C M Y K D2
D2 ■ Thursday, June 3, 2010 ■ THE LONDON FREE PRESS
n OFSAA track
Local athletes look
to leave their mark
from page d1
The university also rebuilt
the throwing circle and cage at
the south end of the facility and
realigned the javelin runway to
make sure errant throws don’t
drift onto the outside lanes of
the running track. New pole
vault and high jump pits have
been bought.
So all that’s left is for the ath-
letes to take their marks. And
a number of local competitors
are looking to leave some, as
well.
Gregory MacNeill of Mother
Teresa should easily win the
senior boys’ 110-metre hurdles
— his 13.21-second clocking at
the WOSSAA meet is a pending
Canadian interscholastic rec-
ord — and is looking forward
to a duel with his friend, Aaron
Brown of Toronto Birchmount
Park, in the 200 metres. Brown
is ranked No. 1 in the 100, with
a best time this season of 10.38
seconds.
“I don’t know how I’m going
to feel,” MacNeill admitted
Wednesday. “I’m going to be
ready to rock, I know that. It
hasn’t really hit me yet that
this is my final high school
meet, but when I put on that
MTS uniform for the last time,
I know it’ll be something
special.”
Lauren Jespersen of London
Central, who will compete in
the senior girls’ 100 metres,
loves the fact the meet is in
10
20 n gage awards
MacNeill pays tribute
30
to those helping him
40
50
from page d1
60 Rewarding doesn’t begin to
describe MacNeill’s career, but
70 the numbers at least make a
start:
nn 23 conference, WOSSAA,
80
West Regional and OFSAA gold
medals;
90
nn 12 records in those meets;
nn A pending Canadian inter-
100
scholastic record of 13.21
seconds in the 110-metre
hurdles.
nn A world junior bronze medal
last year in the hurdles in Italy.
“It’s been a journey, that’s
for sure,” said the 18-year-old,
who has Type 1 diabetes. “I’ve
always felt it’s not good enough
just to make it, you’ve got to do
something special.”
MacNeill didn’t find out
about the award until two
n other ofsaas
Cowboys forewarned
STEVE GREEN
The London Free Press
After an almost costly lesson
Wednesday, the Medway Cow-
boys had better apply what
they learned or their stay at the
OFSAA AAA/AAAA boys’ rugby
championship in Ajax and
Oshawa will be a short one.
The seventh-seeded Cow-
boys led the No. 10 Lindsay
Weldon Wildcats 12-3 at half-
time of their first-round game,
but repeated penalties led to
two Medway players in the “sin
bin” with yellow cards. The
Wildcats took advantage of the
extra men and forged ahead
13-12 before Medway outside
centre Jared DeJong scored a
last-second try for a 17-15 win.
“We just survived a scare,”
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London.
“To have all my friends and
everyone who has supported
me these last four years here,
to be able to compete in front
of them, and on a track I know,
is going to be very special,” she
said.
A slew of midget girls from
this area are poised for big
things. Among them is London
Central’s Kathleen Francis,
who comes in with the best
discus throw of the season in
the division, 30.63 metres.
Other area athletes coming
in with the season’s best per-
formances include:
nn Shawn Master of Sarnia
Northern in the junior boys’
1,500 (4:07.05);
nn Alysha Newman of Mother
Teresa in junior girls’ pole
vault (3.89 metres at WOSSAA,
another Canadian interschol-
astic mark);
nn Taylor Stewart of Regina
Mundi in senior boys’ long
jump (7.50 metres, an OFSAA
West regional record last
week).
But it’s not just the estab-
lished “stars” who get to shine
at this meet. There are always
those athletes who come up
with amazing efforts at the per-
fect time, winning gold when
few expected them to.
London’s waited long
enough to see it.
steve.green@sunmedia.ca
hours before it was presented
at Banting.
“You never take anything for
granted,” he said when it was
suggested he shouldn’t have
been surprised. “This award is
one of those things that’s not
just for me, but for the people
who have supported me the
last four years — my family, my
friends, my coaches.”
Hurdling is a demanding
discipline, but MacNeill said
he never once got bored.
“There’s always something
interesting in track. I remem-
ber watching the (2000) Sydney
Olympics, watching guys like
Maurice Greene and Michael
Johnson compete.
“And it’s all about that will
to compete; I just love to
compete.”
steve.green@sunmedia.ca
head coach Rob McQueen
said. “The guys just didn’t
adjust to the ref. They were told
a number of times they had to
release. On the second yellow,
yes it’s a penalty, but to sin-bin
a guy? I think the ref had yel-
low fever on that one.
“Lessons can be learned
from that game.”
The Cowboys advance to
play No. 2 Barrie Central.
Girls’ rugby: At Sarnia, the
St. Clair Colts beat Peterbor-
ough Stewart 5-0 Wednesday
to win the bronze medal.
Baseball: At Windsor, the
sixth-seeded Lucas Vikings
were eliminated from the West
Regional Wednesday after
an 8-2 loss to No. 5 Guelph
Macdonell.
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Charting he competition n french open tennis
A comparison of the available top performances in Ontario high school track and field in 2010 with the existing
OFSAA records (electronic times only for track events, some hand-timed records are lower):
SENIOR BOYS
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD
100 N/A 10.41, Carlton Chambers, Mississauga Ascension, 1994
200 N/A 20.99, Oluwasegun Makinde, Ottawa Colonel By, 2009
400 47.73, Alistair Moona, Mississauga Erindale 47.71, Adam Johnson, Toronto Bendale, 2007
800 1:53.00, Chris Miedema, Port Colborne Lakeshore 1:48.26, Andrew Heaney, Toronto Newman, 2007
1,500 3:52.36, Ross Proudfoot, Sudbury Lo-Ellen Park 3:42.33, Kevin Sullivan, Brantford North Park, 1993
3,000 8:25.78, Eric Dillon, Oshawa McLaughlin 8:00.20, Greg Anderson, Dundas Parkside, 1987
110m hurdles 13.21, Gregory MacNeill, London Mother Teresa 13.36, Oluwasegun Makinde, Ottawa Colonel By, 2009
400m hurdles N/A 51.68, Philip Hughes, Kanata Earl of March, 1985
4x100m relay N/A 41.47, Toronto Birchmount Park, 2008
High jump N/A 2.24m, Michael Ponikvar, St. Catharines Denis Morris, 1998
Pole vault N/A 4.87m, Rob Lindsay, Richmond South Carleton, 1984
Long jump 7.50m, Taylor Stewart, London Regina Mundi 7.60m, Brian Thomas, Toronto Central Tech, 1990
Triple jump N/A 15.76m, George Wright, Toronto Vaughan Road, 1982
Shot put 17.99m, Jordan Young, Windsor Massey 20.09m, Mike Barnes, Saltfleet, 2005 The Associated Press
Discus 57.88m, Jordan Young, Windsor Massey 62.68m, Jason Tunks, London Banting, 1995
Javelin 68.38m, Ray Dykstra, Grimsby 71.22m, Trevor Snyder, Windsor St. Joe’s, 2000
Samantha Stosur celebrates after
defeating top ranked Serena Williams
JUNIOR BOYS
in a French Open women’s singles
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD quarterfinal in Paris, Wednesday.
100 N/A 10.77, Marlon Laidlaw-Allen, Toronto Bendale, 2009
Serena
200 N/A 21.72, Marlon Laidlaw-Allen, Toronto Bendale, 2009
400 48.65, Brandon McBride, Windsor Herman 48.92, Alistair Moona, Mississauga Erindale, 2008
800 1:56.93, Eamon Kichuk, Markham Crothers 1:54.82, Trent Sayers, Whitby Sinclair, 2007
1,500 4:07.05, Shawn Master, Sarnia Northern 3:55.38, Robert Denault, Aurora, 2009
3,000 9:00.08, Chris Moyer, Ajax Notre Dame 8:33.65, John Paul Malette, Windsor Assumption, 2007
Williams:
100m hurdles N/A 13.31, Gregory MacNeill, London Mother Teresa, 2008
300m hurdles N/A 38.67, Gregory MacNeill, London Mother Teresa, 2008
4x100m relay N/A 43.80, Toronto Birchmount Park, 2006
High jump N/A 2.04m, Michael Ponikvar, St. Catharines Denis Morris, 1995
‘I choked’
Pole vault N/A 4.45m, Drew Barrett, King City, 1992
Long jump N/A 6.79m, Bobby Lewelleyn, Toronto George Harvey, 1986
Triple jump N/A 14.17m, Devon Davis, Pickering, 1994
Kriss Peterson, LaSalle Sandwich, 1994
Shot put 17.50m, Peter Nikolovski, Toronto Malvern 19.72m, Tim Nedow, Brockville Thousand Islands, 2006
again
Discus 58,52m, Brandon desLauriers, Napanee 70.79m, Jordan Young, St. Thomas St. Joe’s, 2009
Javelin 60.57, Blake Thompson, Barrie St. Joe’s 69.28, Trent Corney, Thousand Islands, 2009
MIDGET BOYS
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD
100 N/A 10.89, Keith Dormond, North York Warren, 1981
200 N/A 22.30, Chris Robinson, Cambridge Hespeler, 1991 The Associated Press
400 51.78, Andre Ford-Azonwaqnna, Toronto McGuigan 50.71, Brandon McBride, Windsor Herman, 2009
PARIS — Serena Williams usually
800 1:56.35, Alex Freemantle, Newmarket 1:53.24, Kevin Sullivan, Brantford North Park, 1989
saves match points, not wastes them.
1,500 4:04.80, Alex Freemantle, Newmarket 3:54.31, Kevin Sullivan, Brantford North Park, 1989
Seizes control of an exchange, not
3,000 8:51.75, Matt Stephenson, Oshawa McLaughlin 8:55.06, Stephen Hosier, Lindsay, 2007
cedes it.
100m hurdles N/A 13.50, Gabriel Tesfaye, London Oakridge, 2007
Turns up her game at Grand Slam
300m hurdles N/A 40.17, Jeremy Gibbons, Windsor Herman, 2005 time.
4x100m relay N/A 44.51, Pickering, 2009 Except at the French Open, the lone
High jump N/A 1.95m, Jeff Webb, St. Catharines Eden, 2007 major tournament she’s won only once
Pole vault N/A 3.56m, Nic Hoediono, Waterloo Macdonald, 2009 and where she’s now gone seven years
Long jump N/A 6.64m, Carlin McLean, Stoney Creek Orchard Park, 2006 without even reaching the semifinals.
Triple jump N/A 13.56m, Mitchell O’Donnell, Kit. Cameron Heights, 2009 The No. 1-ranked Williams dropped
Shot put 14.32m, Vincent Gionest, Ottawa Hillcrest 16.95m, Jackson Gray, Sarnia CI, 2006 17 consecutive points during one
Discus 50.09m, Barby Charkavi, Pembroke Bishop Smith 58.98m, Rob Town, Orillia, 1973 stretch, climbed all the way back to
Javelin 54.01m, Josh Shepley, Belle River 57.95m, Ray Dykstra, Grimsby, 2007 within a point of victory, then faded
late and lost to No. 7 Samantha Stosur
OPEN BOYS
of Australia 6-2, 6-7 (2), 8-6 on Wed-
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD nesday in the Roland Garros quarter-
4x400m relay 3:19.22, Windsor Herman 3:10.80, Toronto Central tech, 1987 finals.
2,000m steeplechase “Had I played better for two min-
5:57.33, Jordan Colison, Port Elgin Saugeen 5:37.76, Alain Boucher, North BBay Algonquin, 1982
utes, maybe the result could have been
SENIOR GIRLS different. But it didn’t work out,” said
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD Williams, who missed a forehand by
100 N/A 11.54, Ahsley Purnell, Manotick St. Mark, 2002 an inch or so when she held a match
200 N/A 23.78, Sherene Wells, Toronto Westview, 2007 point at 5-4 in the final set. “Just wasn’t
playing well today. Last year, I choked.
400 55.80, Fiona Collander, Nepean Bell 53.32, Charmaine Crooks, West Toronto, 1980
I guess it’s a redun-
800 2:11.00, Samantha Murphy, Perth St. John 2:05.94, Elise Braithwaite, Ottawa Elmwood, 1984
dant story with me.”
1,500 4:35.00, Meghan Beverly, Toronto Leaside 4:23.52, Alison Wiley, Toronto Branksome Hall, 1982
The upset was Sto-
3,000 10:02.26, Deana Brasz, Jordan Heritage Christian 9:30.64, Kate Wiley, Branksome Hall, 1981 sur’s second in a row
100m hurdles N/A 13.41, Perdita Felicien, Pickering Pine Ridge, 1998 — she eliminated
400m hurdles N/A 58.65, Nadia Schmiedt, London John Paul II, 1995 four-time cham-
4x100m relay N/A 47.60, Toronto Mary Ward, 2003 pion Justine Henin
High jump N/A 1.88m, Julie White, Brampton Centennial, 1979 in the fourth round
Pole vault N/A 3.56m, Emma Crombeen, London Mother Teresa, 2009 — and came a day
Long jump N/A 6.16m, Keron Hamilton, Burlington Central, 1986 after men’s No. 1 and
Triple jump N/A 12.76m, Caroline Ehrhardt, Espanola, 2009 defending champion Serena Williams
Shot put 13.04m, Rayann Chin, Pickering Dunbarton 14.35m, Sultana Frizell, Perth, 2002 Roger Federer was cuts
Discus 42.35m, Chin 47.62m, Michelle Brotherton, Tor. Birchmount Park, 1986 stunned by Robin cuts
Soderling.
Javelin 43.19m, Madi Johnston, Barrie Eastview 49.48m, Louise Perreault, Arnprior, 1986
“It’s not over yet,” said Stosur, a tour-
JUNIOR GIRLS best 19-2 on clay this season and a
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD 2009 French Open semifinalist. “I want
100 N/A 12.05, Dionne Wright, North York Jefferys, 1989 to definitely try and keep going.”
200 N/A 24.99, Sade Lewis, Oakville Aquinas, 2009 In keeping with the run of surprises
400 58.21, Naomi Kerr, Brampton Campion 56.04, Natalie Geiger, Stouffville, 2006 at this wide-open French Open, No. 22
800 2:15.86, Emma Galbraith, Ottawa Franco-Ouest 2:08.29, Jessica Parry, London Catholic Central, 2007 Jurgen Melzer of Austria came back to
1,500 4:45.40, Madeline McDonald, Tor. Lawrence Park 4:32.16, Jessica Parry, London Catholic Central, 2007 beat No. 3 Novak Djokovic 3-6, 2-6, 6-2,
3,000 10:09.41, Clara Langley, Kingston Regiopolis 10:00.90, Amanda Truelove, Barrie Joan of Arc, 2006 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the last men’s quarter-
final. Melzer, at 29 the oldest man left,
80m hurdles N/A 11.44, Chanice Taylor-Chase, Ajax Notre Dame, 2009
never before won a match after losing
300m hurdles N/A 42.46, Jessica Zelinka, London Banting, 1997
the first two sets — and never made it
4x100m relay N/A 49.08, London Banting, 1997
beyond the third round at any Grand
High jump N/A 1.75m, Michelle Theophille, Whitby Austin, 2007 Slam tournament in 31 previous tries.
Pole vault 3.89m, Alysha Newman, London Mother Teresa 3.26m, Alysha Newman, London Mother Teresa, 2009 His reward? A semifinal Friday
Long jump N/A 5.69m, Chanice Taylor-Chase, Ajax Notre Dame, 2009 against four-time champion Rafael
Triple jump N/A 11.97m, Caroline Erhardt, Espanola, 2008 Nadal, who eliminated No. 19 Nicolas
Shot put 12.39m, Eilish MacDonald, Nepean Merivale 13.61m, Sultana Frizell, Perth, 2000 Almagro 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-4. Nadal,
Discus 42.75m, Sarah Moss, Welland Notre Dame 39.25m, Amy Town, Orillia, 2005 who lost to Soderling in last year’s
Javelin 44.17m, Brooke Rowland, Orangeville Westside 40.24m, Beth Wachna, Windsor Holy Names, 2004 fourth round.
MIDGET GIRLS In one women’s semifinal Thursday,
Stosur will play No. 4 Jelena Jankovic,
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD
who got past unseeded Yaroslava
100 N/A 12.20, Cassandra Pascal, Mississauga St. Marcellinus, 2008 Shvedova of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-4. No.
200 N/A 24.42, Emily Johnson, Guelph Ross, 2002 5 Elena Dementieva will face No. 17
400 55.81, Christina Brennan, Hamilton St. Mary’s 56.20, Natalie Geiger, Stouffville, 2005 Francesca Schiavone in the other.
800 2:14.90, Christina Kyritsis, East York 2:13.40, Michelle Bathurst, London Oakridge, 1983 For the first time at any Grand Slam
1,500 4:38.60, Jaimie Phelan, Kitchener St. Mary’s 4:36.30, Lindsay Carson, Cambridge Southwood, 2004 tournament since the 1979 Australian
3,000 10:05.58, Phelan 9:44.67, Jennifer Armstrong, London South, 1986 Open, none of the four female semi-
80m hurdles N/A 11.29, Jessica Zelinka, London Banting, 1996 finalists owns a major title. Williams
300m hurdles N/A 43.94, Kelsey Balkwill, Essex, 2007 has 12, with five at the Australian Open
4x100m relay N/A 49.82, Pickering, 2007 — including this year — and three
High jump N/A 1.74m, Lea-Anne Madill, Guelph Centennial, 1984 apiece at the U.S. Open and Wimble-
Long jump N/A 5.76m, Jessica Zelinka, London Banting, 1996 don. The one at the French Open came
Triple jump N/A 11.80m, Tabia Charles, Pickering Pine Ridge, 2000
in 2002, and she was a semifinalist in
Paris the following year, but not since.
Shot put 11.14m, Nicole Horneman, Medway 11.07m, Eilish MacDonald, Nepean Merivale, 2009
“Maybe she was trying to get over
Discus 30.63m, Kathleen Francis, London Central 40.78, Liuz Polak, Brantford North Park, 1979 that hump,” said Williams’ mother,
Javelin 36.53m, Victoria Smith, Belle River 41.24, Meredith Popp, Windsor Holy Names, 1995 Oracene Price. “That might have been
OPEN GIRLS on her mind.”
2010 BEST OFSAA RECORD Williams never hid her frustrations
4x400m relay 3:55.24, Ajax Notre Dame 3:47.35, Toronto Mary Ward, 2002 against Stosur, who wore her usual
1,500m steeplechase white baseball cap and red-rimmed
5:08.43, Katey Codyre, Courtice 4:55.92, Haley Cadwallader, Sarnia CI, 2009 wraparound shades as the sun finally
returned after several days of clouds
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and rain.
Williams admonished herself aloud,
sometimes muttering, sometimes
MONDAYS TO WEDNESDAY IN JUNE screaming. She shook her head and
$
65
put a hand on her hip. She crouched
and rolled her eyes.
Her own serve was a friend —
Tax Inc come accumulating 13 aces — and a foe —
Includes range use, cart
GPS and a $10 food voucher
see what everyone is yielding nine double-faults. The rest
of Williams’ strokes were a mixed bag,
talking about.
Prices are per player. too: She finished with more winners
For same day play only. than Stosur, 39-30, and nearly twice as
LF64241098
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many unforced errors, 46-24.
“I definitely was nowhere near my
10345 Oxbow Dr.
Komoka, Ontario MINI London • 519-686-6464 best today,” Williams said, then added:
“But she played really well.”