North Stars shine bright on Coquitlam pitch

Richmond under-14 boys' soccer club wins Coastal Challenge Cup crown

The Richmond North Stars are Coastal Challenge Cup champions.

The local under-14 Gold Division boys' soccer team netted the honour Saturday with a 3-2 victory over the Coquitlam Gunners at Town Centre Stadium in Coquitlam.

Richmond will be one of two Coastal region representatives at the provincial cup to be played in Campbell River in early July.

Richmond forced several early corner and free kicks. In the sixth minute, Amit Rai struck a free kick from 25 yards that the Coquitlam keeper deflected over the bar but moments later Pierce Redon opened the scoring on a shot from 10 yards out. Midway through the first half, captain Jason Remedios roofed a shot after Wai Sum Lam had caused a turnover in the Coquitlam penalty

area. Lam again capitalized on his own hard work on a run from the right wing to put the North Stars up 3-0.

Just before the end of the half, Coquiltam scored when Richmond was unable to clear and the ball went by a diving North Stars' keeper Simon Barwin.

Richmond all but weathered a Coquitlam storm in the second half, allowing a late goal on a penalty kick but holding on for the victory. Michael Paynter, who had been injured in the first half, returned to the game midway through the period and just failed to convert a good scoring chance for the North Stars.

Defenders Tanjot Grewal, Shaun MacDonald, Amit Rai and Fraser McGregor and midfielders Matt Swanston and Victor Ahuluwalia also played well along with forwards Damian Silva, Steven Jenkins and Martin Grinberg.

Donovan scores three tries, but Bayside gets the win

The Bayside Rugby Club showed their Richmond Under-14 Division rivals they still have a thing or two to learn, humbling the locals 22-15 Sunday.

Bayside, which also topped Richmond in the consolation final at the recent North American Cup played at the University of B.C., took a commanding 12-0 lead and cruised from there.

There were some highlights for Richmond however, including a three-try effort by prop-forward Michael Donovan who utlized his considerable size and surprising speed to good use, coach Al Smith said.

Richmond played without several players including key backs Matt Swanston, Victor Sachs-Latu, Beau Eshleman, and Shaun MacDonald. Erkin Duzenli at stand-off and Frank Min and centre filled in admirably, Smith said.

"Bayside could have run in a few more tries had it not been for Richmond's sound tackling, in particular by Andrew MacMillan, Tyler Carter and Johnny Fuller," Smith said.

He said Allan Fast had another strong gme at hook as did Michael Blackall at scrum-half.

Judoka solidify positions on B.C. team

Four Steveston athletes solidified their postiions on the B.C. Junior Judo Team at the Okanagan Valley Open April 5.

Christine Park and Richard Tan were both first in their respective divisions, while Eiko Uludag and Liz Adams finished second. As a result of their results, the four join other Steveston judoka Lisa Nakajima, Justin Imagawa, Jillian Masuhara and Sacha Lamontagne in Toronto this July for the

Canadian Junior Judo Championships.

These fighters are following in the footsteps of older teammates who have earned spots on the provincial senior team. They include Deborah Teramura, Rachael Kuramoto, Jakub Wasiela and brothers Brent and Eric Tanaka. They join the B.C.team at the senior nationals next month in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Lamontagne stands a good chance of repeating his gold-medal peformance at last year's junior nationals, while Masuhara looks to improve on a third-place result, said Steveston club spokesperson Dan Nykon.

Tanaka's third-place finish in last year's junior nats will also serve as good experience for his introduction to the senior level, Nykon said.

Seniors race Saturday

Doug and Diane Clement are the special guests for the 400-metre demonstration run Saturday as part of Richmond's annual Seniors (55-plus) Wellness Fair.

"The idea is to show seniors in the city that you're never too old to be invovled in competitive athletics," says run organizer George Agnew. "Last year was a giant success when about 300

seniors walked around the track attempting a world record."

After they cleared Clement Track (at Minoru Oval), about eight member of the Richmond Kajaks Track and Field Club did the one lap event to "a big cheer, not only in front of the seniors, but the lieutenant-governor (Iona Campagnolo) and local dignitaries as well," he recalled.

This year, the Clements are starting the race at the track dedicated in their honour.

The demonstration run is slated to begin about 9:30 a.m.

On track -- B.C. students gear up for Review-Kajaks

On May 10, the Richmond Kajaks Track and Field and The Richmond Review will team up to host a major high school meet at Clement Track.

Sanctioned by the International Association Athletics Federation , The Review-Kajaks meet is one several opportunities in the province this year for athletes aged 15 to 17 as of December, 2003 to achieve the qualifying standards for selection to the Canadian World Youth team.

Athletes achieving the standards will be put into a selection pool of 60 athletes from across Canada.

Athletes selected to the team will represent Canada at the World Youth Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec later this summer.

The Review-Kajaks meet will offer all the events except the steeplechase, hurdles, and pole vault.

The meet is further showcased as the official IAAF World Athletics Day event with official T-shirts, IAAF pins and posters to be given out.

Medals will be awarded to first, second and third-place winners.

With the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships coming up in June, this meet is an excellent chance for athletes from Richmond and the Lower Mainland to "strut their stuff," said meet organizer Richard Collier.

"The public is also invited to come and watch the students as they go for the gold."

Visit www.kajaks.org for information on how to enter the event and schedules as well as information on the club itself.

The official web site for the 2003 World Youth Championships can be found at www.sherbrooke2003.ca.

On Track, a close-up look at the local track and field scene appears periodically in The Richmond Review.

United's season ends in Coastal Cup semifinal

Richmond United's long season of soccer is over.

The local under-11 Select Division side, which played in the under-12 league, fell 1-0 to the Metro Ford Dynamos of Coquitlam in the provincial Coastal Challenge Cup semifinal Saturday in Port Moody.

The lone goal of the game came in the second half after a through ball beat the United defence and a sprawling Richmond keeper Ryan Cuthbert.

The game was played mainly in the midfield with both defences solid, Richmond coach Mike Quinn said. The Dynamos enjoyed a slight edge in possession.

"They played with a lot of confidence," he said. "Their passes were more crisp and accurate. But having said that United battled and gave them a real scare."

Quinn praised the play of defender Justin Guay who had two long-range shots that could have gone in. Luke O'Shea also played well in splitting the goalkeeping with Cuthbert, he said.

Quinn also appluaded the play of United's defence led by Kaleigh Fratkin, Francis Cimolai and Caleb Clark. Forwards Aaron Merrick, Mohammed Rahmaty and Andy McKay were also tireless.

"They should be proud of the season they've had," he said. "They have come a long way in the game of soccer."

U-16s

Richard Ho provided some heavy firepower and Spencer Baines was an important contributor as the Richmond Rugby Club gained revenge on the Vancouver Ex-Brits Sunday.

The strong efforts by Ho and Baines, coupled with a dying-seconds try by fullback Isaac McKitrick and the subsequent convert by Nathan Hiryama, gave Richmond a 7-5 victory in the under-16 division at the North American Rugby Festival at the University of B.C. The Ex-Brits defeated Richmond 34-19 earlier this season.

"The boys played their best 25 minutes of rugby this season," Richmond coach Mike Cook said. "We received lots of compliments from B.C. Rugby Union officials and other coaches."

The win lifted Richmond into the top flight of the tournament against an Old Boys team consistently mainly of seasoned players from St. George's school. Despite their superior experience however, the Old Boys found themselves bogged down by Richmond players Nathan Mulford, Tanner Mason, Boyd Panton and Matt Forsh who tackles and rucked with fierce determination, Cook said. By the end of the match though it was the Old Boys who prevailed, 10-0.

Mustangs

The Richmond Mustangs opened their Peewee Division girls' fastball league season Thursday with a decisive 13-4 win over the `89 Steelers at London Park.

Coaches Doug Lawrence and Victoria Fainstein were pleased with the team's all around strong play. The bats were hot with lead-off hitter Rielly Miller going 2 for 2. Pitchers Leah Sedola and Katie Lawrence were also solid.

The third inning was the turning point as Stephanie Chen and Linette Ocariza stood tall in the infield and Shandell Grimm shut down the side by catching a fly ball.

Richmond's Katie Tipper his one of 20 athletes to be selcted by Softball Canada to play for the national junior team in the Futures event at the Canada Cup International Women's Fastdpitch tournament July 7 to 13 at Softball City.