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Wednesday, March 7, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D1 Sport&l'ednesday By Norm Nelson BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR APPLE AutoGlass , / o r UPHOLSTERY.. SEATS, BOAT TOPS, CONVERTIBLE TOPS... 1 0 3 3 S p ee rs Rd. 842-6060 An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON Phone:845-3824, ext 255 Fax:337-5567 E-mail:nnelson@haltonsearch.com Swimmers set national record A local contingent o f swimmers came back from the youth and junior national championships in Saint John, New Brunswick with a new national relay record that broke the old mark, set 19 years ago, by more than two seconds. Swimming under the umbrella of the Toronto all-stars, five girls were involved in setting the new Canadian record in the 4x100 metre relay for the 15-17 age group. Four of the girls are members of the Oakville Aquatic Club -- Laura Pomeroy, Kate Plyley, Kimmi Labbett and Tianna Day -- and the other, Jennifer Porenta is a member of the Milton Marlins. (Pomeroy, Plyley and Labbett are Oakville residents while Day and Porenta are Milton residents). It was truly a team effort. With the team's anchor, Kate Plyley, not feeling 100 per cent, coach Lucy Hewitt-Henderson held her out of the preliminary race, and in her place put Kimmi Labbett. The strategy paid off as Labbett, with no shortage of adrenaline, smashed her own personal record to help her team to a fifth place finish in the heats, easily sending them on to the finals. In the finals, Labbett was replaced by a well rested Kate Plyley, and the rest is, as they say, history -- the best ever time for their age group in Canada. That was the highlight for the Oakville Aquatic Club at the junior Kyle Welsh earned bronze Coach Hewitt-Henderson said the girls deserve a lot of credit for breaking the record with everyone going person al best times over the 100m. "I don't really have to do anything, I just have to put them in a position so the opportunity is there," said coach Hewitt-Henderson. "They really generate the excitement and the motivation -- Took guys, we can do this'. "I mean our sport is so nice that way. It's clean and clear. We don't have to worry about judges and what colour someone'^ hair is. "It's ju s t... go fast. How fast can you go" "They just start adding up numbers and they say, `look guys, we can do this'." Photos by Norm Nelson National record setters Tianna Day, Jennifer Porenta, Kimmi Labbett, Laura Pomeroy and Kate Plyley. nationals, but there were others. Laura Pomeroy, hot off some near podium finishes (4th, 5th and 8th) at a World Cup meet in Edmonton last fall, proved to be a very fast fish in the junior pond, winning the 50 free, 100 free, 50 breast and 50 fly "going personal best times in all of it." "The 50 freestyle would have placed her top 35 in the world," added coach Hewitt-Henderson." And Kyle Welsh also hit the podium with a third place finish in the 400m freestyle. Labbett finished fourth in three breast stroke events -- 50, 100 and 200m -- "just missing a medal in all of them." Full results will be published at a later date. Several Oakville Aquatic Club swimmers are preparing for the senior nationals which run March 13-17 in Edmonton. Bruins shock Humber for Ontario title A thrilling 89-87 double overtime win over arch rival Humber College in the championship game has given the Sheridan Bruins their third provincial m en's college basketball title in four years. Sheridan now earns a trip to the national cham pionships which are being hosted by Humber (which receives a bye into them) March 15-17. Despite their third title in four years, the Bruins' win was considered an upset. Humber, after all, were the defending provin cial champions and they had finished in first place in league play and were actually the top ranked team in the country for much of the sea son, ironically until a late season loss to Sheridan (in a game that didn't mean anything in the standings) knocked them down a couple of notches. Actually, it was the exact reverse last year when the Bruins were the highly touted team (having finished first in league play) only to be upset by Humber in the provincial championship game. Adding insult to injury, the Bruins were not extended a wildcard berth into the national championships. This year, Humber will be there, by virtue of hosting it. As for Sheridan, this year was supposed to be a bit of a rebuilding year fas there were some key departures, including last year's Canadian col lege player of the year, Shane Bascoe, now star ring for the University of Guelph. But there they were Saturday night, in yet another provincial championship game, facing their arch rival, Humber. Unbelievable was the word on everyone's lips to describe a game that won't be forgotten for a very long time... if ever. The two rivals were tied 34-34 at the half and then things really started to heat up. The intensi ty, always in abundance when Sheridan and Humber play, continued in the second half. The Bruins held a slight lead late but, after some sloppy play, they found themselves down five points with a minute to go. Sheridan managed to cut the lead to two with 20 seconds left. They fouled Humber with nine seconds left but both free throws were missed. Sheridan's Hugh Bent then put back a missed shot with 1.5 seconds left to tie it. A desperation Hawk three pointer rimmed out at the buzzer and the two teams headed to over time at 70-70. Again, Sheridan trailed by two late but Kevin Passley, who would be heard from in a big way File Photos by E rin Riley In Ottawa on Saturday, Sheridan won the provincial champi onship over Humber. Captured in action earlier this year, here, are (left photo) Kevin Passley, the championship game MVP, and (right photo) Elvis Dennis, the tournament MVP. later, went coast to coast for a lay-up to tie it at 80-80 with five seconds left. Humber missed a short put-back at the buzzer and the game headed into a second overtime. Sheridan came out and took control and led it 86-80 with a minute left. This time, Humber didn't give up and fol lowed up three Sheridan missed shots with three field goals of their own, the last one being a three pointer, to put the Hawks up 87-86 with 6.1 sec onds left. The Bruins got the ball to centre court where the ball went out of bounds but still belonged to Sheridan with three seconds left. In the time out, Sheridan designed a play to give Passley the ball and to dribble down court and look for a cutting Bruins player. Passley took the in-bounds pass and dribbled twice and immediately launched a running onehanded 28 footer that found the centre of the bas(See 'Bruins' page D4) Here's what we'll do: · Inspect all key components · Use the latest computerized equipment to measure wheels, adjust front caster, camber and toe-in as required Rear adjustment and parts extra (if required) SHOPPING PLAZA Middle aT8th Line \ / ^ ?S50 Kerr Street Q49~8473 ^ 844-0202 STORE HOURS: Mon. -Frt. 830am-9pm Sat 9am-6pm. Sun. 9am-5pm Our new store is opening at Trafalgar and Dundas early April. The Gar Bar is now open and the car wash is opening soon. " SAVE Look for our flyer in Friday's Oakville Beaver