The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.durhamrcgion.com THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, NOVEMBER 12, 2003 PAGE 13 Clarington's Award-Winning Newspaper Since 1854 Eljc Cnnatrimi Statesman 0M w 1 November 12,2003 infodurham .com Eagles on the move iRecent success has Handed Bowmanville :in second place in :East Conference | BY BRAD KELLY ! Sports Editor ! ' BOWMANVILLE - All you need ;to know about the recent success of the 'Bowmanville Eagles is that you have to iscan up the standings to lind their placing, placing, not down, as has been the norm in jrast seasons. ■ Winning two of three over the week- ie'nd has vaulted the Eagles into second ! place in the tight East Conference of ;the Provincial Junior A Hockey 'League. ! . "It's only the mid-point of the season, season, but to be where we are was a goal ;we set for ourselves," said general man- •ager Perry Bowles. "We have to be cau- 1 lions, though. There's a long road ! ahead and we have a young team that is ; still learning how to win." ■ h While the weekend opened on a •spur note in Wellington Friday with a ',6-2 setback to the first place Dukes, it ^continued with a couple of sweet wins, handing the Bees an 8-3 setback in Pe- ■terborough Saturday and closing out !\yith a convincing 5-1 home ice decision decision Sunday over the Kingston 'Voyageurs. i ;!, Even more impressive was the fact Itiie ilu is running rampant through the [team, forcing players to light through 'some adverse conditions. . "It was a tremendous effort by leveryone just to finish off with the two >ins," added Bowles. ; . After shaking off the effects of a dive-game losing streak, the Eagles ihave played some inspired hockey of Uaie,_\vkning-&bLo£jilieir. pnsLilgbjLlaj t'move into second place with, a mark of; • ! 1 -7-2-3 for 27 points, 12 behind the i first place Dukes. [ j' 1 "Everyone can't wait for the next 'game," because they are so anxious to •keep the streak going, observed ! Bowles. "It's a real good situation right | now." . „ There is a logjam forming right be- • h'ind the Eagles, with Syracuse one ! point back in third, Kingston two back, A.J. GROEIM/ Statesman photo Bowmanville Eagles' rookie winger James Neal came close to scoring on this opportunity against Kingston's Greg Lâur during Sunday's 5-1 win over the Voyageurs. A pair of wins in three weekend outings has moved the Eagles into second place in the East Conference standings. followed by Port Hope and Trenton who are four in arrears. Lindsay, Bancroft, Bancroft, Cobourg and Peterborough round out positions seven through 10. After coming up short in Wellington to open the three-games-in-threc-nights stint, the Eagles got a pair of goals from Colin Baker and one each from Steve Cornelissen, Jeff Oke, David Smith, James Neal, Brad Dormcidy and Justin Caruana in the lopsided victory in Peterborough. Peterborough. Defenceman Andrew Johnston chipped in three assists. On home ice Sunday, Tom Fitzpatrick Fitzpatrick scored twice in the win over Kingston. Dormeidy, Oke and Smith also tallied, with Erik Petersen adding three helpers. The Eagles have a little time to rest on their laurels, getting a week off before before hosting Peterborough Sunday in a special matinee affair beginning at 2:30 pan. to avoid a conflict with the CFL's Grey Cup. Clarington gymnastics club adds 'best coach' to program July Gershcovich has ■guided six national land 25 provincial champions ;by brad kelly ^Sports Editor * , BOWMANVILLE - When the job 'of trying to be the lone coach at the ►evolving and expanding program at ►Clarington Gymnastics Academy bc- Jcame too big for one person to handle, ^Christine Ormerod went looking for ►some much-needed help. But the owner of the club didn't just , settle on any coach to join the program '- she went out and got the best. • J July Gershcovich, who has gained a ! reputation both nationally and internationally internationally as a top-flight women's gym- 1 nasties coach, agreed to join the Bow- iinanvillc-hascd club as an assistant ] head coach to raise the standards of a ; club looking to make inroads at a higli- ' er level. i 1 "The national (women's) coach ! (Andrei Rodionenko) told me that I | didn't get just any coach, that 1 got the best coach," says Ormerod of a conversation conversation that look place between the three | of them following a recent tour of the | facility. i r ' Gershcovich, raised in the former ! Soviet Union, came to Canada in 1991 Gillespie, G McKINNEY, Texas - Derek ' Gillespie and Jon Mills are hoping to transform Texas into a two star stale this week. The two 25-year-old golf phe- noms from Durham Region begin the second stage of PGA Tour qualifying A.J GROEN/Statesman photo Christine Ormerod, owner and head coach of the Clarington Gymnastics Gymnastics Academy, has added July Gershcovich to the staff. and currently resides in Whitby. In his 12-plus years as a gymnastics coach in this country, which included a stint with Gemini Gymnastics in Oshawa, he has guided six national champions and 25 provincial champions to promi nence. His athletes have also represented represented Canada at the World Championships in 1995, '97 and 2001. "I have a little bit of a different approach approach and want to try some new things," he says of subtle changes he will make to the equipment and training schedules in Clarington. "1 hope to add some enthusiasm and technical knowledge. knowledge. 1 have expertise in national and high performance level gymnastics and I hope my presence helps raise the standards standards already in place." Ormerod says the steady growth of the club both competitively and recreational recreational ly prompted the need for some extra help around the Lake Rd. facility. "Our program has expanded so much and all of our programs are doing extremely well. But the future vision of the club is to create a national program," program," she says. Hence the addition of Gershcovich. The 43-year-old plans to be at the club six nights a week to offer his expertise. expertise. And, he points out, that knowledge knowledge isn't reserved for just the top-end members of the club. "1 love to coach gymnastics at the highest possible level, 1 love the sport and the kids, but I am willing to help every child regardless of what level they are at as long as they are willing to work hard." Competitive elub members are in preparation for a provincial qualifier in Woodstock from Dec. 12 to 14. Mills tee it up at second stage today at the same location, the Stone- bridge Ranch course in McKinney, Texas. Gillespie, of Oshawa, survived the first stage at the Bayonet Course in California by firing a clutch two- under-par 70 on the final of four rounds Oct. 31. lie finished tied for 13th at 10-over, three above the cut. Mills, of Brooklin, earned an exemption exemption to the second stage after winning the Canadian Tour's Order of Merit this season. The second stage involves four rounds at one of six different locations, locations, three this week and three more next week. The lop 20 or so at each location will advance to the six- round final stage at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla,, Dec. 3-8, Lords miss out on medal at soccer nationals BY PAUL FUTHEY Staff Writer COQUITLAM, B.C. - For the Durham Lords women's soccer team, the pre-tournament rankings proved to be eerily prophetic. The Lords, ranked fourth in the country for much of the season, wound up destined for that position in the CCAA soccer tournament after losing 2-1 to the Alberta champion Mount Royal College Cougars in the bronze medal game Saturday at Coquitlam, Coquitlam, B.C. It was a disappointing end after an encouraging start to the tournament. The Ontario champions won their opening game ■ but dropped their last two matches, as they wound up having having to deal with more than just their on-field opponents. "Injury troubles, red card troubles, all kinds of troubles," said head coach Vaso Vujanovic. Indeed, the injury bug bit the Lords severely. The first hint of trouble trouble came in the Lords' tournament opener against Fraser Valley. After Tina Foreman opened the scoring in the game's fifth minute, the score held until a pair of late goals from Tonia Coletti. Coletti, named player of the game, was shelved after fracturing fracturing her fibula on her second goal. Megan Hennessey saw her first game action since the third game of the season, season, subbing in during the game's 38th minute. She, too, would not finish finish the game, as she left partway through the second half with a bruised knee. Limping into their game with College College FX Garneau, the Lords were hopeful of an upset and a date in the gold medal final. The defending champions, however, proved to be worthy of their number one ranking and whitewashed Durham 3-0 on the way to a second straight Canadian title. Despite losing a player to a red card midway through the first half, Garneau (leading 1-0 at the time) seemed to be unaffected. The game had more than its share of controversy. Already missing a big part of the offence in Coletti, the Lords were dealt a serious blow in the second half when Dixon was shown a. red card in retaliation for some overly physical marking by a Garneau defender. defender. Lords' assistant coach Matt Gurr then saw red - literally and figuratively figuratively - as he would get tossed for arguing the call on Dixon with the officials. officials. "It wasn't a good scene," Vujanovic Vujanovic said. "He went too far - and he knows that." The Lords, meanwhile, had to gear up for a bronze medal match against Mount Royal with a lineup missing Dixon (suspension), voted earlier in the week as the top player in Canada. The lineup took even more hits when defender Abbic Visser received a red card in the game's 32nd minute after a collision in the goal crease. Plus, Gita Orchowski nor Jennifer Cour- neyea would finish the game due to injury. After a scoreless first half courtesy of some line play from goalkeeper Ashley Visser, a pair of goals six minutes minutes apart gave Mount Royal a 2-0 lead. Kristina Foreman, who put home a Lindsay Garbatt feed, would account for the Lords' lone goal in the game's 89th minute. The Lords had come on strong, said Vujanovic, but simply ran out of time - this despite only having five members of its starting starting lineup on the field by the end of the game. Overall, however, the Lords' fourth place finish is one better than what the team accomplished in its only other trip to the nationals in 1997, when it placed fifth. When asked about next season, Vujanovic said he is confident of a competitive team in 2004 - just how competitive remains to be seen, however. however. It's still far loo early to determine. determine. especially with the status of both Foreman and Dixon, the team's two All-Canadians, currently up in the air. "I feel we should have a good team. I low good is hard to say."