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Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports 19 | Friday, July 5, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" Buzz playoff foe dictated by `logistics', not final standings Common sense trumped ranks in the standings when it came to the Oakville Buzz's first-round Ontario Lacrosse Association junior B playoff matchup. Oakville (12-8, fourth in the East Conference) will face the sixth-place Mimico Mountaineers in Round 1, rather than the fifth-place Nepean Knights who the Buzz technically should be playing. Nepean, Mimico and Kahnawake all finished the season with 10-10 marks and Mimico would have been awarded fifth place had Markham defeated the 5-15 Mississauga Tomahawks Wednesday night to create a four-way tie for fifth. Mississauga, however, surprised Markham 12-11 to give Nepean the tiebreaker. According to an email from Buzz general manager Ken Gillies, OLA junior B commissioner Dave Vernon elected to have Mimico play Oakville and Nepean play Akwesasne because "it made sense logistically and cost-wise." An attempt to reach Vernon for further comment was unsuccessful. Nepean and Akwesasne are 125 kilometres apart, and Oakville is approximately 40 kilometres from Mimico. Rather than begin a three-game series in Nepean Friday night and then return to Oakville for Game 2 Saturday and Game 3 (if necessary) Sunday, the Buzz will host Mimico Friday at Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (8 p.m.), visit the Mountaineers Sunday (7 p.m.) and come back to Oakville for Game 3 (8 p.m., if necessary) Tuesday. Sr. B Titans with outside shot at postseason The Oakville Titans need victories and help this weekend in order to qualify for the Ontario Lacrosse Association senior B playoffs. Oakville (3-11) trails the Owen Sound North Stars (4-10) for the league's final playoff spot, with two games remaining for each team. Since the Titans would lose the tiebreaker, Oakville needs to a) win both its remaining games and have Owen Sound gain no more than a point in its final two, or b) post a win and a tie in its final two games and have Owen Sound lose both its contests. Oakville will be home for its last two games, tonight (Friday) against the Six Nations Rivermen and Sunday against the Brooklin Merchants. Game times at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre will be 8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. The Titans had an opportunity to pull into a tie with Owen Sound Wednesday but fell 8-7 in overtime to Brooklin in the resumption of a June 23 game that had been suspended in the first period. No points are awarded for overtime losses. Two-time national triathlon champion Kyle Jones goes for a run at Milton's Kelso Conservation Area, his new training home after relocating back to the Oakville area from Victoria, B.C. | Nikki Wesley -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog Jones settling in as face of Canadian triathlon by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff When Simon Whitfield retired following the London Olympics, Kyle Jones assumed the mantle as Canada's top male triathlete. It's no easy task taking the place of an icon of Canadian sport. Whitfield had been the face of triathlon since winning the sport's first Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000, not just in Canada -- where he won 10 straight national titles -- but around the world. It was inevitable, though, that Whitfield would eventually retire and the Canadian team would need a new leader. Jones had been groomed for the role for years. He had moved to Victoria to train alongside Whitfield, learning all he could from the four-time Olympian. Along the way, the Oakville native began assembling a solid career of his own. His accomplishments included a junior national championship in 2003, and a Canadian sprint title and a top-10 finish at the world under-23 championships in 2005. Jones narrowly missed the podium at the 2007 Pan Am Games, finishing fourth, a result he repeated four years later in 2011. That same year, he nearly ended Whitfield's run of national titles after being edged in a sprint to the finish. Jones and Whitfield raced together in London and after a bike crash took Whitfield out of the race, Jones was Canada's top finisher in 25th. So went the passing of the torch, which Jones gladly accepts. "It's a new era and I'm happy to be the leader of that. We have a younger team and it's exciting to be a part of it. I'll help any way I can and pass on what I learned from Simon." Jones knows, though, the best way to carry on what Whitfield started and to be an example for his teammates is to win races. "He set the bar high for us," the 28-year-old said. "I'm not in it for the track suits. I want to win medals. This is my job." That made the start to Jones' current season all the more frustrating. Coming off a sixth-place finish at last year's world championships, Jones was feeling very good about his off-season training. Then he had his first two races derailed by bike crashes in Auckland, New Zealand and San Diego, Cal. It took time to recover from those mishaps, both mentally and physically. "Crashing at 40 or 50 kilometres an hour takes its toll," he said. "I've got some nice scars now. It took some time to heal and get my body back in form." There were also mental scars, as Jones said it took time to once again feel comfortable riding at speed in a pack. As a result, his results were mixed: eighth place at a Grand Prix in France and 27th at a World Triathlon Series race in Madrid. But with a second-place finish at the International Triathlon Union World Cup race in Edmonton last week -- where he was just seven seconds behind France's Gregory Rouault -- Jones showed he is up to the task of leading the Canadian squad. The race also served as the Canadian championships, allowing Jones to claim his second straight national title. It was a continuation of a good run in Edmonton. Jones finished fourth two years ago and won last year's race, his first World Cup victory. And though he had hoped to defend both titles, Jones saw a lot of positives. "I knew I was in good form," he said. "It just hadn't been reflected consistently in my results. Any time you win a national championship, it's important, and I'm proud of that. Hopefully, this is a springboard for the rest of the season." Racing on Canadian soil has agreed with Jones over the years, and as he enters a new stage in his career, he's returning a little closer to his roots. After several years living in Victoria, Jones moved to Milton at the beginning of the year. In addition to bringing Jones and his wife Kelly closer to their families, he said see Pan Ams on p.21