For Release: November 18th, 1999

That buzz you hear in the high schools this week is the buzz of excitement for hundreds of student athletes as they vy for their respective S.D.S.S.A.A. and N.O.S.S.A. championships.

Beginning this week, City championships will be hosted in Girls' Midget, as well as Junior and Senior Division I and Division II Basketball. The Division II Championship will be contested tonight (Thursday) at Marymount Academy beginning at 4:30pm with the Junior Championship between Lively and L'Heritage, while the Senior Championship follows at 6:15pm between the visiting Champlain Requins and the Marymount Regals.

L'Heritage advanced to the Junior final by recording a 31-27 victory against the St. Benedict's Bears, while the other semi saw the Hawks from Lively down the Chelmsford Flyers 45-32. In the Senior semis, Champlain Requins nipped the L'Horizon Aigles 33-31 and Marymount downed the Senior Hawks.

The Division I Championship will be a triple header on Saturday at the highest senior team's gym beginning at 1pm with the Midget finals between Northeastern and Lasalle. The Junior Division I final comes next at 2:45pm, followed by the Senior Final at 4:30pm. Participants were not known at press time as semi finals were slated for Wednesday afternoon.

At stake of course are positions at the N.O.S.S.A. championship on the weekend of November 26th, two of three of which are hosted right here in Sudbury. N.O.S.S.A. "A" finals will be hosted at Ecole secondaire Hanmer, the "AA" tournament will be hosted at Northeastern Secondary in Garson, while the "AAA" Final will be hosted by Sir James Dunn of the Soo.

Meanwhile, the Boys' Volleyball N.O.S.S.A. championship picture has come into full focus, with the completion of the City Championships last week and various challenge matches played early in the week.

N.O.S.S.A. Boys' Volleyball will be hosted this weekend, and again two of three of the championships will be hosted right here in Sudbury. "A" will be hosted by Ecole secondaire Macdonald Cartier, "AA" by Lo-Ellen Park Secondary, and "AAA" by St. Joseph/Scollard Hall of North Bay.

Participating schools at these championships will be: "A" - Levack and Chelmsford Juniors and Seniors, "AA" - Lo-Ellen and Champlain Juniors and Seniors, and, "AAA" - Confederation (Senior), Lockerby (Junior) and Lasalle Juniors and Seniors. Winners at N.O.S.S.A. will advance to the O.F.S.A.A. (All Ontario) high school championships November 26th and 27th with sites as follows: "A" - Owen Sound, "AA" - St. Thomas and "AAA" - Kitchener.

In other S.D.S.S.A.A. news .... A rare occurrence indeed took place Monday evening at French River District Secondary School. The Junior Muskies were hosting the Macdonald Cartier Pantheres in boys' basketball competition. In the second overtime period, the Muskies prevailed by a final tally of 70-67, recording their first victory since joining the league last year. Who said regular season competition can't be exciting?

... I took in a sight that warmed my heart last week, in, of all places, Cambrian Arena. I was watching the game between the Confederation Chargers and Lasalle Lancers Senior boys' hockey teams and noticed a black patch on the arms of the Lasalle players. On closer inspection, I could see that the patch read: "The Guzz" - an obvious tribute to the recently departed Gabe Guzzo, formerly a Vice Principal at the school. I'm sure that somewhere, "The Guzz" is smiling ....

And finally this week, following hot on the heels of outstanding success at N.O.S.S.A., athletes representing Sudbury at the O.F.S.A.A. Cross Country Running Championships in Etobicoke posted some performances that were equally as impressive. Chief among them: Devon Kershaw of Lockerby - a silver in Junior boys' competition, Joe Yawney of Lockerby - 16th in Junior boys', Dylan Petrin of Lockerby - a fifth place performance in Midget boys', Katie Johnston of Lo-Ellen Park - a thirteenth in Midget girls' and Tessa Bonhomme of Lasalle - a fourteenth in Midget Girls' competition. Lasalle registered a sixth place finish in Midget girls' team competition.

There are somewhere around 240 runners in each age group vying for top honours - making you appreciate just how significant these efforts were. Congratulations to all the runners for making us proud!

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