The St. Albert Pride are up to bat at Western Canadian Softball Championships this weekend at Duncan, B.C. after their bronze-medal performance at the U16 A female provincial tournament.
Last year at westerns in Winnipeg the Pride were awarded bronze. The team’s overall record before westerns was 25-11-1.
At the nine-team provincials the Pride finished 4-2 overall after going 3-1 in the round robin. They posted wins of 8-1 against Calgary Kaizen 99, 9-1 against the Lloydminster Rebels and 11-4 against the Edmonton River City Hurricanes and lost 6-2 to the Calgary Adrenaline.
In the Page playoff format the Red Deer Rage beat the Adrenaline in the 1-2 game and in the 3-4 game the Pride needed an extra inning to get past Kaizen 10-7. In the semifinal the Pride lost 11-5 to the Adrenaline. Red Deer went on to defeat the Adrenaline in the final.
Red Deer picked up pitcher Natalie Bender and the Adrenaline added catcher Cori von Uffelen for nationals next week in Brampton, Ont.
Leading up to provincials the Pride repeated as the top team in the Premier A Division in the Edmonton Youth Softball Association at 8-3.
In the Girls Prairie League Softball standings the Pride were 13-6-1, including a 6-0 perfect game against the Prince Albert Aces, the current Saskatchewan provincial champions, and qualified for the Page 1-2 playoff game but it was rained out.
The 12-player roster includes seven from St. Albert and nine returnees.
Visit www.stalbertgazette.com to view the Pride’s team picture.
Keri Bowzaylo and Christine Rawlins of the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club were among only 12 female finishers in the Sinister 7 Ultra 161-kilometre race last month in the Crowsnest Pass region of the Rocky Mountains.
Bowzaylo placed 11th at 29 hours, 29 minutes and 44 seconds and Rawlins was 12th at 29:29:45.
Twenty-six females didn’t finish the race. The top female was Caroline McIlroy of St. Philips, Nfld. at 21:11:36.
The Sinister 7 is open to solo runners or teams of up to seven and racers have 30 hours to complete the rugged and remote course with a total elevation gain of 5,687 metres, making it one of the highest climbs in any ultramarathon in Canada.
The course is split into seven stages and each one features a geographic and historical highlight of the area.
The race is named after the Seven Sisters mountain that towers over much of the course.
The last six races were 148 km in length and the cut-off time was 27 hours.
In the men’s solo race Craig Strain and Scott Simpson of St. Albert finished 21st and 37th at 27:20:04 and 29:25:57, respectively.
The winner was Vincent Bouchard of Edmonton at 19:10:01.
There were 39 male finishers and 90 were unable to go the distance.
Visit www.sinister7.com for race results.
Registrations are being accepted online for the 12th annual Fall Challenge on Sept. 21 on the Red Willow trails.
Visit www.events.runningroom.com to register for the 21.1-kilometre half-marathon run/walk (two laps on the trail), 10-km run/walk (one lap) and five-km run/walk.
The online deadline to register is Sept. 17 at 11:59 p.m.
Kingswood Park is the race venue and the start times are 8 a.m. for the half-marathon walk and 9 a.m. for the half-marathon run, 10-km run and walk and five-km run and walk.
The .5-km kids’ race goes at 11:30 a.m. and no pre-registration is required.
Last year’s total finishers for the half marathon run/walk, 10-km run/walk and five-km run/walk were 275, compared to 354 in 2012.
The half-marathon winner was Paul St. Amant of Bonnyville in one hour, 23 minutes and 14 seconds and the fastest female was Shannon Maisano of St. Albert in 1:27:01 for third-place overall out of 130 finishers.
The Fall Challenge is sponsored by the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club.
Visit www.sva-club.com for more information.
