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Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com SPORTS Barrie Erskine ·Oakville Beaver T O P PH O T O : two-time world champion W ayne Middaugh gets an icelevel view of this shot. Middaugh won this opener over John M orris. Ferbey wins Skins Randy Ferbey's world champi onship rink won the M & M Meat Shops $100,000 Skins with a see-saw win over Glenn Howard's Ontario foursome at the O akville Curling Club over the weekend. Ferbey, the Canadian champion the past two seasons, won $24,075 to Howard's $13,925. The Edmonton squad scored the first $7,075 skin after two carry overs, with Howard grabbing the next two skins o ff angle raises worth $13,925. Howard then missed badly on a critical takeout in the seventh, and Ferbey skip Dave Nedohin made a simple tap for $7,000 to set up the c li mactic end. With only $100 separating the two teams coming home, Howard threw wide on a tap-and-roll for the win, handing Ferbey the victory. "Anybody can win this," said Ferbey. "You start this thing over again next week and there's going to be a different winner all the time. Right now we have a little bit of luck on our side and we're getting our fair share of breaks." This was the second time the Edmonton squad of Ferbey, Nedohin, Scott Pfeifer and Marcel Rocque beat Howard lo win a skins championship this month. Team Ferbey has won all six skins format matches they played this sea son, and banked a weekend total of $40,525 in beating Howard. Kevin Park and Kerry Burtnyk. Howard cashed $29,675 after wins over Wayne Middaugh and brother Russ Howard. "Ferbey was unbelievable, and so was Dave," said a downcast Howard. "I still found the ice a bit tricky, and our rocks ran straighter than theirs, but we adapted pretty well. It was a decent game but we had them in seven and we gave it away." Nedohin held a perfect 100 per cent scoring average in the first half and continued his hot shooting throughout the match. In the end, it was the Howard misses in the seventh and eighth ends that set the table for a Ferbey win. "Oh, we really had 'em wired in the seventh," Nedohin deadpanned. "I mean, we were thankful to be even in a position where we'd even bother throwing our last rock. We had a big break there and took advantage of it." Nedohin and company are the third Edmonton team to win the M & M Skins, following Kevin Martin's back-to-back victories in 2001 and 2000. They've now won over $180,000 this season and are off to the Canada Cup before tackling the long road to the provincial champi onship, in the hopes of repeating as three-time Canadian champs. "It feels pretty fantastic," Nedohin said. "We're having quite a ride this year." B O T T O M PH O T O : Glenn Howard ... a study in concentration in the $100,000 M & M Meat Skins final. Glen Thiessen ·Oakville Beaver Raiders win Mac tourney The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders sen ior girls volleyball team took their unde feated record into the McMaster University pre-Christmas tournament (Dec. 20/21) with realistic expectations to advance to the playoffs and possibly compete for a medal. Needless to say, they were thrilled to come out of it with the gold medal and their undefeated record intact. The team's success, this year, has brought into question whether the team should declare triple or quadruple-A lev els for O FSAA. Either way, they'll still have their hands full just getting out of Halton Region, said coach Peter Szpakowski. The Volpe division, let alone Halton. is very competitive, he said, with only one team moving on. In fact, Aquinas, having won a battle of undefeated teams recently against Loyola, face the Final battle of undefeat ed teams in their division as they host E.C. Drury in their first game in the new year, on Monday, January 6. Both teams sport 4-0 league records. And then there's the matter of Georgetown who beat Aquinas in straight sets in last year's Halton championships. They're also sitting undefeated over in the Richardson division with a 3-0 record. Nelson is also undefeated at 4-0. For now, however, the team will enjoy their McMaster hardware, which was their third straight tourney win. What many observers found impres sive was that Aquinas was able to beat all of their opponents while only having one player standing 5' 10" while most of their opponents fielded line-ups with three or four players over 5' 10" . " We make up for our lack of size with incredible court coverage, smarts and team chemistry," said coach Szpakowski. "These players know each other so well, if they can't make a play they know one of their teammates will back them up." The senior Raiders won the champi onship game in anti-climactic style in straight sets over previously undefeated Unionville. With some crushing spikes by Danielle Walker and Cheryl Silva, the Raiders were able to sustain their momentum from their thrilling semifinal victory. The Raiders have not lost a match this year, at 23-0 (and are 46-3 in sets). But in the best-of-three semifinal against Waterdown. they needed to pull off an incredible comeback to preserve both their undefeated string and their tournament lives. Facing elimination in the third and deciding game, at 14-11 (with the game only going to 15), Aquinas reeled off five straight points to win 16-14. Everything seemed to come together -- Meagan Tilley's serves, Cheryl Silva's net play, Danielle Walker and Brittany Eybergen's saves and some heads-up defence by Carley Ponzo and Marina Spudic. " They all just refused to let the ball hit the floor," said coach Szpakowski. "They got it up to our setter and Tilley delivered it to the 5'9" Silva, who sports a 24-inch vertical jump, who did the rest, including two key blocks on the Warriors' six-foot middle hitter in the final rallies." The Raiders lost the opening game 25-23 in a heartbreaker. After trailing by as much as 10-2. they had fought back to even things at 23-23. The Raiders, how ever. went on to win the second game 2519. The Raiders had won their quarterfi nal game in straight sets against tradi tional Hamilton power house Cardinal Newman. The Raiders breezed through pool play, defeating Dundas Parkside. Laura Secord, Oakville Trafalgar and Brebeuf, the top Hamilton squad, all in two straight sets. Glen Thiessen ·Oakville Beaver CRASH! Carson Jenkin of the O akville Rangers m inor midget A A rep team runs into a Boulder, Colorado player in tournament action from Saturday. O akville won this game against their far flung Am erican visitors 8-0. The Richard Bell M em orial Tournament wrapped up Monday, beyond our New Year's Holiday edition press deadline. Halton Outdoor Club offering cross country skiing lessons The Halton Outdoor Club (formerly the Halton Cross Country Ski Club), is offering cross country ski lessons to the public. The projected dates for lessons are this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 4 and 5) at Hardwood Hills north of Barrie. Three levels of courses -- beginners classic, intermediate classic, and skating, are offered -- plus lessons for children. Call the Halton Outdoor Club at 905-634-2012 or 1-877877-4550 (toll free) and leave a message or e-mail the club at outdoor@spectranet.ca. Friday, Jan. 3/03 at 7:45 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10/03 at 7:45 p.m. MISSISSAUGA CHAAGCAS OAKVIIU O lA lftTf . ' ~ . - ' vs # > XSTATSVIll DCRBV'S // vs OAKVIUC BIADCS at Oakville Ice Sports Centre · ' at Oakville Ice Sports Centre