The peewee Kamloops Wildcats had their football season come to an end Sunday afternoon when they lost an SIFC semifinal, 37-0, to the host Vernon Yellow Jackets.
Interceptions by Denzel Marican and Jacob Graf kept the Wildcats within reach, but Vernon eventually pulled away. Nick Berry anchored the Wildcats’ defence with eight solo tackles, with Rorik Munson, Callum Gorman, Cole Fink, Colby Griffiths, Gregory Greffiths and Dayton Tomlin contributing 14 others.
Quarteback, Carsen Day targeted receivers Mattias Nelson and Thomas Dyck for 25 yards, while Mike MacDonald and Ben Prokopetz rushed for a combined 52 yards.
* * *
The Kamloops Long Blades won the Phyllis Vyse Memorial Cup at the November Chill short track speed skating meet at McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre.
The trophy is awarded based on points per skater in each race. The Long Blades, the meet’s host club, finished with 425 points, followed by Ridge Meadows (350) and Kelowna (305). The meet attracted 94 skaters from around the province.
Personal best times were set by all Long Blades skaters.
In Division 1 (6 to 9 years), Evangeline Kampman, Wylie Rowan, Madeline Beaulieu and Teagan Lawhead each had three PBs, while Vladimir Demishkevich and Micheal McQueen had two each.
In Division 2 (8 to 11), Martina Antifay achieved three PBs.
In Division 3 (11-15), Alexander Demishkevich, Jessica McQueen and Yolaine Kampman each had three, while Maria Demishkevich got two and Holly Antifay one.
In Division 5, (15-18), Kris Pynten and Rylan DeBeeld had two PBs and Dominic Villeneuve had one.
In Division 6 (over 30), Erin Kavaliunas had two new fastest times.
Anderson Kampman, at four years of age the Long Blades’ youngest racer, had two PBs despite having to stop to fix his knee pads in mid-race.
Next up for the Long Blades will be the Can-Am long track meet in Calgary Nov 15-18.
* * *
A highly anticipated meeting of the top seeds in the men’s doubles draw at the Kamloops Open badminton tournament met everyone’s expectations on the weekend.
Alex Perkin and Garrett Babichuk beat Charmaine Reid and Nicole Grether 21-13, 21-17 in the final. The men, former TRU teammates, were able to get by the ladies, Canadian and German Olympians, in a match highlighted by long rallies and excellent defences.
Perkin then joined forces with TRU’s Anica Arduini to win the mixed doubles title, scoring a 21-19, 18-21, 21-17 victory over Brad Pape and Sonja Drummond of Kamloops.
Reid and Grether dominated the ladies division, winning the doubles title over Jennifer Eastwood of Kamloops and Lisa Davison of Prince George. Grether took the singles title by beating her partner in two straight games.
In men’s singles, TRU’s Noah Woods was pressured in his last two matches but was able to eke out a 21-17, 26-24 victory over Babichuk.
* * *
Team BC, including Emily Gervais and Chanelle Petrie of Kamloops, lost 3-2 in overtime to Ontario-Red in the third-place game at the women’s national under-18 championship in Dawson Creek on Sunday.
Team BC led 2-0 early in the second period, on goals from Hannah Miller of North Vancouver and Leah Lum of Richmond. Ontario-Red scored once in the second period and twice in the third to force OT.
The winning goal came with four minutes left in extra time.
