The St. Albert Miners will defend their senior B provincial championship against the Calgary Knights after sweeping the Edmonton Outlaws in their best-of-five semifinal in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League.
Games 1 and 2 in the best-of-five series are scheduled for Performance Arena next weekend. Dates and game times were unavailable at press time.
In the regular season, the Miners (12-5-1) finished second and the Knights (8-10) placed fourth.
In playoff action, the Knights upset the first-place Okotoks Raiders (13-5) in three games.
Head-to-head in the regular season, the Miners beat the Knights 9-5 in St. Albert and 10-7 in Calgary.
The winner will represent Alberta at the Presidents’ Cup national championship, Aug. 29 to Sept. 5 at Cornwall Island, Ont. Last year at nationals, the Miners finished sixth out of seven teams at 2-4.
The Miners wrapped up their series with the Outlaws in Tuesday’s 7-4 decision at Bill Hunter Arena. They outscored the Miners 5-2 in the third period as Jordan Cornfield struck twice and Graedon Cornfield, Chris Schmidt and Brad Scott notched singles.
Graedon Cornfield and Schmidt potted goals in the first frame.
Captain Nate Schmidt and Jordan Cornfield finished the game with three assists apiece.
Playoff action started last weekend as the Miners downed the Outlaws 13-9 and 11-8 in St. Albert.
Rachel Francois of St. Albert turned in a personal best time in the 800 metres at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships last weekend in Miramar, Fla.
The Paul Kane High School graduate finished fourth at 2:08.38.
She was also part of the Canadian 4x400 relay team that earned silver.
The Edmonton Harriers Track and Field Club member qualified for the major international meet with a silver-medal winning performance at the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships earlier this month in Winnipeg. Her time in the 800m was 2:10.97.
This fall, Francois will attend the University of Victoria and compete on the Vikes’ track team.
The six-foot-two outside hitter plays for the University of Alberta Pandas and was named to the Canadian developmental B team that will compete at the Universiade Games.
Last season, the graduate of St. Albert Catholic High School co-led Canada West in aces, while leading the Pandas in points and 201 kills.
The third-year Panda and science student also trained with the national junior B team last summer.
In high school volleyball, Zubick was named the Skyhawks’ most valuable player all three years playing middle.
The St. Albert Cardinals are in Red Deer this weekend for the Baseball Alberta peewee performance championship.
In the tournament opener Friday, the Cardinals played Sherwood Park but the score was unavailable at press time.
On tap today for the Cardinals is SEEBA at 9 a.m. and the host Red Deer Braves at 3 p.m.
Their last round robin game is against Spruce Grove at 9 a.m. Sunday.
If there are no tiebreakers the final is 3 p.m. Sunday.
