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Thursday, February 4, 2016 - The IFP - H alton H ills - w w w .theifp.ca Page 35 312 GUELPH ST., GEORGETOWN 905-877-2296 www.georgetowntoyota.com Sat. Feb 06, 2016 7:30 pm at Mold-Masters Sports Plex Georgetown Raiders vs. Orangeville Flyers SPORTS Comingup The Acton Curling Club will play host to the On-tario Curling Association's Best Western Intermedi-ate Men's & Women's Championships March 2-6. ROWING CANADA AWARD FOR NURSE: Georgetown native Cristy Nurse was on hand to receive Rowing Canada's Senior Athlete of the Year Award at the organization's 35th-annual Awards Banquet on Saturday at the Delta Ottawa City Centre. The 29-year-old national team member was presented with the award and a cheque worth $2,000 from Rowing Canada sponsor Immuno- tec's vice president of research & development John Molson. Nurse's highlights in competition in 2015 included victories with the Canadian women's eights at a World Rowing Cup race in Lucerne, Switzerland and the Remenham Cup Challenge in England, along with a runner-up finish for her country in the women's eights at a World Rowing Cup event in Varese, Italy, as well as a bronze in women's eights and a sixth in women's pairs at the World Rowing Championships in France. Photo courtesy Rowing Canada Aviron Carr, Laxton making strides in elite speed skating circles Local resident Kelsey Carr is one of only two Ontarians to qualify for this weekend's Ca- nadian Age Class Long Track Speed Skating Championships in her age group to be held in St. Foy, Que. The 15-year-old Milton Speed Skating Club member will compete in the girls' 14 & under division for the second straight year as just two competitors from Ontario achieved qualification time standards at a meet in November in Quebec. Although Carr did earn a spot in the pro- vincial division for the short track circuit this winter, she has chosen to focus on long track exclusively but the mild winter forced the cancellation of major meets at Lake Placid, N.Y. and Ottawa. Another Georgetown native with the Milton club, Matt Laxton, is competing in the men's division for long track in the Can- ada Cup Series and hopes to specialize in the longer distances. Laxton, 17, placed 10th for the mass start in the first two Canada Cup races of the se- ries at St. Foy and Calgary, while also finish- ing with a personal best of 40.83 seconds in the 500m. He is set to attend the third Canada Cup event in Winnipeg this weekend and he's ranked 10th in the men's open division for short track in the provincial series, taking top spot at a pre-season meet in Ottawa, along with an eighth-place result in Cam- bridge and ninth in Clarington. Kelsey Carr of Georgetown and the Milton Speed Skating Club is pictured here at last year's Canadian Age Class Long Track Champi- onships in Saskatoon. Carr, 15, will represent Ontario again at the 2016 long track nationals in Quebec this weekend. Submitted photo Raiders tripped up by Trenton The Georgetown Raiders went toe-to-toe with the heavyweights of the Ontario Jr. A Hockey League Saturday and although they didn't come away with any points, the Tren- ton Golden Hawks were certainly on the ropes for much of the evening. After taking a 2-0 lead nine minutes into the first period, the league-leading Golden Hawks had to hang on for a 3-2 victory after being outshot by the host Raiders 42-20. Andrew Court and Daniel Hardie were the lone Georgetown shooters to beat Gold- en Hawk goalie Daniel Urbani. Trenton leads the OJHL's North/East Conference with a 34-5-1-2 record and sits fourth in the Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top 20 Rankings, while 31-12-3-1 Raiders are atop the South/West Confer- ence standings by just two points over the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. On Friday night, the Raiders built an early 4-0 advantage and held off a late Ti- ger charge in a 5-4 win in Aurora. Brendan Jacome notched a hat trick to reach the 31- goal mark on the campaign, with singles go- ing to Zack Dybowski and Jordan Crocker. Georgetown has seven games remaining in the regular season, with the last three on the road. Next up is a home date with the 21-21-1-3 Orangeville Flyers Saturday at 7:30 p.m. For the second month in a row, Raid- er netminder Andrew Masters has been named the OJHL's top goalie for January. OPENING DAY: Members of the Halton Hills Minor Hockey Association and Acton Skating Club joined Town Council members for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony during the grand opening of the new Acton Arena ice pad last Saturday. A full day of festivities was held in conjunction with the opening and although warm temperatures made the proceedings more suited for spring and summer activities. The second ice surface at the Acton Arena & Community Centre has actually been open since Nov. 30 but all of the finishing touches have now been applied. Photo by Ray Lavender