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Kevin Nagel Oakville Beaver Sports Editor knagel@burlingtonpost.com Sports coaches w ho work w ith Walker. "She' s m uch more consistent this year." A couple of recent growth spurts has also made training (typically six hours a day, four or five days a w eek) that m uch more difficult as Walker learns how to handle her relatively long, (five-foot-six) lean frame. "She' s still trying to co-ordinate her new height," Lemaire said. "I'm just hop ing she' s had her growth spurt now. We're trying to build up her physical strength a little bit so that she' s able to continue training as m uch as she needs to without tiring. That' s our biggest goal right now." That' s the physical part of the chal lenge. Another obstacle is mentally deal ing w ith high-pressure situations. Walker' s strength is rarely letting a mistake during a performance affect the remainder of her program. It' s the weeks before major com petitions that can som e times cause problems. "(Natalie) is more nervous leading up to an event. The couple of w eeks before she' s very hard on herself if things aren't going w ell," Lemaire said. "Connected to your Community" CD P* JO Oakville resident, 1 3 , competes starting Monday in Ottawa By Kevin Nagel Beaver sports editor ro o p Like many high-calibre athletes, Walker works w ith a sports psychologist to help her lim it the effects of stress. "I think that' s a big thing for kids to appreciate that they can't do it on their ow n," Lemaire said. The butterflies haven't prevented Walker from stepping onto the podium the past two years. Since w inning a silver medal as a pre-novice skater at the Skate Canada Challenge in 2014 -- a com peti tion in w hich the winner was three years older -- Walker took hom e a bronze medal at the Canada Winter Games last year and has earned medals of all three colours in m eets this year in Montreal, Thornhill, Vancouver, Barrie and Milton. "I am hoping to achieve m y personal season' s best at nationals," she said this week. N ovice division skaters are scheduled to skate short and free programs on the first two days, respectively, in Ottawa -- Jan. 16 and 17. Oakville's Natalie Walker, a member of the Milton Skating Club, will compete in the novice division at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Ottawa Jan. 16-22. | photo by Danielle Earl - Special to the Beaver -o O > * < Am ong the hundreds of skaters vying for a chance to com pete at nationals, 13-year-old Natalie Walker is the only Oakville resident to get the green light this season. The Grade 8 student at W.I. Dick Mid dle School has trained at the Milton Skat ing Club for the past five years. She w ill com pete in the novice division w hen the Canadian Tire National Skating Champi onships are held in Ottawa Jan. 16-22. In her second year in the novice divi sion Walker not only qualified for the Skate Canada Challege as one of the top 60 novice skaters in the country, she fin ished among the top 18 to land a spot at nationals. After just m issing qualifying for na tionals last year, Walker is preparing for the major test by working on som e triple jumps she hopes to perfect for Ottawa. "She has two -- last year she was sort of on and off w ith the triples," said MSC head coach Nancy Lemaire, one of four m co § m O! c n Cl CD = C > || o 3 g O a k v i l l e H o r n e t s b l a n k N e p e a n W i l d c a t s in c l a s h b e t w e e n t o p t w o t e a m s in P W H L Maddy McArthur turned in a 29-save shutout as the Oakville Hornets won a bat tle between the Provincial Women' s Hockey League's top two teams, downing Ne pean 2-0. Oakville, playing w ith out its top two scorers, was outshot 9-2 in the opening period but McArthur kept the game scoreless. Brooke Jovanovich had a goal and assist as the Hornets built a 2-0 lead. D evon Facchinato opened the scoring w ith three m inutes to play in the second. M idway through the third, Jovanovich scored her 11th goal of the season to m ake it 2-0. McArthur w ould be tested often in the period, turning aside 16 shots to preserve her fifth shutout of the sea son. McArthur also remains unbeaten for the season w ith a 10-0-2 record. C om ing on the heels of M adison Oakes' shutout Saturday, the H ornets have now gone 115 m inutes w ithout allow ing a goal. Oakville, 22-2-3, extended its lead atop the PWHL standings to eight points, w hile N epean, 18-7-2, fell to third place, a point be h ind Durham West. O akville plays its n ext four gam es at h o m e, b e g in n in g Thursday w h en the H ornets h o st Bramp ton. N otes: Three Hornets are playing in the W om en' s World U 18 Hockey Champi onships in the Czech Repub lic. Emma Maltais, a m em ber of last year' s silver-medal w inning team, Sarah Fillier and Meaghan Hector are all part of the Canadian team that improved to 3-0 w ith a 1-0 overtime w in over the defending cham pion United States Tuesday. Fillier had a goal and Mal tais had an assist as Canada opened the tournament with a 5-1 w in over Sweden. The Canadian team fol low ed that up w ith a 4-2 w in over Russia. LeaseBusters.com is the largest vehicle lease marketplace in Canada. We'll unlock you from your vehicle lease com m itm ent... save time, early term ination fees and penalties. Call now for a free consultation 1-888-357-2678 or visit us at www.LeaseBusters.com S h o v e llin g i s n o f u n . Find a local se rvice professional. $20/hr T 6 EA SE S it U STERS .COM Visit w w w .tradyo.com or dow nload the fre e app. f t AppStore I ^ G o ^ e p la y « metroland Buy and sell in your neighbourhood. tra d yo