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Sports

Dundurn triathlete trains for busy season

A young triathlete from Dundurn is prepping for a busy racing season this summer where she hopes to improve on her previous strong showings.

Kaycee Schroeder, 15, said her seventh year of competing in triathlons is going to be a fun one as she first tries for a top finish at the 2014 National Championships held July 19 to 20 at Magog, Que., before heading to Kelowna, B.C., this August for the 2014 Pushor Mitchell Apple Triathlon Western Championships. She said to help prepare for the season she is also going to be attending a 12-day training camp in Tucson, Ariz., next month.

“Last year I had a great season and have been building a lot,” said Kaycee, a Grade 9 student at Hanley School. “I wasn’t the strongest swimmer, so I finished all my swimming lessons and joined a swim group at the University (of Saskatchewan) and I joined STC which is the Saskatchewan Triathlon Centre in Saskatoon. My coach RossAnn (Edwards) approached me this year and said she’d like me to be coming to more races out of the province and coming to Arizona.”

To help Kaycee make it to the two out-of-province races and the training camp at Tucson the community of Dundurn stepped up by coming together for a steak supper and silent auction fund-raiser Feb. 22 at Big Mur’s Tavern. Kaycee said their generosity helped her family raise over $2,000, so she won’t be having any problems heading to these events and has kept busy this winter getting ready.

“I’m swimming three days a week right now,” she said about how she prepares for the average 500-metre swim, 10-kilometre bike and four-kilometre run youth races. “I bike twice and I run three to four days. I also do strength training at home too.”

Kaycee said she first got into triathlon after spotting a sign advertised the sport at swimming lessons and thought it could be fun. She said her mom and dad thought it would be a good idea too, so she started training.

“I did my first one and I really enjoyed it,” said Kaycee. “I was dead last out of the pool, but I still had an amazing race. Then I just kind of kept with it and started doing it for a fun summer activity and as I started to get older and more competitive with the sport I had more people approach me about it. I started running with Riversdale (Athletics Club in Saskatoon) and RossAnn is the coach of the Riversdale track and cross country club, so then I started swimming and biking with that group.”

Kaycee’s dedication and excellence to the sport since then has shown through as the triathlete has qualified for provincial funding this year to help her train after reaching high performance times in both swimming and running recently. She also approaches this year with a desire to improve on her bronze medal finish in the Under 16 Female event at the 2013 Western Championships held last August at Kelowna where she completed a 500-m swim, 10-km bike and four-km run with a time of 43:43.

“This year I’m one of the oldest in my age category, so I’m hoping to do very well,” she said. “My training has been great, (so) top three for every race I’m hoping.”

Sports

Cyclones down to last chance in provincial playoff against Pirates

The Davidson Cyclones senior hockey team may have met their match in the provincial ‘A’ semi-finals after falling 6-3 to the Lanigan Pirates last Monday at the Davidson Rink.

The loss was Davidson’s fourth straight to Lanigan including a three-game sweep by the Pirates over the Cyclones in Long Lake Hockey League playoff action earlier this month. Game 2 of the provincial ‘A’ semi-final goes March 15 at Lanigan, while a possible Game 3 in the best-of-three series would come back to Davidson on St. Patrick’s Day.

“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” said Cyclones coach Jason Shaw. “The first period we started slow. They got up 2-1 and then they scored in the second to make it 3-1. We had a couple power plays that would have been nice to score on to get back. When we battled back in the third to get it to 4-3 I thought we had a chance.”

That chance was snuffed out on a Pirates goal 17 seconds later when Lanigan’s Brandon Herrod seemed to surprise Cyclones goaltender Brady Willner and the two defencemen in front of him with a shot that found its way into the back of the net shortly after a Lanigan offensive zone face off.

“It was just one of those goals we’d like to have back,” said Shaw. “We had some chances where we hit some crossbars and stuff like that, but it seemed like we would score and they would score right away again. They played well and I don’t think we played our best game. When you get into the playoffs you got to have everything going to win and that night just wasn’t our night.”

Shaw said one of the problems the Cyclones faced in the game was getting off to the slow start which forced their offence to be more aggressive early on resulting in a weak back end. He said they were sending three guys to the net to try and create chances, so when their defence also joined the rush it gave the Pirates lots of chances for breakaway opportunities.

“It’s just a couple mistakes here and there,” he said. “Brady played well. He stopped most of those, so if we (don’t) keep a third guy high in their end that might take away a few of those chances, but we’re pushing to score goals when we get down (then) you create more chances for them.”

The Cyclones plan going into Game 2 is to get to the net more and try to get a few more rebound goals on Pirates starting goalie David Reekie who has played well in Lanigan’s run through this post season. Shaw said the team is just going to put a lot of pucks at the Lanigan net and then let come what may.

“We’re down to our last chance,” he said. We “go there, see if we can squeak one out, and come back here Monday and see how it goes.”

Davidson

Talking To Youth Live gives kids fun message about safe living

Grades 7 to 9 students from Davidson School, Kenaston School and Loreburn Central School enjoyed a fun day of educational activities last week while also learning a serious message about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

The kids participated in a Talking to Youth Live (TTYL) program put on by the Sun West School Division, Heartland Health Region and the Alcohol Awareness Wellness Network (DAWN). The TTYL program brought the students together last Wednesday at Kenaston Place for a full day of learning activities such as jeopardy, snakes and ladders, tug o’ war, the “What Am I” game and an obstacle course that helped create awareness about substance abuse while also teaching them about healthier alternatives.

“The purpose was to provide the students with the right information regarding drugs and alcohol (and) to give them a chance to be in a fun environment where they can learn about it,” said Sun West addictions educator Liza Dahl. They “talk to addiction professionals, people that work with people who struggle with addictions on a daily basis, and (it) allows them a chance to ask questions and be interested and find out some information.”

Nathan Ruten, a grades 8 and 9 math teacher at Kenaston School, said the activities at the event were geared towards educating the younger-aged kids, so they would know about the subject later on in life when it may become more of a pressing issue. He said having learning games also helps the kids become more engaged in the material rather than just telling them in the classroom to not abuse drugs and alcohol.

“We did snakes and ladders, but before you do it you had to answer a question related to drugs and alcohol and what they are,” said Ruten. “There was the obstacle course where they had to put on the drunk goggles and try to get through the whole thing to see what it would be like to do everyday activities while impaired. (Then) jeopardy, again it’s about educating, as the questions were related to drug and alcohol abuse.”

To read more please see the March 17 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

A moving gift

A wealth of needy Costa Rican and South American people have a new lease on life thanks to the recent kindness of a few charity organizations and the actions of two local humanitarians.

Davidson’s Larry and Judi Packet travelled to San José, Costa Rica, last month to distribute over 30 free new wheelchairs to handicapped people with the help of the Knights of Columbus, the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation and the Active 20-30 International Club. The Packets, along with a group of fellow philanthropists, gave out the wheelchairs to needy people both at their homes in San José and also at the city’s Children’s Hospital.

Larry Packet, a territory district deputy with the Knights of Columbus, said their organization collaborated with the Wheelchair Foundation to purchase the wheelchairs. He said they then partnered with the 20-30 Club chapter in San José, who assessed who needed and should get a wheelchair, to distribute the medical equipment.

“The experience with the Wheelchair Foundation was at first quite overwhelming,” said Packet, noting they actually had around 130 wheelchairs to distribute in Costa Rica, but an union dispute at a Costa Rican shipyard detained 100 of the chairs from being given out during their trip. “We went to some better neighbourhoods to deliver wheelchairs and we also went to some very poor neighbourhoods to deliver wheelchairs. We take a lot of stuff for granted here when you see how other people live. Their houses are…marginalized. They are very poor people and just giving them a wheelchair seems to be a simple gesture, but you can just tell it brought a lot of longevity to their life.”

Some examples Packet said he heard about the difference the chairs would make to people’s lives includes one young boy who needed a wheelchair to be able to attend school and now could do so and another young woman who can now attend and excel at a business college without the burden of worrying about the troubles of her old wheelchair.

“The people at the hospital came from miles and miles,” he said. “One lady drove five-and-a-half hours from Panama to come and get a wheelchair for her son, so it covered a big area. The ones in the container I haven’t heard yet what happened, but the 20-30 Club is going to look after distributing them…I would imagine that the 20-30 Club in Costa Rica has delivered them by now.”

To read more please see the March 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Sports

Kodiaks win 2014 Sun West district championship

The Kenaston Kodiaks junior boys basketball team are the 2014 Sun West district champions after putting together two convincing wins over the Davidson Raiders and Biggar Blazers at districts last Wednesday at Davidson School.

The Kodiaks held off a determined Blazers team in the fourth quarter to come out with a 51-42 win in the gold medal game to take home the championship. The Blazers trailed 49-22 heading into the final 10 minutes, but controlled the game in the fourth.

“It was a really close game,” said Kodiaks coach John Jamieson. “We had a really short bench and Biggar had (20) points in the fourth quarter. They played four quarters hard and tired us down. It was an impressive game for them.”

The Kodiaks championship win followed a close 65-54 victory over the Raiders that saw Davidson also stage a fourth quarter comeback only to fall a few points short. The Raiders put up 19 points in the last six minutes of the fourth quarter to give Kenaston a scare.

“That was our toughest match-up,” said Kodiaks co-coach Dan Marsh about the Raiders game. “It was a grudge match because they beat us in the sectional final, so our boys wanted a little bit of redemption. It came right down to the wire. They pressured us like we knew they would and we came out on top in the end.”

Davidson would finish in third place at districts beating the Kindersley Kobras 55-43 in the consolation match. The score doesn’t do the Kobras justice as the game was back and fourth throughout the first three quarters with the score tied at 20-20 at the half and Davidson only up by six entering the final frame.

Raiders coach Blair Frederickson said the main priority for him was getting all his kids onto the court in their last game of the season and he is “happy” that is what happened no matter the final score. He said some players on his team are more advanced in basketball and some are beginners, so having a game where everyone gets an opportunity to play is the best situation.

“From a coach’s or a teacher’s perspective that is great because it gives the kids something positive at the end of the season, so I can get these kids to come back out next year and keep building the program,” said Frederickson, noting in their first game against Kenaston he shortened the bench to try and get the win. “Having that second game was a great opportunity for me to get some of my younger kids and some of my kids who haven’t played that much basketball on the floor and (gain) some game experience.”

To read more please see the March 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Davidson

Imperial School students follow the white rabbit

Students at Imperial School are following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole this week.

The complete student body from grades one to 12 is immersing themselves in a Missoula Theatre Company musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland”. The kids are going to be studying under the direction of two trained actors/directors with the Montana-based touring company this week culminating in a dessert theatre performance of the musical at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. this Saturday at the Imperial Community Hall.

Carol Baade, a drama teacher at Imperial School, said this is the first time in the 17 years she has been involved with the annual school musical that they have brought in a touring company to help students put on the show. She said it should be a “great experience” for the students, as they’ll be able to find out everything that goes into putting on a professional production.

“It’s a really neat opportunity for the students because these are all professionals and they come and do workshops during the classes for the students and help put on the show and also involve the younger students,” said Baade, noting past musicals usually involved only the high school students. “We’ve had very successful dessert theatres in the past…but we thought we’d try something different to give our students a new opportunity.”

Ethan Park and Shelby Mariah Art, the two members of the Missoula Children’s Theatre Company that are spending the week in Imperial to help the students put on “Alice in Wonderland”, begin the production by holding auditions for the musical today at the Imperial Community Centre. The 50 to 60 students picked begin rehearsals later this evening and continue to practise for four-and-a-half hours each day before the performance on Saturday.

The students that are not cast in a role would be involved as assistants to the directors or help with stage crew work, lighting, sound or preparation and serving “Queen of Hearts Cherry Tarts” desserts. The Imperial School senior band is also performing at the show and Jeanne Knoblauch has been retained to accompany the musical on piano.

To read more please see the March 10 print edition of The Davidson Leader.