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colin braley / the associated press archives Winnipeg�s Brittany Schussler beat out Cindy Klassen and Christine Nesbitt for gold. (CP)

Schussler wins gold

TWO-TIME Olympian speed skater Brittany Schussler of Winnipeg captured gold in the women's 3,000-metres event at the 2013 Canadian Single Distance Championships at the Calgary Olympic Oval last weekend.

Schussler skated a season's best 4:09.51 edging out teammates Christine Nesbitt and Cindy Klassen, also of Winnipeg, who earned silver and bronze in times of 4:09.79 and 4:10.02 respectively.

"The race was hard, that's a definite. The three-K (3,000 metres) is always a hard one," said Schussler in a press release. "Being in the second last pair, I actually thought the ice was going to be fast today. I went for it and barely held on to it. When I was done I didn't think it was a great time. I thought it was a good time."

Schussler added a silver in the Women's 1500m event clocking a time of 1:58.47.

Wheatie wins player honour

TYLER Coulter of the Brandon Wheat Kings exploded for a six-point weekend last weekend and had been selected as the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League's Chicken Chef West Division player of the week.

Coulter, 16, scored four goals and had two assists in a win and a loss by the Wheaties last weekend.

Davis Ross, 17, of Kenora Thistles was named the DEKALB East Division player of the week after he recorded points on five of his team's six goals, inclduing a natural hat trick, in last Friday's 6-3 win over the Norman Northstars.

Racquetball champs

DARRYL Drohomerski and Lyle Philpott won the men's open division of the Shaggy's Invitational Doubles Racquetball Tournament last Sunday at the University of Winnipeg's Duckworth Centre.

In what was Racquetball Manitoba's first tournament of 2013, Drohomerski and Philpott needed a 19-17 win in the tie-breaker over Jennifer Saunders and Dave Boyd. Tie-breakers are to 11 and a team has to win by two points. The final score was 12-15, 15-9, 19-17.

Racquetball Manitoba's next tournament will be the Keystone Classic on Feb. 7-10, 2013 at the University of Manitoba.

Wesmen wrestlers tapped

UNIVERSITY of Winnipeg Wesmen wrestlers Briston Brenton and Maura Martina have been selected as the Wesmen Pizza Hotline players of the week after they each won medals at last weekend's University of Alberta Golden Bears Invitational Tournament in Edmonton.

Brenton won gold in the men's 82-kilogram weight class pinning national champion James Yurick in under 30 seconds of the first round. Martina won bronze medal in the women's 82-kg weight class.

Good week for goalie

GOALTENDER Isaiah Plett of the Winnipeg Blues put up a 2-0 record last week and has been named the Recycle Everywhere-Manitoba Junior Hockey League player of the week.

Plett, 19, also had a 2.00 goals against average and .933 save percentage. On a three-game winning streak, the Blues lead the Addison Division with 24 wins and 48 points.

-- Ashley Prest

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 8, 2013 C4