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Pa ge 4 0 T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 1 2, 2 01 5 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a 312 GUELPH ST., GEORGETOWN 905-877-2296 www.georgetowntoyota.com Wed. Nov. 18, 2015 7:30 pm at Mold-Masters Sports Plax Georgetown Raiders vs. Mississauga Chargers SPORTS Comingup The North Halton Girls' Hockey Association will hold its Fall Classic House League Tourna-ment Nov. 20-22 at the Milton Sports Centre. Mann Cup's at home with Kri More than a century after the Mann Cup was established as the winner's trophy for Canada's senior men's box lacrosse champions, it made a return to its home roots for a visit this week. Acton native Brad Kri hoisted the cup as a member of the Victoria Shamrocks in September following their six-game victory over the Peter- borough Lakers and now has possession of the storied hardware for a few days in his hometown. It arrived by courier late Thursday and hasn't been far from the 23-year-old Kri's grasp since. A Mann Cup party will take place Saturday starting at 4 p.m. at Jonesy's Sports Hub & Grub in which members of the public are welcome to drop by. "I drank out of it after we won but I think we'll have to clean it up a little before anyone drinks out of it now," laughed the 6-foot-3, 215-pound defenceman. "It was out in B.C. for a few weeks so who knows where it's been. Looks like it's a little banged up. The cup is kind of loose." Kri's teammate on the Shamrocks, George- town's Daryl Veltman, had the Mann Cup for his recent wedding in Tofino, B.C. Another Ontario- based player for Victoria, goaltender Matt Roik, said he's taking the trophy to a football game in Alabama, but Kri doesn't have similar grandiose plans. "A lot of the guys from Ontario don't live here anymore so I think there's only four of us who'll have it," he added. "I don't even know when I have to give it back." Kri has achieved a rare trifecta in box lacrosse at the elite level, having captured the Founders Cup Canadian Jr. B championship as a mem- ber of the Halton Hills Bulldogs in 2010 and the Minto Cup national Jr. A title with the Orangeville Northmen in 2012. There's not much time left for Kri to savour the Mann Cup victory, however, as he'll begin train- ing camp with the National Lacrosse League's Vancouver Stealth at the end of this month. He's stepping up his workouts in preparation for the camp in a large open space behind the family home on Longfield Dr. in Acton -- ironi- cally called Sir Donald Mann Park. Donald Mann was a railway contractor and entrepreneur who was born in Acton in 1853 and donated the solid- gold trophy in his name in 1910. "I've been out here running, doing sprints to get ready for the season," he said while strolling through the park with the Mann Cup last Friday. Bronze for Maud, Hector at U-18 national championships One small town. Two elite athletes. Eight provincial teams from across Canada. And a hockey tournament representing the coun- try's best players. A week after the Under-18 Women's Na- tional Hockey Championships began in Huntsville, Ont., Georgetown can bask in the pride of the accomplishments of its two participating residents: Meaghan Hector-- a defenceman in the mold of Chris Pronger who can control a game with finesse or pow- er-- and gritty, playmaking winger Courtney Maud who shows, through on-ice poise and off-ice intelligence, undeniable leadership material essential to bringing teams together in short tournaments. While the team they played for, Ontario Blue (one of two teams representing Ontar- io), ultimately fell short of the colour of med- al they wanted, sixteen-year-olds Hector and Maud emerged as key contributors on a run that saw the team undefeated in regulation time during the preliminary round and in the end secured a bronze medal. Maud and Hector took different routes to the national stage. Hector took up the game after watching her brother play and falling in love with exciting flow of the game. Maud, who as a young girl watched a lot of hockey with her grandmother and parents, hit the ice as a figure skater but decided she hated it. At the age of four she switched to hockey: a smart decision as figure skaters don't get to grind in the corners as Maud loves to do. Though both players knew each other from around town while growing up, they never had the opportunity to suit up for the same team. Initially developing their skills in the Georgetown Minor Hockey Association, they now play on rival squads at the inter- mediate AA level in the Provincial Women's Hockey League-- Hector for the Oakville Hornets and Maud for the Stoney Creek Sabres-- despite still being eligible to play second-year midget. Though both players are confident in their abilities, they admit there was some trepidation at the beginning of the tourna- ment as first-time Team Ontario players. "In the first period (of game one, a victory against Team Atlantic) we were kind of flat- footed trying to get used to the speed of the game, but we quickly caught up and became comfortable," says Hector. She was the team's leading point pro- ducer with two goals and an assist, including an important power-play goal in the second period of the bronze-medal game Sunday against B.C. that helped propel Ontario to a 4-3 victory. Maud knows a thing or two about playing on big stages. She participated in the 2014 Ontario Winter Games and scored the gold medal-win- ning goal. "I definitely expected it to different than the hockey we come from back in the PW," she said. Maud and Hector have further ambitions in the game of hockey. Both have scholarships with American uni- versities (Hector with Clarkson, Maud with Merrimack) and hope one day to pull on maple leaf jerseys to represent Canada. Meaghan Hector (left) and Courtney Maud of Georgetown took some consolation from finishing with bronze medals at last week's the Under-18 Women's National Hockey Champion- ships in Huntsville. Photo by Andrew Hind By Andrew Hind Special to the IFP By Eamonn Maher emaher@theifp.ca Victoria Shamrocks defender Brad Kri brought the Mann Cup home in more ways than one this week. The Acton native has had his turn with the trophy for a few days and shared it with the public at a couple of events. The cup is named after Acton-born railway magnate Sir Donald Mann, and strangely enough, the Kri family's backyard leads into a park in Mann's name. Photo by Eamonn Maher