Kyle Gilmour and Andy Tiedemann of the St. Albert Rugby Football Club were named to Team Canada’s 26-man roster for the Nov. 3 match against the New Zealand Maori All Blacks at BMO Field in Toronto.
The match will be broadcast live on TSN at 11 a.m.
The legendary All Blacks are comprised of players who must have Maori genealogy.
Gilmour, 25, is coming off a successful stint with Canada at flanker during the IRB Americas Rugby Championship in Langford, B.C. Canada finished 1-2 in the three-team tournament: 17-10 win over Uruguay and losses of 30-10 against the USA Eagles and 23-14 to Argentina.
Gilmour, a high school rugby product of the St. Albert Skyhawks, has previous national team experience in 7s and is one of the top forwards for the Calgary-based Prairie Wolfpack in the Canadian Rugby Championship – Canada’s top domestic rugby competition.
Tiedemann, 25, was Canada’s captain against Uruguay, but suffered a cut on his head in the first half and was sidelined for the rest of the tournament.
Going into the tournament the high school rugby product of the Paul Kane Blues had 21 caps for Canada since 2009. The Wolfpack captain and former pro with FC Auch Gers in France is the first SARFC player to scrum down at the World Cup of Rugby, when it was held in 2011 in New Zealand.
Sixteen players on Canada’s roster for the All Blacks were either featured in the CRC or at the Americas that wrapped up last Saturday.
Canada’s line-up for the Americas included SARFC players Kyle Baillie (The Rock in CRC) at second row and Duncan Maguire (Wolfpack) on the wing.
Joe Garcia of St. Albert will celebrate his 70th birthday at the 2014 Boston Marathon after finishing fifth in his 65 to 69 age division at the recent Chicago Marathon.
Garcia’s time in the Windy City was three hours, 28 minutes and 22 seconds to place 3,849th overall and 3,271st among males.
The longtime St. Albert Road Runners and Triathlon Club member is also a noted Ironman. He was the 11th fastest finisher in the 65 to 69 men’s category at the 31st annual Ironman Canada on Aug. 25 in Whistler. His time of 14:52:40 was good for 1,661st place overall.
Shae Kelly of Paul Kane Blues finished 30th out of 129 junior males at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association cross-country championships last Saturday in Drayton Valley.
Kelly’s time in the 4,000 metres was 14 minutes and 59 seconds as the sixth-fastest Edmonton zone competitor.
Kelly’s qualifying time at zones was 17:14 for 13th place.
The provincial winner was Ryan Smeeton of Henry Wise Wood of Calgary at 13:04.
The following St. Albert students also competed at provincials:
Evans Frandsen, Ecole Alexandre-Taché: 57th in junior males at 15:34.
Samuel Forster, Bellerose Bulldogs: 41st in the senior males’ 6,000m at 23:55.
Nick Mentz, Bellerose: 57th in senior males at 24:36.
Schools in the St. Albert Physical Education Council combined to raise $32,369.37 for the Terry Fox Foundation through their Terry Fox Run and fundraiser.
The top three St. Albert public schools were Sir George Simpson ($7,128.80), Bellerose Composite ($4,000) and Sir Alexander Mackenzie ($1,683.19).
The Greater St. Albert Catholic schools were led by Marie Poburan ($5,096.93), Vital Grandin ($1,500) and Vincent J. Maloney ($1,500).
The Greater North Central Francophone Education Region No. 2 included contributions from Ecole La Mission ($250) and Ecole Alexandre-Taché ($417).
