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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 4, 2013 | 16 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Loyola student headed to youth track worlds Just a few short months ago, Bridget O'Neill never would have imagined she'd be competing at the IAAF World Youth Championships. "It just kind of happened," the 16-year-old Loyola high school student said of qualifying for the international track-and-field meet, which will take place July 10-14 in Donetsk, Ukraine. O'Neill will compete in the 800-metre race at the IAAF competition, an oddity because she is better known as a long-distance specialist. O'Neill was second in the senior girls' five-kilometre run at last year's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference high school championships and said she prefers cross-country because "it's kind of boring racing around the track." But after joining the Welland-based Aktiv Racing Track Club earlier this year, O'Neill decided to train specifically for the 800m. She had been moderately successful in the distance at high school meets, qualifying for this past spring's Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations provincial meet, but had never fully dedicated herself to the shorter sprint. At the Ontario 10,000m championships May 5 in London, in her first 800m of the club season, O'Neill won the race in a time 2:09.96 -- easily eclipsing the World Youth Championships qualifying standard of 2:13.50. Though O'Neill had met the time requirement, she did not officially earn an invite to the World Youth Championships until Aktiv teammate Megan Rempel -- who later posted a faster time in the 800m -- chose to compete in the 1,500m instead. That opened up a spot in the 800m for O'Neill, since only two Canadians can compete in each event. "When she did pick the 1,500, I said `Thanks a lot'," O'Neill recalled with a laugh. O'Neill has no specific goals for the World Youth Championships, which are expected to draw more than 1,500 athletes representing 165 countries. "I just hope to (get a personal best)," she said. "I can't really ask for much more after making it (this far)." -- Jon Kuiperij Lacrosse coach Cordingley inks deal with Buffalo Bandits It didn't take long for Troy Cordingley to land on his feet. The Oakville resident, recently fired by the Toronto Rock shortly after being named the National Lacrosse League's coach of the year, is the new bench boss of the Buffalo Bandits. as player, twice as coach). Sr. B Titans chase playoff spot The Oakville Titans still have playoff aspirations as they conclude the Ontario Lacrosse Association senior B season this weekend. Going into a game last night (Wednesday) in Brooklin, Oakville (3-10) trailed the Owen Sound North Stars by two points for the league's final playoff spot. The Titans had three games remaining and Owen Sound had two. The North Stars own the tiebreaker. The Titans, who lost 12-10 in St. Catharines last Friday, are home to the Six Nations Rivermen tomorrow (Friday, 8 p.m.) and the Brooklin Merchants Sunday (7 p.m.). Both games will be played at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre. Sean Gillies, Brad Gillies and Connor Latimer each scored twice versus St. Catharines. Matt Pelkey, Anthony Caputo, Mike Gillan and Kevin Harper added singles. Sr. A Rock drops pair The Oakville Rock dropped to 2-8-1 on the Major Series Lacrosse season with a 9-6 loss in Kitchener Tuesday night. Kyle Davis (two), Brendan Muise, Graham Bergsma, Brenden Thenhaus and Connor Daly scored for Oakville in the loss. The Rock gave the league-leading Six Nations Chiefs a brief scare two nights earlier near Brantford, leading 4-1 after one period before falling 8-5. Stephan Leblanc, Bryan Campbell, AJ Masson, Thenhaus and Daly had Oakville's tallies. The Rock visits Peterborough tonight (Thursday). Lacrosse briefs "As both a former player and assistant coach with the (Bandits), I have orange and black blood running through my veins. Helping this team get back to where it belongs is something that excites me, and I'm looking forward to that challenge. Plain and simple, I'm coming here to win," said Cordingley, a twotime NLL coach of the year and four-time league champion (twice Bridget O'Neill, pictured competing in a high school track and field meet earlier this year, will compete in the 800-metre run at next week's IAAF World Youth Championships. | Graham Paine --Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog You're looking HOT! Stay cool and comfortable all summer long with an AIR CONDITIONER from Sandpiper and make no payments until September 2013! Get Cool for FREE! Absolutely NO up-front costs! FREE installation and repairs AFFORDABLE low monthly rates LOCAL Priority Service 24/7 ENERGY EFFICIENT brands and models Call Sandpiper Today for your FREE in-home assessment 888-668-8117 sandpiperhomecomfort.ca A DIVISION OF OAKVILLE HYDRO ENERGY SERVICES INC.