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SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 9 05-845-3824 (ext. 255) Fax 905-337-5567 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006 27 Ice faces stiff challenge in first round By M att Civak SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER f DAVID GRAY / REUTERS SILVER SWIMMER: Andrew Hurd of Oakville plows through the water during his Canadian record-setting swim in the men's 400-m etre freestyle swim event yesterday at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. Hurd finished the race in a time of 3:49.08, winning silver. Hurd, Russell win Commonwealth medals Oakville's Andrew Hurd won silver in the men's 400-metre freestyle swim event yester day at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, breaking his own Canadian record in the process. The 24-year-old, a two-time Olympian and product of the Oakville Aquatic Club, finished the race in a time of 3:49.08, 59-hun dredths of a second faster than his previ ous best. Scotland's David Carry won the gold Andrew Hurd in 3:48.17 while David Davies of Wales earned the bronze with a time of 3:49.44. Hurd initially set the Canadian record dur ing the Olympic trials in 2002, breaking Rick Say's standard of 3:49.99. An Oakville Trafalgar High School gradu ate, Hurd competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, finish ing fifth in the 1,500m freestyle. He was part of the Canadian 4x200m relay team that set a national record at the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens, placing fifth. Hurd finished 13th in 400m freestyle and 18th in 1,500m freestyle competition at the Athens Games. He also has an NCAA championship to his name, earned with the University of Michigan's 4x200m relay team. Russell, a native of Barrie, swam his leg of the race in 49.10 seconds, with a split time of 22.88 at the 50-metre mark. South Africa claimed gold with a Gamesrecord time of 3:14.97. Australia finished sec ond in 3:15.54. Gymnast Brown competes today Abbey Park High School student Alyssa Brown is scheduled to compete today as a member of the Canadian women's artistic gymnastics squad* Brown, a member of Gymnastics Mississauga, won her first-ever World Cup medal (a silver) last September in Slovenia. She finished second at the Commonwealth Trials in Mississauga last month to qualify for her first Commonwealth Games. Canada's m en's gymnastics team, led by defending Commonwealth and Olympic champion Kyle Shewfelt, won gold yester day. Russell claims bronze in relay Fellow Oakville resident Colin Russell, meanwhile, teamed with Yannick Lupien of Ste-Foy, Que., Matt Rose of Victoria and Brent Hayden of Mission, B.C. to win bronze in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. The team finished the race in a time of 3:15.74, also setting a Canadian record. It'd be difficult for the Oakville Ice to have drawn a less desirable opponent in the first round of the National Women's Hockey League playoffs. When the Ice begins its postseason campaign tomorrow (Saturday), it'll be facing a team that is not only one of the hottest teams in the league, but a team that has won the last four meetings between the two squads. The Thunder finished the regular sea son on a five-game winning streak and passed Oakville for second place in the Central Division, finishing one point ahead of the Ice. Moreover, Brampton represented Ontario at the recent ESSO National Women's · Hockey Championships in Nova Scotia, winning five of six games to claim gold. However, Oakville hasn't forgotten past success it has enjoyed against Brampton, winning the first two meet ings between the teams at the beginning of the year. "Obviously they' ve played some very strong hockey," Oakville Ice coach Randy Hall said of the Thunder. `We have had some success against Brampton. We' ve come from behind to win a couple." The Ice, which finished the season a solid 20-14-1-1, will be looking for con tinued clutch play by its leading scorer, Carly Haggard. Haggard finished the sea son second in the NWHL with 26 goals (a league-best seven of them for game win ners) and 13 helpers, landing her sixth overall in league scoring; The Thunder' s Kristy Zamora scored three times and added an assist in Oakville's last visit to Brampton on March 1. Zamora' tallied eight goals and four assists in eight game's against Oakville-in the regular season. The Ice will likely need to find a way to shut down the league' s third-leading scorer if it intends to survive the best-of-three series. Oakville will also be hoping the return of Olympians Kristin King and Becky Kellar will give it the boost it needs to get past the tough Brampton squad. Unfortunately, however, the captain of the U.S. Olympic team, Krissy Wendell, will not be in action for the Ice for per See Ice page 30 CAMLAN C A A / L iA A / I C E S P O R TS - O A K V IL L E R · ASHL SPRING/SUMMER SEASON 2006 · NOW TAKING REGISTRATIONS · A, B, C, D, REC, 35+, WOMEN'S DIVISION .... E G I S T E R TODAY 905-845-6989 w w w .icesports.com