Lawn and Gar&n R ep airsan dP arts1 st M o st M ak es ^ **7 9 * C U R R EN TPO W ERM A C H IN E R YIN C . 1661 Lakeshore R d.W . SPORTS Editor: Norm Nelson Phone: 905-845-3824 (e x t 255) Fax: 905-337-5567 em ail: nnelson@haltonsearch.com Kyle Jones is junior national triathlon champ By Jon Kuiperij OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Harrison Smith · Oakville Beaver 1 . CANADIAN JUNIOR CHAMP! Kyle Jones cast a long shadow at the C anadian ju n io r triathlon cham pionships, finishing in first place. No one could keep up with the Jones at last weekend's junior national triathlon championships. Oakville resident Kyle Jones finished the event in a time o f 1:01:52, nearly a minute-and-a-half faster than his near est competitor, Ryan Polawski of Hamilton. The victory gave Jones his first-ever Canadian title and automatically qualifies him for Decem ber's world junior championships in New Zealand. "It shows the hard work (has) paid off." Jones said of the win, which he described as his biggest accomplishment, thus far. Jones, 18, said winning a national title is a confidence booster as he prepares for his second world championship. The graduate o f Queen Elizabeth Park High School finished 43rd at last year's worlds in Cancun, Mexico. "I'll be a lot more confident going in and I know a lot more what to expect," said Jones. "I'm hoping to do a lot better this year." In winning the Canadian championship, held in Magog, Quebec, Jones was fourth-fastest in the 750m swim portion, fifth-quickest in the 20 km. bike segment and fastest in the 5 km. run. Jones, who will attend the University of Guelph this fall, said the trip to New Zealand will cost upwards o f $5,000. The Running Company in Oakville, as well as New Balance, Powerbar, Gears Bike Shop and Kerr Sunglasses, has sponsored Jones by providing invaluable product and equipment, but financial support is also being sought. "The carding system in triathlon rewards medal con tenders for the Olympics or world championships, so I would have to place top-eight in the world at the senior level," Jones said. "Whatever help I can get (from the Oakville community) would be greatly appreciated." Karas second in decathlon at national championships By Jon Kuiperij OAKV1LJUE BEAVER STAFF Oakville juniors finally ousted He might not have finished first, but Josef Karas Jr. accomplished his goal at the recent Canadian Track and Field Championships in Victoria, B.C. Karas came second in the national decathlon competition, securing himself a spot on the Canadian team and improving his chances for carding (fed eral funding) next season. "I was disappointed (finishing sec ond) but my main goal was to stay healthy and finish in the top three," Karas said. "It's very much a relief... a big load off my back." The 24-year-old Oakville resident said a couple bad events -- the high jump in particular -- cost him a chance of overtaking Mike Nolan for the nation al title. Karas will now shift his focus to the upcoming World University Games in Daegu, South Korea. He initially had concerns about being able to afford traveling to the Games but has received assistance from the Oakville community. Norman Jean Calder and her husband Chris have committed to paying for Karas' trip to Daegu and plan to estab lish a fund for Oakville athletes with similar needs. Oakville's Donovan Bailey, a double-gold medallist at the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta, also called Karas to offer his support. "I'd like to thank the Calders and the rest of the Oakville community," Karas Shepley loses semifinal marathon D efending cham pion Jessica Shepley was knocked out of the semi finals o f the Toronto Star Women's Amateur by the previous year's (2001) champion Mary Lapointe last Friday. It was was a marathon match-play event, going 20 holes. Lapointe then lost to 2000 champ Alena Sharp. Shepley, an Iroquois Ridge grad, is now at University o f Tennessee where she is the 19th ranked golfer in the There's no tougher road to hoe than losing your opening game in a double knock-out tournament format, as did the Oakville team in the junior (U-15) Little League Ontario championships which it hosted at the Glen Abbey diamonds last week. After Tuesday night's opening loss -- 7-5 in extra innings to East Nepean -- Oakville had their work cut out for them. To claim a provincial title, they would have to win six straight games -- in the process playing seven games in six days. They gave it a good run. winning three ip a tow -- 2-1 over Perth in extra innings on Wednesday, 16-3 over Brockville on Thursday and 13-3 over LaSalle Turtle Club on Friday night. On Saturday, however, their streak came to a halt with an 11-6 loss to Orleans. Orleans then went on to Sunday's championship series with Thunder Bay Westfort, who were undefeated up to that point (see story, page C7). Fresh off two mercy's Oakville had a promising start with Sergio Lujan open ing the game with a single and then brought home on Roger Lambert's long fly ball. Unfortunately, it would be Oakville's only lead of the game and it didn't last long. Orleans scored a pair in the second inning to go up 2-1. Oakville bounced right back in the Josef K aras is heading to Korea. top of the third with a run to even it up at 2-2. Pitcher Scott DeGroot got on said. "Mayor (Ann) Mulvale also sent with a single and he was cashed home out letters from her office to (local serv by Lambert, for his second RBI of the ice clubs) which I thought was an game. extremely classy thing to do. I was Orleans scored three in the bottom of pleasantly surprised and very flattered." the third inning to take a lead (5-2) they would never relinquish. Oakville's best chance came in their very next at-bats, in the top of the fourth NCAA. inning. Things were building nicely with Sharp o f Hamilton is with New Ryan Malhotra and Chris Stewart on Mexico State and is the 7th ranked first and second, respectively, on a cou ple of singles. golfer in the NCAA. The key moment, however, came on L E E IS 57th O akville's Brian Lee had a four a popped up bunt and a very close play round total of 310 (77-76-77-80), good as to whether the pitcher caught it before enough for 57th place, at the Investors it hit the ground. The umpire ruled it was Group Ontario Junior & Juvenile Boys caught and it ended up being turned into Championship at the Hunters Point' a double play, with the pitcher throwing out the runner at second base. Threat G olf Course in Welland last week. Harrison Smith · Oakville Beaver DON'T BITE YOUR TONGUE! Alex C am all sets up for the bunt. over. Orleans added a pair of runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to increase their leads to 6-2 and 8-2. respectively. Oakville rallied in the sixth with four runs (by Stewart, Lujan, DeGroot, and Lambert) on RBI's by DeGroot, Lambert, A.J. O 'Brodovich and Daniel Keresteci. Orleans, however, closed off the scoring in the bottom of the sixth with another three runs to make the 11-6 final. Manager Dave Downer in his after game talk with the parents and grand parents, who have travelled and fol lowed the exploits of this very fine Oakville baseball team, some for as many as five years, lauded the team's effort: "I feel really privileged to have worked with these boys for so long. They are a fine group, and deserve every complement for their contributions. I wish them well in whatever endeavor they choose. "I know they will be successful." As well, the team would like to thank Stephanie Lambert, and her dedicated support group of moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmas, granddads, and equally great support from Little League. Visitors from Thunder Bay, LaSalle, Perth, East Nepean and Brockville praised the friendly welcome from the Oakville hosts, and particularly the Hilton Garden Inn, for the hospitality they showed all of their guests, includ ing the players' breakfast last Wednesday. · Additional coverage, page C7 t C a n a d ia n T ir e 's A th le te o f th e W e e k C a n a d ia n T ire a n d O a k v ille ... A W in n in g C o m b in a t io n ! O A K T O W N S H O P P IN G P L A Z A 550 K e rr S tre et · 8 4 4 -0 2 0 2 STORE HOURS: Mon. -Fri. 8:00am-9:00pm · Sat. 8:00am-7:00pm Sun. 9:00am-6:00pm Name K y le J o n e s Q.E. Park grad Kyle Jones won the Canadian national junior triathlon championship this past weekend, automatically qualifying for the world juniors in New Zealand in December. 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