There were 15 members of the Kamloops Classics Swim Club at the Salmon Arm Jamboree Meet on Sunday, Oct. 23.

Sarah Koopmans and Ryley McRae finished the 200-metre individual medley in under four minutes. Both swimmers have qualified to compete at regional all-level meets.

Koopmans won three gold medals in Salmon Arm, placing first in the 400-metre freestyle, 200-metre backstroke and 100-metre fly. She won bronze in the 200-metre breaststroke and individual medley races.

McRae swam to four first-place finishes, winning gold in the 200-metre individual medley and backstroke, the 100-metre fly and 400-metre freestyle. He also won silver in the 200-metre breaststroke.

Macy MacDonald won a bronze medal in the 50-metre breaststroke in the nine-and-under division.

In the 10-and-underboys’ division, Cohen Freeze placed first in the 50-metre freestyle, 50-metre fly, 50-metre backstroke and 100-metre individual medley events.

Gursevak Uppal had one second-place finish, in the 50-metre breaststroke, and two third-place finishes, in the 50-metre freestyle and 50-metre backstroke races. He was competing in the eight-and-under boys’ division.

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Classics swim in Salmon Arm

Two Kamloops officials have been selected by BC Hockey to attend national events this winter.

Kayla Keeping will referee at the women’s under-18 national championship, which runs from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6 in Saguenay, Que.

Mike Boisvert will be a linesman at the World Junior A Challenge, which runs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 13 in Langley.

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Officials earn their stripes

Dylan Armstrong added to his long list of accomplishments on Tuesday, Oct. 25, with a gold medal in shot put at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The 30-year-old Kamloops product, a Westsyde secondary graduate, threw 21.30 metres, setting a Pan Am record on his way to a first-place finish.

Sultana Frizell of Perth, Ont., who trains at the National Throws Centre (NTC) in Kamloops, won silver in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 70.11 metres.

She won the medal on her birthday, Monday, Oct. 24. She turned 27.

Both medallists are pupils of Ukrainian throws coach Anatoliy Bondarchuk, who can often be seen conducting training sessions at the NTC, beside Hillside Stadium.

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Armstrong golden at Pan Am Games

Two of Jeff Viani’s finest students are ready to turn heads at the Master’s Cup, a World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Taekwondo event scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 29, at Capilano University in North Vancouver.

Taylor Viani, Jeff’s daughter, and Shawn Sabyan — both of whom fight out of Master Viani’s Tiger Martial Arts (MVTMA) school — are second-degree black belts with a lot to prove at this weekend’s event.

Taylor, 15, is competing for the first time in the junior women’s black-belt division.

A top-four finish in the sparring competition, a full-contact event, will earn her a spot on Team B.C., which will compete at the National Championships in Vancouver in January.

“Oh, I can’t even imagine what that would be like,” said Taylor, a Sa-Hali secondary student.

“But, I’m just focused on getting in the top four right now.”

Sabyan, who’s been practising martial arts for 15 years, has competed at high-level competitions before, many of them overseas, but has never tried his hand in the men’s black-belt division at a WTF-sanctioned event.

“The competition is going to be quite difficult,” said Sabyan, who works for CIBC in the day and MVTMA at night.

“There’s a lot of people with a lot of experience. The sparring is full contact in the adult division, so there’s a chance for injury for myself or for someone else.

“But, Master Viani wouldn’t send me down there if he didn’t think that I was capable of making quite an impact.

“I trust him and I trust my own skills as well.”

The 22-year-old knows he will be under scrutiny from coaches and scouts from Team B.C. and Team Canada at the Master’s Cup.

A solid showing on Saturday might put him on the map for a spot on Team Canada in the future.

While making the team that travels to London for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games is a long shot, Sabyan’s chances of cracking the squad in 2016, when the Games are held in Brazil, are better.

“This can get me noticed and get the ball rolling within B.C and with the provincial team and I’ll go from there,” Sabyan said.

Taylor dreams of competing at the Olympics, too, and this weekend’s event will allow her to gauge her standing among the province’s elite.

Viani has been making life tough on both of his pupils as of late, preparing them for what promises to be a true test of their skills.

“We’ve a had a love-hate relationship for the last six weeks because I’m pushing her probably beyond her potential,” he said of his daugher.

“I don’t want her to get hurt and I don’t want her to get knocked out.

“She really loves dance and if she comes back black and blue, that won’t be too popular.”

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, Viani is proud of his daughter and Sabyan, both of whom will represent the River City on Saturday the only way they know how — by giving 100 per cent.

“We probably haven’t had a lot of black belts of this calibre represent Kamloops,” he said.

“I think that’s a pretty big deal.”

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The Master’s henchmen

Royal Caribbean International is pulling the Independence of the Seas out of Europe in November 2012 and will deploy the 3,634-passenger ship in the Caribbean, operating out of Fort Lauderdale for the 2012-13 winter season.

With the repositioning, all three Freedom-class ships (the Independence of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas) will be based in Florida. The Liberty is in Fort Lauderdale, the Freedom in Port Canaveral.

The Independence this winter is sailing 11-night Spain and Canary Islands cruises roundtrip from Southampton, England.

“We are looking forward to having all three Freedom-class ships sailing the Caribbean in winter 2012-13,” said Betsy O’Rourke, the line’s senior vice president of marketing. “Independence of the Seas has helped solidify Royal Caribbean’s position as the most innovative cruise line in Europe, where she will continue to sail in the summer, and is now offering new Caribbean adventures for the ship’s devotees.”

The ship will sail a transatlantic voyage from Southampton on Nov. 22, 2012, and sail from Fort Lauderdale from December 2012 through March 2013.

The ship will sail a three-night Bahamas cruise before starting a series of alternating eight-night Eastern Caribbean and six-night Western Caribbean itineraries.

Independence of the Seas will return to England in April 2013 and offer Mediterranean and Europe cruises through summer.

The Freedom of the Seas this year is operating alternating seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, while the Liberty of the Seas sails four- and five-night Western Caribbean itineraries.

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KMHA round-up

Looking for a fun way to support a cause? The Kamloops Trap and Skeet Club is hosting a charity shoot to benefit Canadian Cancer Foundation to support the fights against breast and prostate cancer. The entire entry fee will be donated and will include lunch and pink clay targets to shoot up.

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Trap and Skeet club to host charity shoot

Tom McManus is the best of the bunch.

Guiding his team to the playoffs, despite having four regulars suffer serious injuries, has resulted in McManus, head coach of the TRU WolfPack women’s soccer team, being named the Pacific Western Athletic Association’s women’s soccer coach of the year.

“It has been a tough season with all of the injuries, but all of the players and coaching staff bought into what I have been trying to do and without them supporting my decisions it could have been disastrous,” said McManus, who led the Pack to a 5-5-1 record and a berth in the playoffs.

“I have been very lucky to have excellent coaching staff and excellent support staff from the WolfPack office and my thanks goes out to all of them.”

TRU finished second in Group B of the PacWest women’s soccer standings.

The Pack meet the Quest Kermodes in a quarter-final matchup at 1 p.m. on Friday in Kelowna.

If TRU beats Quest, which finished third in Group A, they will play the Langara Falcons in a semifinal tilt on Saturday.

Three of McManus’ players have been chosen to the PacWest first all-star team.

Alanna Bekkering, a third-year midfielder from Kamloops, Blair MacKay, a fourth-year defender from Kamloops, and Ashley Piggot, a fifth-year midfielder from Prince George, were all chosen in a vote by PacWest coaches.

“I am very happy that Alanna, Blair and Ashley have been recognized,” McManus said.

“They have had a brilliant season once again.”

Three TRU men earn all-star status

A trio of TRU WolfPack men’s soccer players have been selected to PacWest all-star teams.

Braeden Burrows, a third-year midfielder from Kamloops, is a first-team all-star, while Adam Dodgson and Conor Doherty, both fifth-year players from Kamloops, are second-team all-stars.

“Braeden has always been one of the better players,” WolfPack co-head coach Sean Wallace said.

“Conor was consistent as he has been his entire career here. Adam would have been a first-team all-star again this year if he weren’t injured for most of the season.”

TRU’s men finished 4-2-5 and missed the playoffs.

WolfPack volleyball season is here

The TRU WolfPack men’s and women’s volleyball teams open their Canada West regular-season schedules at home this weekend against the Calgary Dinos.

TRU’s women host Calgary at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28, and at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

The WolfPack men and the Dinos get underway at 7:45 p.m. on Friday and 6:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Keith Lundgren, coach of the TRU women, is entering his second year in charge.

“I am pretty stoked,” Lundgren said.

“I thought we had a good exhibition season against some ranked opponents and we improved along the way.”

The Pack women posted a 3-6 record in the pre-season and have not won a home opener since 2005, when they beat Simon Fraser University.

Pat Hennelly’s men fared better than the women in the pre-season, finishing the seven-game schedule with a 5-2 record.

TRU will be wearing pink shirts in warm-up on Friday to show support for the CIBC Run for the Cure.

The shirts will be on sale $10, with proceeds going toward the cause.

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TRU WolfPack news and notes

The Kamloops Blazers will look to continue their impressive start to the 2011-2012 WHL campaign when the Kelowna Rockets visit ISC on Friday, Oct. 28.

Kamloops (9-3-0-0) posted a 2-1 record in Alberta last week, losing in Red Deer before bouncing back with wins in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.

The Blazers were two points clear of the Victoria Royals atop the WHL’s B.C. Division at KTW’s press deadline on Wednesday, Oct. 26.

Kelowna has failed to meet expectations this season and sat fourth in the division with nine points through 12 games as of KTW’s press deadline.

The Rockets hosted Prince George on Wednesday.

Colin Smith leads the Blazers in scoring with eight goals and 16 points.

Brendan Ranford, who’s played three fewer games than Smith, JC Lipon, captain Chase Schaber and Tim Bozon are tied for second with 12 points each.

Cam Lanigan and Cole Cheveldave are still battling for the starting job in the Blazers’ net, with both netminders having posted four wins on the season.

REAL MEN WEAR PINK

The Kamloops Blazers will wear pink Reebok jerseys on Friday, Oct. 28, when the Kelowna Rockets visit Interior Savings Centre.

Following the game, a jersey-off-our-back presentation will be held and winning bidders will be given their jerseys.

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Red-hot Blazers set to host Huska’s Rockets

The TRU WolfPack baseball team swept four weekend games from the Okanagan A’s in Kelowna.

It’s the final action for the WolfPack this fall — TRU will resume play in February, when it heads to Arizona for spring training ahead of the Canadian College Baseball Conference season.

On Sunday, the WolfPack won 9-0 and 8-6.

Denver Wynn pitched six innings in the opener, which was highlighted by a Jason Tripp unassisted triple play. Dave Hole had two RBI, and Alex Condon drove in a run.

James Martensen was the winning pitcher in the second game, and Cody Pendergast had a single, two walks, two stolen bases and an RBI.

On Saturday, TRU won 3-2 and 10-8. Stefan Lono went the distance in the opener, and Levi Kerns had a pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh inning.

Mike Juarez went three innings and was credited with the victory in the second game, and Travis Nevakshonoff struck out three in a one-inning save.

Brock Stewart had two RBI and Sean Ash had two hits, including a double, a run and an RBI.

* * *

The peewee Kamloops Wildcats secured a playoff berth Sunday with a 32-0 victory over the Kamloops Broncos in community football action at Hillside Stadium.

Wildcats quarterback Carsen Day threw for 75 yards, including 25-yard completions to Cole Simmons and Darcy Rowden.

The Wildcats got one touchdown from Reggie O’Rourke, on a 75-yard run, and another from Adam Buholzer, on a 10-yard scamper. Ben Prokopetz added touchdown runs of 10, 25 and 45 yards. Sean Smith added one convert.

Kyle Watt anchored the Wildcats’ defence with 14 solo tackles, while Riley Eccles, Mattias Nelson, Denzel Marican and Hudson Williams combined for another 16. Traedon Boose concluded the defensive stand with a fourth-quarter interception.

The Wildcats (2-4-1) will travel to Salmon Arm on Sunday to meet the Colts in the final regular-season game, while the Broncos (1-6-0) play host to the Vernon Yellow Jackets at Hillside Stadium.

* * *

The Kamloops Vibe, a female senior A hockey team, picked up seven of a possible eight points during weekend South Coast amateur league play on the Lower Mainland.

Rochelle Smith picked up seven goals and five assists as the Vibe dumped Simon Fraser University 8-1 on Friday, beat Trinity Western University 7-1 and tied the Richmond Devils 2-2 on Saturday, and beat TWU again, this time 10-1, on Sunday.

Melinda Smith had two goals against SFU, while Gaylene Smith had two goals in the first victory over TWU. Rochelle Smith, with four goals, and Sarah Kurzac, with three, led the way in the second game against TWU.
Ashley Fisher, in goal for all three games, was especially sharp against the Devils, making 30 saves as her mates fell behind 2-0 before coming back to earn the draw.

Melinda Smith finished the weekend with four goals and three helpers, while Kurzac had four goals and two assists and Shelby Easton had two goals and five assists. Gaylene Smith and Alyssa Reid each had two goals and four assists, with Alana Parker and Desiree Blair contributing two scores and three assists apiece. Tori Johnson helped out with two of each, while Courtney Parker set up five goals.

The Vibe will be at home this weekend, with the AA Delta Jets visiting for games Saturday, 1 p.m., at the Icebox Arena, and Sunday, 11 a.m., at Memorial Arena.

* * *

Vlad Pankratov led a contingent of nine Aberdeen Judo competitors at the B.C. Judo Championships in Abbotsford on Saturday.

Pankratov was first in the under-19 men’s 100-plus kilogram event and also first in the senior men’s intermediate 100-plus division. Megan Hanks won the U17 cadet women’s 70-plus category and was third in the U20 junior women’s 78kg.

Two other Hankses struck gold — Geoffrey was first in the U15 juvenile men (66kg), while Matthew was first in the U11 novice boys.

Drew Ramsay was third in the junior boys (38) and second in exhibition matches, while Liam Moss was fourth in the junior boys (38) and second in exhibition.

Andrew Iadarola was second in the U20 junior men (90), and Jens Krause was fourth in the senior men’s brown and black belts (81). Joe Marchand was fourth in the senior men’s brown and black belts (100).

Instructor John Huntley handled the coaching, with parents John Ramsay, Randy Moss, Darlene Iadarola and Hilary Hanks helping out.

James Chevrette was one of the on-mat officials.

* * *

Three Kamloops players have been named to rosters of the Burnaby Mountain Selects field lacrosse program.
Colton Boomer, a South Kam student, is on the freshman team, while Ryan Dergousoff will play on the under-12 team. Mason Suppanz has qualified for the U11 squad.

The Mountain Selects are an elite program that travels to the United States for tournaments and games.

* * *

The NorKam Saints senior boys volleyball team finished second at a tournament in Rutland on the weekend.
NorKam finished second in its pool Friday, then won three straight matches Saturday to play its way into the final. The Saints topped the Surrey-Guildford Park Sabres (25-10, 25-12), the Kelowna-Immaculata Mustangs (25-14, 25-12), the Vernon-W.L. Seaton Sonics (18-25, 25-17, 15-11).

NorKam met the Vernon Panthers in the final, falling 25-12, 25-19.

NorKam, with Val Shannik as head coach, features Nathan Haag, Josh Smith, Jerome Thorne, Oliver Lum, Daniel Elke, Colin Marsh, Ryan Cave and Austin Labonte.

* * *

Christopher Curl was the top Kamloops finisher (and third overall) in the Summerland 9.5-kilometre corss-country race on Sunday.

Curl won the men’s 20-29 division in a time of 41 minutes three seconds.

Trevor Haaheim of Kelowna won the race in 37:47.

Allanah Stewart was the top Kamloops female, finishing 46th overall and second among 20-29 women in 56:16. Penticton’s Stacey Cleveland was the top woman, in 43:30.

* * *

Zach Lidster of Kamloops, who is training in Bradenton, Fla., under tennis coach Milos Pospisil, played in a qualifying International Tennis Federation tournament in Atlanta on the weekend.

Lidster opened by beating American Jeff Brown 6-2, 6-0, and then beat George Gregoriou, also of the U.S., 6-1, 6-1. In the third round, Lidster lost to Nicholas Wilson of the U.S., 3-6, 4-6, and that kept him from reaching the main draw.

Lidster now has his sights set on a tournament in Lexington, S.C., that runs from Monday through Nov. 6. Lidster also will play in a number of U-18 tournaments over the next six weeks.

Pospisil is the father of Vasek Pospisil, who is from Vernon. Vasek is ranked No. 124 in the world among men’s singles players.

* * *

The Kamloops Classics sent 14 swimmers to the Salmon Arm Jamboree on Sunday.

Sarah Koopmans, 9, and Ryley McRae, 10, went under four minutes in the 200-metre individual medley, thus qualifying to compete at regional all-level meets.

Koopmans finished in 3:57.22, with McRae doing it in 3:54.26.

Koopmans came home with three first-place finishes — in the 400 free, 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly — and third-place finishes in the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM.

McRae won four gold medals — in the 200 IM, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly and 400 freestyle — and a silver in the 200 breaststroke.

Macy MacDonald, in nine and under, was third in the 50 breaststroke.

Cohen Freeze, in 10 and under, had first-place finishes in the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 50 backstroke and 100 IM.

And, in the eight and under boys, Gursevak Uppal was second in the 50 breaststroke and third in both the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke.

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Sports Briefs: TRU finishes with sweep; Wildcats are in playoffs

The Tk’emlups Wolves won a pair of league games on the weekend, going on the road to beat the South Okanagan Junior Coyotes 8-1 in Oliver on Saturday and the host Penticton Jr. Vees 3-1 on Sunday.

Seiji Brown, with two goals and two assists, and Tyson Gafer, with two goals, led the way in the opener.

Brendan Roche added a goal and three helpers, while Kordell Primus and Hunter Klassen each had a goal.
On Sunday, the Wolves got two goals from Brown and one from Luke Rodrigue.

———

The North Kamloops Lions played three games over the weekend.

They opened Friday with a 10-6 exhibition victory over the Burnaby Winter Club at Valleyview Arena, with Evan Vinterlik showing the way with three goals. Breckin Erichuk and Justin MacInnes added two goals each and Garrett Kellington had one. The names of the other scorers weren’t available. Kellington added three assists, while Vinterlik and Erichuk each had two.

On Saturday, the Lions dropped a 3-1 decision to Merritt in an OMAHA game played at Memorial Arena. Erichuk had the Lions’ lone goal. Ethan Langenegger was in goal.

On Sunday, in Armstrong, Vernon beat the Lions 6-5 in another OMAHA game. Vinterik, with two, Hunter Dairon, Jarrett Daoust and Tyler Bruins-Slot had the goals for the Lions, who weren’t able to hold on to a 5-2 third-period lead.

* * *

BANTAM TIER 1

The Jardine’s Blazers went 2-2, losing in a semifinal, at the Kelowna Minor Hockey Association’s Bantam Tier 1 tournament on the weekend.

The Blazers opened with a 7-4 loss to the Okanagan Hockey Academy on Friday, with Dexter Robinson, with two, Jacob Faraday and Alex Winters scoring the goals. Josh Shank was in goal for the Blazers.

On Saturday, the Blazers opened

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Minor Hockey Roundup: Jardine’s Blazers win Robinson Memorial title