www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, March 2, 2012 · 24 Local speed skater makes World Cup debut By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR PAUL SHOEBRIDGE / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER WORLD CLASS: Oakville Speed Skating Club product Patrick Duffy (left) recently competed in his first-ever World Cup event, representing Canada at the Korean Air ISU competition in Moscow. OSSC skaters combine to win 10 medals at provincials Led by golden performances by Nicole Vrazinovski, Anaka Will-Dryden and Blake Sullivan, the Oakville Speed Skating Club (OSSC) won more than a quarter of the medals up for grabs at last weekend's provincial speed skating championships. OSSC skaters combined to win 10 medals, twice as many medals as any other club at the meet. Vrazinovski won the pre-midget female division, Will-Dryden was first in the juvenile 2 female grouping and Sullivan took gold in the junior 2 male competition. Silver medals went to Erin Stewart (juvenile 2 female), Joshua Sullivan (juvenile 1 male) and Ben Heidecker (junior 2 male). Erin Heidecker (midget female), Tom Watson (juvenile 1 male), Sean McAnuff (juvenile 2 male) and Ryan McAnuff (open male) added third-place finishes. Narrowly missing the podium with fourth-place efforts were Nicholas Kothleitner (midget male) and Alexis Halushak (juvenile 1 female). The club also boasted three of the top 10 open A male competitors in the province in Ryan McAnuff, Samuel Chin-Cheong and Shem Roberts. He had gone to the Ontario Winter Games to watch his older brother play hockey, but Patrick Duffy's eyes were attracted to a different sport. "I saw speed skating there. I turned to my parents -- I was 10 or 11 years old -- and told them I wanted to try that," Duffy recalled. "It just looked so weird at the time. People going at high speeds, wearing almost no equipment and going top speed around corners. It looked so, not dangerous, but so incredible, so thrilling, exhilarating." It's turned out to be much more than that for Duffy, now 20 years old and a student at Concordia University in Montreal. It's been his ticket onto the international stage. Duffy recently competed in his first-ever World Cup meet, suiting up for the Canadian team at the Korean Air ISU competition in Moscow. Duffy finished eighth in the B semifinal of the 1,500-metre race and 15th overall in the 1,000m event, but results weren't the Oakville Speed Skating Club product's biggest concern. "My coach and I weren't focusing on results. We were focusing on experience and strategy," he said. "It was the complete opposite of what it was in Canada. In Canada, you know everyone and have raced them before. At the world stage, you've seen most of these guys on TV, but you're not used to racing them. Strategy and reaction time in the races plays a big part." Duffy was selected to represent Canada at the World Cup meet after several other skaters chose not to compete or were injured. He's hoping it will lead to more international opportunities in the near future. "I never thought I'd be able to come this far," Duffy said. "Especially to be able to even do a World Cup at this point, I got a bit of luck and a few guys unfortunately got injured. But I was still considered to go. "With the experience I've gained, it also allows the speed skating committee to look at me more. In the future, that will help me. At the same time, it makes me hungrier and makes me feel I can get to where I want to go." Duffy said he hopes to at least challenge for a spot on the Canadian team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. "I don't 100 per cent expect to make the team, but doing the trials and competing is my goal," he said. "For the Canadian team, there's a pretty big window (of opportunity). There are a lot of older guys on the team. I'm one of the youngest." Memorable experience for red Flames Members of the Oakville tyke red Flames hope every hockey tournament will be like their first. The Flames (pictured above) went undefeated in five games to win the recent Simcoe Lions Tournament in what was the first taste of tournament competition for many of the players. Oakville clinched the gold with an 8-4 win over the Belmont Rangers in the final, capping off a fun weekend that also included mini-stick games, swimming, video games and team meals. Nicholas McNevin was named the MVP of the championship game. Other members of the team are Jax Wilden, Jack Cunnington, Ben Campbell, Matthew Milko, Tyler Tufford, Cole Semeniuk, Daniel McKnight, Griffin Pick, Ryan Sass Gregoire, Tyler Simpson, Jacob Schneider, Daniel Verdon, Lucas Almeida, Curtis Sinopoli and Nathan Bureau. Jack Verdon, John Pick, Bruce Campbell and Pete Cunnington coach the Flames, and Mij Verdon is the team MOM. Vytis Green U14 boys win first title of season The Oakville Vytis Green under-14 boys (pictured above) recently won their first tournament of the basketball season, capturing gold at the Caledon Cougars tourney. Oakville won each of its five games, including a 47-40 victory over Etobicoke in the final. The Vytis Green's other wins came over Bracebridge (65-16), Flamborough (65-44), East York (75-66) and Mississauga (72-52). Karl Lepp was named tournament MVP for the Vytis. Other members of the Oakville squad are Nic Bopp, Jeremiah Sulunteh, Matt Marsh, Justin Wu, Joel Presse, Aidan Fang, Bobby Zhang and Shamiel Stevenson. Scott Presse, Chris Fang and David Marsh coach the team, and Andrea Crozier-Lepp is the manager.