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OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, May 22, 2009 · 44 RUNNING TIGER: T.A. Blakelock's Devon Bosada runs down the track Wednesday in Burlington during Day 1 of the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference high school track-and-field championships. Bosada was second in the semifinals of the junior girls' 200m dash. The final of that event will be held today, as will finals in many other distances and field events. ERIC RIEHL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Long-distance runners lead local track-and-field qualifiers Twenty-three Oakville athletes, 11 of them long-distance runners, qualified for next week's South Region high school track-and-field championships with top-five finishes on Day 1 of the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference meet Wednesday in Burlington. Leading the way were St. Thomas Aquinas' Colleen Hennessy and Abbey Park's Dan Mathie, neither of whom are strangers to success on the track. Hennessy, who won the GHAC senior girls' 1,500-metre race, and Mathie, the junior boys' 1,500m victor, both won medals at last year's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations meet. Abbey Park actually had the top three finishers in the junior boys' 1,500m, as Brandon Hazineh and Karun Tandon followed Mathie across the finish line. Oakville Trafalgar's Karina Sils was a close second to Hennessy in the senior girls' 1,500m, while Loyola's Alicia Knox placed fourth. Other local 1,500m runners to qualify for the South Region meet were Aquinas' Kelly Hennessy (second, midget girls), Iroquois Ridge's Claire Segeren (third, midget girls), T.A. Blakelock's Sasha Boulton (fourth, midget girls), Loyola's Erin Champion (third, junior girls) and Abbey Park's Nathaniel Green (senior boys). Holy Trinity qualified three hurdlers for the South Region meet, as Jessica Silva was third in midget girls' 80m, Jireh Mateo was third in junior boys' 100m and Melvin Bolanos was third in senior boys' 110m. White Oaks' Sarah Mooney (second, senior girls' 100m) was Oakville's other hurdling qualifier. In the midget boys' long jump, Iroquois Ridge's Garth Duncan (third), Trinity's Mateo (fourth) and White Oaks' Cole Raiskums (fifth) all advanced. Iroquois Ridge's Julia Colwell (fourth, midget girls) and Taylor Young (fourth, junior boys) also qualified in long jump. Javelin saw four local competitors advance to South Regionals. White Oaks' Betty Li (third, midget girls), David Kong (fourth, midget boys) and Justin Murfitt (fifth, midget boys) all qualified, as did Aquinas' Chris Franko (fifth, junior boys). Potential for more qualifiers Oakville was poised to qualify many more for the South Region meet entering today's (Friday's) Day 2 of the GHAC competition. Aquinas' Lavinia Primpeh, Abbey Park's Michael Trnkus and Corinne Smith, and Iroquois Ridge's Jake Cussen all won semifinals of their short-distance events Wednesday, with those 100m and 200m finals set for today. Also to be decided today are champions in 400m, 800m and 3,000m runs, ambulatory, steeplechase, long-distance hurdles, 4x100m and 4x400m relays, triple jump, discus, high jump and shot put. The South Region meet will be held next week in St. Catharines. Top-four finishers at that meet advance to OFSAA. National Community Garage Sale Royal LePage Oakville Garage Sale in support of our Shelter Fo Our First Ever Natio Garage Sale Saturday May 23rd 8:00 am till 12 noon Royal LePage Oak Park Office Parking Lot 231 Oak Park Boulevard Dawson playing for Nationals Continued from page 43 RAIN OR SHINE! ·Lunch for Sale · Entertainment ·Free Raffle ·1,000's of Items for Sale All funds raised go to our Royal LePage Shelter Foundation & violence prevention oakvillegaragesale@royallepage.ca www.royallepage.ca/shelter more of a vocal guy," he said, "to make sure guys were ready and be more of a mentor. It actually helped me grow as a player as well." Though Dawson admits he is flattered by the MVP award, he doesn't rank the accolade anywhere near winning the World Indoor Championships in 2007 or claiming three Mann Cup national major titles. "(The MVP award) is great for the resume, but that's it. That's all it is," he said. "I want to be known as a winner and a great ambassador for the game. Those are the two things... personal accolades don't mean that much to me. "My best memories of lacrosse are when I win." Dawson, who has yet to win an NLL title, will shoot for a championship in a different league this summer. He is part of a star-studded Toronto Nationals field lacrosse team that began its first season in the Major League Lacrosse last week. The Nationals play their first home game in franchise history tonight (Friday) at BMO Field. "It's a who's who of lacrosse," said Dawson, whose new teammates include Gary Gait, Gavin Prout, Merrick Thomson, Colin Doyle and John Grant, Jr. Toronto started the year last weekend in Maryland with a 17-16 victory over the Washington Bayhawks. Dawson picked up an assist in the win.