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30 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2006 Local teens help Ontario squads to national rugby titles Martin boots winning convert in under-19 women's final; Willhoeft, Knowles also part of gold-medal teams By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF C NATIONAL GOLD: Danielle Willhoeft and Carleigh Martin were key contributors to Ontario's under-19 women's victory at the recent Rugby Canada National Championships in Winnipeg. Brianna Knowles (not pictured) was part of Ontario's under17 women's championship team. Brown headed to worlds Oakville's Alyssa Brown is one of six women who will represent Canada at next month's World Gymnastics Championships in Denmark, Gymnastics Canada announced this week. Brown, 17, earned her spot on the team by finishing second at a national team selection activity last weekend in Mississauga. "(The world championships are) something I've dreamed about since I was little," said the Abbey Park High School student, whose best showings last weekend were on uneven bars and vault. "To be... named to the team is an amazing feeling." The world championships will begin Oct. 13. Alyssa Brown arleigh Martin often stayed after practice, sometimes as long as two hours, to work on her kicking. She never thought those extra kicks would pay off in a national championship, but they did. Martin booted a convert with seven minutes to play in the recent national under-19 girls' rugby championship game, providing the winning points in her Ontario squad's 1715 victory over Alberta. "I had some butterflies in my stomach," she said about the game-winning kick. "I "I just fell in just tried to think of love with it. It's everything my coaches like soccer, but (Dan Valley and Drew McArthur) had told me." you get to hit Martin, who played people." on Oakville Trafalgar High School's Halton Carleigh Martin, championship team last referring to rugby year, was joined on the Ontario team by Danielle Willhoeft. Willhoeft thought her rugby playing days were over when the Holy Trinity Titans lost a Halton quarter-final to White Oaks in May. "I thought it was my last rugby game and I got all emotional," she recalled. When her rugby season was unexpectedly extended by three months, the emotions were much different as she celebrated a national title. Martin caught the eye of Ontario's coaches playing for OT at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations rugby tournament. And she continues to attract attention. After leading Ontario with 31 points during the tournament, Martin has been invited to try out for the national under-19 team. Martin -- who will attend Grade 12 at Brankstone Hall in Toronto this year -- won't have the benefit of playing university rugby in the fall like most of the other players competing for a spot on the team. "I need to build some size, some speed. I have to work hard on my own," said the 5foot-7, 140-pound fly half. "It would be a real dream playing on a national team." Just 17, she still has two years of eligibility remaining for the under-19 squad. Martin first played rugby in Grade 9 at OT after being introduced to the sport by her sister. "I just fell in love with it," she said. "It's like soccer, but you get to hit people." Willhoeft, meanwhile, has only been playing since Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School started a girls rugby program two years ago. "I just started to play for fun to fill up the hours after school," said Willhoeft, who is moving to Whistler to become a ski instructor. "I did track for the two years before but it just wasn't cutting it for me." And although she thought she was finished with the sport when the high school season ended, her rugby season was prolonged when the Titans entered a post-season tournament in Ottawa. That's where an Ontario coach scouting the tournament saw her play and asked her to try out for the provincial team. Willhoeft didn't have great expectations for the provincial team, especially after not playing as well as she knew she could at the tryout. But after returning home, she got a call telling her she had made the team. After posting a 5-1 record in the roundrobin, Ontario blanked B.C. 7-0 in the semifinals before edging Alberta for the title. It was a sweet victory for Ontario, which was dealt its only loss by Alberta in the preliminary round. "(Alberta) having been the only team to beat us in the round-robin, it helped put that extra drive in us," Martin said. Ontario rolled through the early portion of the round-robin, winning its first four games by a combined score of 105-0. Despite dominating in possession time, holding the ball for about 70 per cent of the game, Ontario's winning streak came to an end with a 20-8 loss to Alberta. Ontario rebounded to beat Quebec 12-6. Under-17 team goes undefeated Brianna Knowles, who was also a member of Oakville Trafalgar's Halton championship squad, helped Ontario complete a sweep of the women's titles with a 22-5 win over Alberta in the under-17 championship. Ontario opened with a 29-0 shutout of Quebec and then beat British Columbia 158. It finished the round-robin by blanking Alberta 17-0 and advanced to the final with a 20-0 victory over Quebec. -- Herb Garbutt can be reached at sports@oakvillebeaver.com.