Sports in brief

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This article was published 27/01/2020 (2413 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

River Heights skaters turn on the speed at international competition  

A group of 15 Canadian long track skaters, including two who skated with the River Heights Speed Skating Club, are set to compete at the inaugural ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships this weekend in Wisconsin.

Athletes Jess Neufeld and Lindsey Kent both skated at the club based at the River Heights site of the Corydon Community Centre.

They will face top next-generation competitors from North America, South America, Asia and Oceania during the first edition of this international competition, held Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Milwaukee.

Other Manitobans on the team include former Winnipegger Sam Deckert, who skated out of the St. James club before leaving the city, and defending national junior champion Alexa Scott, from Clandeboye, who will use the event as a final tuneup before making her way to Poland at the end of February for her third consecutive ISU world junior championships.

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Top girls hockey teams shoot for gold 

The puck drops on the eighth annual Female World Sport School Challenge (FWSSC) tomorrow.

Hosted by St. Mary’s Academy, this annual Hockey Canada-initiated tournament takes place at the Bell MTS Iceplex from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.

The 16-team tournament brings together North American athletes from sport schools and AAA teams. Four Canadian provinces and one American state are playing, including the St. Mary’s Academy Flames.

“High-level female hockey has grown exponentially in recent years and tournaments like our FWSSC support and promote female hockey by providing a showcase for players’ skills,” said Larry Bumstead, head coach of the SMA Flames prep team and FWSSC steering committee member.

“One of our Flames prep players, Lindsey Kiliwnik, is captain of Team Australia U18 and is competing in the U18 World Championship in the Netherlands this month (Lindsey has both Canadian and Australian citizenship). There is no doubt the FWSSC is a top level tournament.”

True North Game Night is Jan. 31, with the St. Mary’s Flames taking on the Westman Wildcats at 7 p.m. Four other games, including two games with Manitoba teams playing, take place that night. 

A complete schedule of games can be found here: www.fwssc.ca/schedule-2

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U of M athletes of the week 

Leading their teams to important wins in the conference playoff picture, Andre Arruda from men’s basketball and Erin Fargey from women’s hockey are the Bison Sport athletes of the week at University of Manitoba for the week ending Jan. 20. 

The Bisons mens basketball program recently hosted a regular season matchup against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Arruda was critical to Manitoba’s success throughout the two-game set, scoring 42 points over two games, including a career-high 24 in a 75-72 win over the Huskies.

With wins in two of their last three games, Bisons women’s hockey team is keeping its hopes of a Canada West playoff spot alive.

The team’s recent win over the University of British Columbia (UBC) Thunderbirds came in yet another one-goal game — their 12th in 22 games this season. With such a narrow margin, the play of second-year goalie Fargey was critical.

She made a career-high 35 saves in a 1-0 overtime win over the Thunderbirds, the team the Bisons are chasing for a playoff spot. This performance came against a relentless UBC attack, including a second period in which they outshot the Bisons 24-6. 

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Bison hockey legend added to Canada West Hall of Fame

University of Manitoba Bisons athlete and former head coach of the mens hockey team, Wayne Fleming has entered the Canada West Hall of Fame.

Fleming joined the Bisons as a player in 1970, where he would play four seasons. He went on to coach the program for nine seasons in the 1980s, leading them to back-to-back Great Plains Athletic Conference titles in 1984 and 1985. He was the CIAU (now U Sports) coach of the year for mens hockey in 1984-85.

Following his time at U of M, Fleming went on to find success at the professional and international levels. Fleming spent over a dozen seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL, spending time with the New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He worked frequently with Hockey Canada, and went to two Olympics, serving as general manager and assistant coach in 1992 when the mens team won silver, and as associate coach in 2002, when it famously ended a 50-year gold medal drought.

After battling brain cancer, Fleming died in March 2013 at the age of 62. On Oct. 4, 2013, the University of Manitoba honoured him by renaming its campus rink the Wayne Fleming Arena.

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Manitoba High School Athlete of the Week

The MHSAA urban high school athlete of the week is Olivia Weekes of the Vincent Massey Trojans basketball team.

Weekes has led the Trojans to three tournament championships, earning most-valuable-player honours at each — Pembina Trails Classic, and Sisler and St. Vital invitationals. She is averaging 15 points, six rebounds and six assists per game. Coach Stacy Hawash said, “Long and lanky, she can disrupt any team’s offense.  She can score inside and out.”

This Grade 11 student maintains a 90 per cent academic average.

National badminton championships

Badminton Canada is hosting the 2020 Yonex Canadian National Badminton Championships in Winnipeg this week.

Beginning Jan. 28, the Prairie Badminton Club, located at 275 De Baets St., is playing host to both the able-bodied and para-badminton championship tournaments concurrently.

“Badminton Canada has made inclusivity a priority; combining these events into one championship was a crucial and necessary step for the organization” Joe Morissette, executive director of Badminton Canada, said in a statement. “We welcome badminton enthusiasts of all abilities to come watch and experience the fastest racquet sport in the world!”

Main round matches will run all day on Jan. 29 and 30. Semifinal matches begin at 5 p.m. on Fri., Jan. 31, while the finals will start at noon on Sat., Feb. 1, with medals and awards presented at 5 p.m.

— Staff