Wiikwemkoong’s Aurel Fox-Recollet, now of Sudbury as a Laurentian University student, finished in first place at the Sudbury Rocks 10km race against 338 other runners! Aurel’s time was 38 minutes and 58 seconds.
Another honour for Aurel was being tapped to deliver the keynote address to begin the Wiikwemkoong Eshkiniigjig Shkode Track and Field meet. The event was held on Saturday, May 25 at the Thunderbird Park. It featured First Nations youth ages 9 to 13. Other participating First Nations came from AOK and Sagamok. Special miigwetch goes to Coordinator Mr. Nelson Wood as many records were made!
To the Summer Games!
This past weekend, Chase Taylor travelled to Sault Ste Marie to take part in the Team North Baseball tryouts. Close to 50 ballplayers from Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie and Thunder Bay areas gathered to compete for a spot on the 16-athlete roster. After 3 days of showcase-style drills and game play, Chase earned himself a spot on the team and will represent Manitoulin Island and Northern Ontario as a member of Team North at the upcoming Ontario Summer Games being held August 1-4 in London, Ontario.
This year, London will play host to over 3,500 athletes aged 12-18 competing in 18 different sports. Chase is once again a member of the Sudbury Voyageurs Baseball program this season which competes in the Premier Baseball League of Ontario from May to July. Chase is very excited to add this opportunity to his growing baseball experience!
Rafting Royalty!
I had no idea that we had among us a Canadian champion! Over the long weekend in May, Hannah Brown of Gore Bay travelled to the Canadian Whitewater Rafting Championships to defend the title. The event, held in Valleyfield, Quebec and Hawkesbury, Ontario, consisted of four events: a sprint, head-to-head, slalom and downriver. Her team consisted of four women and was truly a Canadian team, Hannah from Gore Bay, Maris from Revelstoke, Ali from Fernie, BC and Kaylee from Whitehorse, Yukon. The team was right in the mix in all events but unfortunately they came up short of retaining their title and missed qualifying for the world rafting championships in October.
Adventure racing couples!
I would think competing in a six-hour adventure race with your spouse has to be the ultimate test of your relationship, but four couples from Manitoulin were not afraid to do just that! They participated in the Long Course of the Storm Adventure Race held near Orangeville. The course was 54 kilometres, with 10km of trekking/orienteering/bushwacking, a 7km canoe paddle and 34km of mountain biking. All the Manitoulin teams performed well, completing the entire course and hitting every checkpoint.
Alex Anstice and Caroline Black were a part of a team of 4 that finished 3rd in the coed 4 division with a time of 6:31:07. Ben and Sarah Quackenbush finished 3rd in the coed 2 division with a time of 6:05:54. Bill Slaght and Hannah Brown finished 8th in the coed 2 division with a time of 6:26:24. Nishin Meawasige and Melissa Brandon finished 9th in the coed 2 division with a time of 6:33:48 in their adventure racing debut! All are reported doing well, no need for recommitment ceremonies.
Stars on Ice (and TV)
Have you ever had that kind of surreal experience, seeing someone familiar on TV? I had a couple of these occurrences over the last week. Admittedly, I don’t really know them but it was still exciting seeing them!
First up was now adopted Manitoulin son, Carter George. Long after he led his Canadian U18 team to the IIHF World Championships, he was still being featured on TSN’s segment, 1V1! The Sportcentre feature had Carter and the amazing paddle-down save he made in the gold medal game against the Americans, preserving the win. Every day a new “challenger” clip is entered and fans vote on the best highlight against the previous winner. Carter’s save “entered 1V1 immortality” as TSN coins its ten-time winner before retiring that clip! Congrats, Carter, well deserved!
We have been keeping track of the rise of Kelly Babstock’s career for years now, from her early junior stint with the Toronto Jr. Aeros, her scholarship days of the Quinnipiac Bobcats through the start of her pro career in the NWHL on the Connecticut Whale and as a Metro Riveter. Most recently, of course, she is a key member of team Boston of the new PWHL and in the finals of the inaugural Walter Cup. She is a great media personality during interviews and was tapped to talk before their do-or-die game against Minnesota in the best-of-five series. She was cool but fiery, pumping up her team to stave off elimination. During the game in the second overtime period, it looked like they had been eliminated when the puck crossed Boston’s goal line. With Minnesota already celebrating and posing for the unofficial on-ice picture, the goal was called back because a Minney player had crashed into the Boston goaltender. Boston then notched a legal goal to send the series into game 5! Good luck, Kelly!
Islanders resign into “AAA”!
Congratulations to Manitoulin’s Jax Chatwell who just signed with the U15 AAA Wolves for the upcoming season. Another well-known Island name is Easton Assinewai who now skates for North Bay and he will enter as a veteran on his U14 AAA Trappers team for next year! Way to go, Jax and Easton, commence training! JK.
Missing footballer
When the CMPS Eagles flew to Sudbury for their tournament I missed reporting on one of their keys to the gridiron. Sorry, Sean Zembal!
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