Sport Shorts: Seven-Sport Round-Up
Huge Volleyball Win: On Sunday, the 20th-ranked Canadian men’s volleyball team defeated 4th-ranked Serbia for a huge win at the World Volleyball Championships in Italy. With the 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-23 victory, Canada now has a 1-1 record. “For a young team, this is a great result for us,” said head coach Glenn Hoag. “This will help the program move on from here no matter how we finish.”
Gymnastics Medals: For the first time ever, Canada won men’s and women’s medals at a tumbling World Cup. Two bronze medals came Saturday courtesy of Alex Seifert (Calgary) and Emily Smith (Burlington, Ont.) in Loule, Portugal. Seifert, who won a bronze last year, remains the only Canadian man to have ever won a World Cup tumbling medal.
Riding in Lexington: The Canadian reining team finished 5th at the World Equestrian Games over the weekend in Lexington, Kentucky. The riders: Duane Latimer (Bienfait, Sask.), Shawna Sapergia and Vernon Sapergia (both of Cochrane, Alta.). Stay tuned for lots more news for the Games, which continue until Oct. 10. It’s the first time ever they have been held on U.S. soil.
Moving on in Ostrava: The Canadian women’s basketball team is off to the 2nd round of the 2010 World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. On Friday, the team came back to beat China 65-61, paced by Kimberley Smith’s 25 points. On Saturday, the team lost 61-49 to Belarus but the 1-2 record moves them to the next round. Today the team faces the United States.
Super Scullers: On the waters of Victoria’s Elk Lake, Canadian rowers came out to compete for national titles over the weekend. Kerry Maher Shaffer (Welland, Ont.) said she “got an idea of (her) potential” in winning the women’s single race. Up-and-coming star Michael Braithwaite won the men’s single. The women’s pair title went to Cristin McCarty (Saskatoon) and Natalie Mastracci (St. Catharines, Ont.). Olympic silver medallist Scott Frandsen (Kelowna, B.C.) teamed with Rob Weitemeyer (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) to win the men’s pair while Olympic bronze medallist Mike Lewis (Victoria) rowed with Winnipeg’s Morgan Jarvis to win the lightweight men’s pair. Taking the lightweight single titles on the men’s and women’s sides were Victoria’s Saul Garcia and Jaclyn Halko (Uxbridge, Ont.). Congratulations to all rowers!
No Denying Her: Canada’s all-time leading scorer in soccer was at it again Sunday. Christine Sinclair, a 2008 Olympian, scored two goals for FC Gold Pride as the team shut out Philadelphia Independence 4-0 to win the Women’s Professional Soccer title.
Ski Prospects in Austria: Nine potential future stars in Canada’s alpine program have headed to Austria for a development camp. Alpine Canada is focusing on providing high performance training to the nation’s brightest ski racing prospects, culled from provincial teams, ski academies and private ski programs. The camps, one for men and one for women, are important in their development toward the World Junior Championships.
