The St. Albert LeGit ended a season to remember as Ringette Alberta champions.
The 37th victory in 46 games for the petite A team was 5-3 against Red Deer in Sunday’s final in Calgary.
The last time St. Albert captured the U12 provincial crown was 2005.
“We were a good team who became a great team, and that is how we won provincials,” said head coach Gary Shigeta.
Megan Shigeta’s hat trick and singles by Vittoria Barbieri and Annie Hood provided the offence in support of netminder Taylor Johnson. Red Deer outshot LeGit 37-24.
“Our defence is the best in the province and our forwards were crucial to our team’s success,” said coach Shigeta. “Megan and Annie scored a lot of goals but without a great team we wouldn’t have won.”
LeGit advanced to the final with an intense 4-3 playoff decision against Sherwood Park. Hood scored three times and Shigeta fired the game winner with three minutes to play against the team that handed LeGit three losses this season.
In the round robin LeGit beat the Calgary Snapp 6-4, lost 4-3 to Red Deer and blanked Medicine Hat 6-0.
LeGit’s 37-6-3 overall record included tournament victories at the Brass Ring in Beaumont and the Esso Golden Ring in Calgary.
The Lorne Akins Gators swept the junior high boys’ and girls’ relays at the 34th annual Edmonton Journal Indoor Games last weekend at the Universiade Pavilion.
The Lorne Akins boys recorded a winning time of 3:31.55 in the 8x200 metre final. The baton runners were Logan Brubaker, Ezat Ghazniwal, Tristan Gavin, Will Ennin, Naiem Qaderi, Jakob Brinkoff, Jeremy Orriss and Dylan Overdyk.
The Lorne Akins girls also won their 8x200 final at 3:52.62. Running in the fast lane were Sydney Parkinson, Sarah Passek, Lindsay Riege, Haley Basterash, Emily Marko, Cara Lang, Brooke Lang and Val Schlottke.
The Richard S. Fowler Falcons placed second in the girls’ 8x200 relay at 4:02.38.
Morgan Christensen, a Grade 10 Bellerose Bulldog, and Schlottke, a Grade 8 Lorne Akins student, also achieved podium finishes in the 200m.
Christensen was clocked first overall at 25.31 in the high school girls’ final. Last year with the Sir George Simpson Voyageurs she won the junior high final in 25.96.
The 2011 Athletics Alberta midget female athlete of the year remains undefeated in the 200m in the 2011/12 season.
Schlottke was the runner up in the junior high girls’ final in 27.62.
In the elementary division the Muriel Martin Dinos came in third in the 8x200 relay at 4:18.59. Sir Alexander Mackenzie was fourth at 4:19.12.
Rounding out the top St. Albert finishers at the Games was Hayley Francois. The Grade 11 St. Albert Skyhawk placed fourth in the high school girls’ 800m at 2:24.73.
The St. Albert Impact U14 boys are spending their spring break training and playing soccer in Maui.
The Impact have three friendlies on tap against Maui United, the Hawaii State champions. The teams will also train together.
Extra practice sessions are scheduled with coaches and players with NCAA division one, Major League Soccer and United States national team connections.
The Impact players and parents raised almost $25,000 through fundraisers and sponsors for the trip. Some of the payers raised the entire cost of their trip.
The Impact‘s travelling roster consists of Colin Walker, Zach Houle, Paulo Alves, Josh Vickers, Jaedon Carroll, Connor Hodgson, Adam Closson, Dolan Gilligan, David Doe, Ernesto Sillito, Christian Prefontaine, Cameron Roth, Nigel Harris and goalkeepers Kurtis Steendam and Dylan Kremp.
The training trip will help the players prepare for the outdoor season. The U14 summer squad will be announced after tryouts.
