Team Canada prop Andy Tiedemann of St. Albert has signed an 18-month pro contract with Pro D2 club Bourgoin.
Bourgoin is 12th in the Pro D2 tables with three wins in the first nine matches.
Tiedemann, 27, returns to France after playing 16 matches with the Pro D2 club Auch in 2012/13.
The next season the St. Albert Rugby Football Club product played 19 matches for Plymouth in the RFU Championship.
Tiedemann has 38 test caps and scored his first test try this year in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Georgia.
The rugby alumnus of the Lorne Akins Gators and Paul Kane Blues featured in the first three matches for Canada at the World Cup and after the tournament played three matches with the Hong Kong Football Club before inking a deal with Bourgoin.
Another SARFC product and St. Albert Skyhawks, flanker Kyle Gilmour, joined Rotherham of the RFC Championship after a strong showing at the World Cup.
Gilmour, 27, made his debut for Canada in 2013 and has 14 test caps.
The Morinville Wolves finished the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association 3A volleyball championships with a playoff berth for the men’s team and a fourth-place result in pool play for the women’s team.
At the men’s tournament in Grande Prairie the Wolves lost 23-25, 25-21, 11-15 to the Louis St. Laurent Barons, the metro Edmonton division two champions and zone wild card team, in the quarter-finals after going 3-2 (7 GW/5 GL) for third place in pool A.
The North Central zone wild card swept the St. Martin de Porres Kodiaks (Calgary) 25-16, 25-15 and the St. Joseph’s Celtics (North West) 25-13, 26-24, lost 16-25, 20-25 to the Strathcona Christian Academy Eagles (metro Edmonton), beat the Catholic Central Cougars of Lethbridge (South wild card) 22-25, 25-16, 15-11 and lost 20-25, 25-22, 7-15 to the Strathmore Spartans (South Central).
In the final, the Barrhead Gryphons defeated the Eagles in three sets and Strathmore swept the Barons for third place.
Last year the Wolves placed fourth overall as the North Central wild card in their first trip to provincials since 2007.
The lady Wolves ended provincials in Bonnyville with a record of 2-3 (4 GW/7 GL).
In pool B the two-time North Central champions swept St. Martin de Porres 25-18, 25-17, fell 18-25, 15-25 to the St. Joseph’s Ceinahs of Grande Prairie (North West), beat the host Bonnyville Roadrunners (North East) 25-23, 24-26, 15-8 and lost 18-25, 18-25 to the W.R. Myers Rebels (South wild card) and 15-25, 25-27 to the Ponoka Broncos (Central).
Last year the Wolves finished 3-3 in their first provincial appearance since 2002.
Lauren Henderson of St. Albert led the Edmonton Black Gold Rush in scoring in Saturday’s doubleheader against the Calgary RATH in the National Ringette League.
Henderson tallied twice and added one assist as the Rush player of the game in the 8-4 loss and in the second contest the St. Albert Mission U19AA belle graduate recorded one goal and two assists in the 5-3 win in Calgary.
The member of the U21 national team that will compete in the junior division at the Dec. 28 to Jan. 4 world championships in Helsinki, Finland is tied for second in team points with 16 in 10 games.
Danielle Pronovost also struck twice and Jordie Richardson had two helpers in the first game. Shots were 35-31 for the RATH and Anj Grewal (3-2, 5.29 GAA) was the Rush goalie.
The RATH posted period leads of 2-1, 6-2 and 7-3 entering the fourth and last 13-minute frame.
Molly Chorney potted a pair in game two and Pronovost and Kate Henderson sniped singles. Pronovost’s game winner in the third was her team-leading 13th goal and 22nd point.
Captain Nikki Andruchow drew three assists for 16 points on the season and Danielle Bechard picked up two assists.
The Rush were outshot 31-28 and Lauryn Girard (1-2, 5.00 GAA), the team’s player of the game, was in net.
The Rush (4-4-2) remain two points ahead of the third-place RATH (4-5) in the western conference after their second win in three games against a Calgary lineup that includes six players on the national senior team.
The top two western teams advance to nationals, April 3 to 6 in London, Ont., and a playoff decides the last berth in the four-team conference.
This weekend the Rush play the fourth-place BC Thunder (2-9) three times as the feature games at the Fraser Valley tournament. The St. Albert U19A belles, U16A juniors and U14A tweens are also competing in the tournament.
The Morinville Kings scored two goals in two road losses last weekend in the North Central Senior AA Hockey League.
Keagan Arcand found the back of the Friday’s 11-1 setback to the Daysland Northstars (5-2) and Ashton Pietersma lit the lamp in Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Whitecourt Wild (3-6) in Mayerthorpe.
Both goals left the Kings trailing 3-1 in the second period of each game.
Daysland outshot the Kings 47-30 as Chris Sharkey (nine goals-against on 41 shots in 49:19 minutes) and Mike Towie split time in net.
Sharkey (4-3, 3.70 GAA) went the distance against the Wild as the shot count favoured the visitors 33-27.
The Kings (4-4-1) are tied for third in the north division after winning three in a row before the two losses.
The next game is Saturday against the Winterhawks (4-6-1) at 8 p.m. in Slave Lake.
