Gray of O'Leary, skip Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, Yukon, second Derek Oryniak of Winnipeg, Man., and third Brown.

Brown was also the Opening Ceremony flag bearer at the Innsbruk Games.

BIATHLETE SARAH BEAUDRY GAINS VALUABLE EXPERIENCE AT THE WINTER OLYMPIC YOUTH GAMES (1/17/2012)

1/17/2012

Prince George biathlete Sarah Beaudry (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) finished in 14th position in the 7.5 kilometre pursuit event Monday despite starting with a handicap of two minute and 22 seconds off the lead after a 22nd place finish in the six kilometre sprint on Day 1 of the inaugural Winter Olympic Youth Games in Seefeld, Austria.

In the 7.5 km pursuit Beaudry was solid on her skis and only had two misses in 20 shots in four bouts of shoots and five laps of the 1.5 km course. On Day 1 Beaudry missed two prone and two standing targets, hitting six of 10. Beaudry's time on the 1.5 km course was 19:49.9.

The Canadian biathlon team have a couple days off to recover and visit Italy to watch a World Cup ski event before competing in the mixed relay Thursday.

Courtesy: Prince George Citizen

CURLER CORRYN BROWN STILL IN HUNT FOR MEDAL AT YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES IN AUSTRIA (1/17/2012)

1/17/2012

Kamloops' Corryn Brown (Team BC 2011 Canada Winter Games) and Team Canada’s curling rink is 3-2 and still in the medal hunt at the 2012 Youth Olympics in Austria.

Canada beat Russia 7-1 on Monday by scoring in every end except one, but lost 6-5 to Sweden when Swedish skip Johanna Heldin scored one with the last stone of the final end.

Team Canada is lead Emily Gray of O'Leary, skip Thomas Scoffin of Whitehorse, Yukon, second Derek Oryniak of Winnipeg, Man., and third Brown.

Today, Canada plays Japan and Germany.

Also, tiebreakers, if needed, are today.

The quarter-final round is Wednesday.

Source: The Guardian

SWIMMER RYAN COCHRANE MEDALS AT GRAND PRIX SWIMMING COMPETITION (1/16/2012)

1/16/2012

Olympic and world championship medallist Ryan Cochrane (Team BC 2005 Canada Summer Games) of Victoria won the gold medal in the men’s 400-metre freestyle on Friday top open the U.S., Grand Prix swimming competition.

Canada added a second victory to close the first day of racing in the men’s 4X100 freestyle relay.

Cochrane clocked 3:50.66, Michael Klueh of the U.S., was second in 3:51.23 and Charles Houchin of the U.S., third in 3:51.77.

‘’It’s a great way to start the year 2012,’’ said Cochrane, who’ll also race the 200 freestyle here this weekend. ‘’ I was feeling a bit stressful now that we are actually into the Olympic year. Now I’m looking forward to posting sub 3:50 times which will give me more confidence as the year progresses.’’

Jeremy Bagshaw of Victoria was fifth in 3:53.70 and Nicholas Sinclair of Victoria seventh in 3:54.33.

In the men’s 4X100 freestyle relay Canada won in 3:23.89 with Blake Worsley of Victoria, Joel Greenshields of Calgary, Luke Peddie of Edmonton and Stefan Hirniak of Victoria. North Caroline’s SwimMac relay teams followed in second and third in 3:24.81 and 3:26.09 respectively.

Team Ontario was fourth with Hassaan Abdel-Khalik of Etobicoke, Zach Chetrat of Oakville, Andrew Ford of Guelph and Tobias Oriwol of Toronto.

In the women’s 400 freestyle, Barbara Jardin of Montreal came within 0.29 seconds of a medal placing fourth in 4:10.95. Brittany MacLean of Etobicoke, Ont., was fifth in 4:11.28 and Alexa Komarnycky of Toronto sixth in 4:12.01.

Other Canadian finalists for the women were: Victoria Poon of Montreal and Julia Wilkinson of Stratford, Ont., fifth and sixth in the 100 freestyle; Jillian Tyler of Calgary and Hanna Pierse of Vancouver, fifth and sixth in the 200 breaststroke; and MacKenzie Downing of Whitehorse eighth in the 100 butterfly.

Warren Barnes of Toronto was eighth in the men’s 200 breaststroke.

SWIMMER NICHOLAS SINCLAIR HAS A STRONG WEEKEND OF COMPETITION (1/16/2012)

1/16/2012

University of Victoria Vikes and Pacific Coast Swimming swimmer Nicholas Sinclair (Team BC 2007 Western Canada Summer Games and 2009 Canada Summer Games), currently taking the semester off from UVic studies as he focuses on training toward qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, had a strong weekend of competition at the Austin Grand Prix swim meet in Texas over the weekend.

With just 193 days remaining until the Olympics begin, Sinclair qualified for two A Finals and two consolation finals for four Top 16 finishes at the high-level international meet.

OFFICIAL AUSTIN GRAND PRIX SITE / MEET RESULTS

On Saturday, he was the only Canadian to make it to the A final in the 200-metre freestyle racing, finishing 7th as the top Canadian in a time of 1:51.56. Then 15 minutes later, the Victoria native swam the 200-metre backstroke consolation final and finished with a time of 2:06.00

Fresh off the UVic and Pacific Coast Senior training camp in San Diego, Sinclair started the meet off on Friday with two fantastic races in the morning, first setting a personal best in the 100-metre freestyle preliminary race clocking in at 52.43 to finish 46th overall.

Then in the 400-metre freestyle race, Sinclair shaved over eight seconds off of his previous personal best time and managed to move himself 42 spots up from the psych sheets into fourth position going into the final later in the evening. There Sinclair improved on his time once again in the A Final, placing seventh overall with a time of 3:54.33 behind former Vikes teammate Ryan Cochrane (Team BC 2005 Canada Summer Games) of Victoria who finished at 3:50.66 to win the race.

The sophomore Vikes student-athlete also made the consolation final of the men's 200-metre butterfly race, finishing 11th with a personal-best time of 2:04.87.

Former Vikes swimmer Cochrane, the 2011 CIS rookie and male swimmer of the year, won the gold in the men's 400-metre freestyle and helped the Canadian men's 4x200-metre relay team to a gold as well. Former Vikes swimmer MacKenzie Downing of Whitehorse, the flag-bearer for Canada's FISU Summer Universiade team in Shenzhen, China, this past summer, helped Canada to victory in the 4x100-metre relay and won bronze in the women's 200-metre butterfly. She also helped the women's 4x200-metre relay team to a silver medal along with another former Vike Stephanie Horner and finished eighth in the women's 100-metre butterfly.

"I'm really excited about getting on the podium," Downing told Swimming Canada on Sunday. "In the past year, I have just missed the medals at the U.S. Meets, so this is a really good feeling. I've been training hard and working on my race tactics. I really came back strong in the last 100 metres."

Another former Vikes swimmer, Hilary Caldwell (Team BC 2009 Canada Summer Games) of Surrey, B.C., finished in seventh spot in the women's 100-metre backstroke.

TENNIS PHENOM REBECCA MARINO EARNS DIRECT ENTRY INTO AUSTRALIAN OPEN (1/13/2012)

1/13/2012

Defending champion Kim Clijsters and losing finalist Li Na could meet in the fourth round at this year's Australian Open after being drawn in the same quarter of the draw Friday.

Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki will play Australian Anastasia Rodionova in her first-round match and is in the same half as Clijsters and Li, last year's French Open champion.

On the other half of the draw, five-time champion Serena Williams is in the same section of No. 3 Vera Zvonereva and former Grand Slam champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova.

Vancouver's Rebecca Marino (Team BC 2005 Canada Summer Games), Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., and Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., all earned direct entry into the main draw. Marino will take on Greta Arn of Hungary in the first round and Wozniak, who qualified for three of the four Grand Slams in 2011, drew No. 126 Shuai Zhang.

Dubois, who is returning from an injury at the end of last season, will face Russian Elena Vesnina.

Wozniak earned direct entry into Australian Open main draw following the withdrawal of Timea Bacsinszky.

The Australian Open begins Monday.

Source: Associated Press

GYMNAST BRITTANY ROGERS BOOKS TICKET TO LONDON 2012 (1/12/2012)

1/12/2012

Canada’s female gymnastics celebrated a berth in the 2012 Olympics even before their qualifying session at the O2 Arena in London was done.

Peng Peng Lee of Richmond Hill, Ont., Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Ont., Victoria Moors of Surrey, B.C., Ottawa native Talia Chiarelli, (who lives in Boston), Brittany Rogers (Team BC 2007 Canada Winter Games) of Coquitlam, B.C., and Madeline Gardiner of Cambridge, Ont., placed second overall with a combined 221.913 score. They were edged by Italy with 224.621 as a team and the top three performers over all.

But the two countries were far enough ahead of the rest of the other six nations that they were able to book their London Games berths before the event was done.

“I think only the athletes truly understand how much work has gone into this performance,” said Rogers, who overcame a serious threatening ankle injury to win a spot on the team. “We missed Christmas at home, and New Year’s and had this big training camp. But now it’s paid off.”

From the opening vault Tuesday, the Canadian women homed in on their Olympic berth, taking the lead ahead of France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Italy, Brazil and South Korea competed later.

Lee, who was the baby of the 2007 Pan American Games team and even now is just 18, said it had just dawned on her she is playing in the big Olympic show.

“I’m so excited. I’m pumped,” she said, adding that the Canadian women worked hard on rescuing points lost on imperfect dismounts at the world championship in Tokyo last October.

“I was very scared but I am gaining confidence every day,” said Moors, 15, the youngest member of the team and Canadian junior champion. “Qualifying for the Games is like a dream come true.”

Canada redeemed itself after failing to be among the top eight countries in Tokyo. The Canadian women placed 11th and got a place in the last-chance pool Wednesday. Canada and Italy will be joined at the Olympics by France and Brazil, who also earned Olympic berths Wednesday. The 12-team Olympic field is rounded out by the United States, China, Britain, Russia, Romania, Japan, Australia and Germany.

The Canadian men will largely be observers of the London Olympics following the last chance meet.

Italy edged the Canadian men by less than a point to earn the last full team berth.

The six-man Canadian squad needed to finish in the top four. Canada is out of the Olympics team event for the first time since the 2004 Games in Athens. The team, hit by retirements after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is likely to only be able to send only one athlete to London 2012. Gymnastics Canada will name the gymnast later this year

Source: The Globe and Mail