The Prince George Citizen - Friday, September 8, 1995 - 1

DQN SCHAFFER, ED MILLS, TED CLARKE, SPORTS EDITOR Sports reporter Sports reporter 562-2441 Local 402 Local 401 Sp o r t s Local 400 SIDELINES Hobson’s choices coming SCORES time win and a 2-1 loss, and beating Cougar coach the Spokane Chiefs 8-4. Baseball ‘Time’s tickin’. The sooner we ■ The Americans leading scorer make the decisions, the bet­ in the preseason is a player Rocky American League m ust decide ter it is for everybody.’ Mountain Junior Hockey League fans Cleveland 4 Seattle 1 will know well. Left winger Eric Texas 4 Chicago 0 on cuts soon - Doug Hobson Schneider, who led the Cranbrook by ED MILLS Colts to the league championship last National League Citizen Staff season, has seven points in three everybody,” Hobson said. Atlanta 6 Florida 3 If you’ve ever wanted to coach a games with the Americans. Western Hockey League team, Time is also running out for players Florida 5 Atlanta 1 M ore, page 13 I The surprise of the Americans’ tonight’s the night. on the bubble. For them, it’s a make or St. Louis 5 San Diego 2 camp so far is six-foot-six, 230-pound break weekend. Call it: You Make the Cuts. ■ Up front, the Cougars are rookie defenceman Dan Focht. “Everything’s crucial. Before long, With the Tri-City Americans in already down to 14 players, but will Plucked from senior men’s hockey in Softball we’re going to be on a flight to town to meet the Prince George still make two cuts when Martin Saskatoon, the 18-year-old has made a Seattle.” Spruce City Cougars for a pair of pre-season Hohenberger and Peter Roed return case for a starting spot on the The Cougars open their season games (tonight and Saturday at 7:30 from National Hockey League train­ Americans’ blue line. Sem ifinals p.m. at the Coliseum) fans can put Sept. 22 against the Thunderbirds in ing camps. ■ The Cougars round out their Blazers 2 Spee Dee 1 themselves in the coach’s shoes. Seattle. ■ Of the players in camp, seven preseason schedule with a three-game Lumber Kings 10 Freightliner 4 Here’s the scenario: ■ The Cougars go into the game are 16 year old rookies. The Cougars series in Jasper Sept. 15-17. They’ll ■ The Cougars enter the weekend with a 0-2 preseason record after los­ will keep four of them at most. play the Kamloops Blazers, Red Deer with 12 defenceman in their lineup. ing back-to-back game, 7-2 and 5-3, “This weekend we have to go in Rebels and the expansion Calgary UP FRONT By Monday, there’ll be eight or nine to the Thunderbirds in Edmonton last with the idea of making some deci­ left, according to Cougars coach week. Hitmen. sions,” said Hobson. Doug Hobson. ■ Ronald Petrovicky, Shawn ■ This weekend’s games are the Senior athletes ■ In goal, Ryan Ludwar and With the school year already begun Gendron and Roed are tied for the only two home games in the Cougars Aaron Baker are fighting for the back and hockey careers in limbo for the Cougars preseason scoring lead with seven-game pre-season schedule. golden at up spot behind Chris Mason. Mason’s marginal players, the Cougars are three points each. ■ Tickets for the games are $7.50 at the New Jersey Devils’ training under pressure to make their moves. ■ The Americans are 2-1 in the each and are available at all Towne B.C. Games camp so Baker and Ludwar will likely “Time’s tickin’. The sooner we preseason, splitting a pair with the Ticket Centre locations. There are no get a game each. make the decisions, the better it is for Portland Winter Hawks, a 7-6 over­reserved seats. by Citizen staff Competitors from Prince George and the Cariboo earned four gold medals Thursday on opening day at the B.C. Seniors Games in Oliver and Osoyoos. Doreen Itkonen won two Games a great trip medals, a gold and a silver, in the first day of the three-day Games in the two southern Okanagan cen­ tres. C i t y Itkonen won the women’s 70-to- 74-year-old 5,000-metre race walk t h r e e s o m e in 41 minutes 43 seconds and took silver in the shot put. Ray Lougheed and Tony Prazma r e t u r n s t o each also won their race walk events Thursday, Lougheed earn­ r e a l w o r l d ing gold in the 60-64 men’s class in 31:27 and Prazma in the 55-59 by ED MILLS class in 30:04. Citizen Staff Eric Larsen of 100 Mile House It’s back to the real took gold in the 60-64 men’s 5,000 world now for Rae-Anne run in 20:08. Mitchell, Kathryn O’Brien Niilo Itkonen, Doreen’s hus­ and Shane Bilodeau. band, took silver in the 75-79 5K It should be no easy race walk in 43:28, while Tom transition after the treat­ Dawson won bronze in the 70-74 ment the three Prince class in 37:48. George athletes received Tom Masich won silver in the over the last two weeks at men’s 55-59 shot put, while Penti the World University Jarevenla, Larry McDermid, Dave Games in Fukuoka, McMillan and Larsen combined to Japan. take silver in the medley relay. The Games wrapped The Games end Saturday. up Sunday and so too did the life of leisure for the trio, who enjoyed com­ ON THE TUBE forts few cash-strapped university students expe­ TODAY rience while still in ■ TENNIS:U.S. Open coverage school. begins at 8 a.m. on KSTW (cable 7). Among the amenities ■ BASEBALL:The Tigers visit in the athletes’ village at the Jays at 5 p.m. on PGTV (channel the Games were a swim­ 2, cable 3). The Mets visit Montreal ming pool, a night club, a at 5 p.m. on CBC French (channel 4, cafeteria, washers and cable 5). The Royals visit Seattle at dryers, a bank, a post 8 p.m. on KING (cable 6). office, a dry cleaner’s, a ■ G O LF:PGA Canadian Open games room, a beauty coverage begins at 3 p.m. on salon, a running track, a BCTV (channel 12, cable 11). clothes store and a sou­ SATURDAY venir shop. CP file photo ■ TENNIS: U.S. Open cover­ “It was amazing,” said Rae-Anne Mitchell (13) reaches for a spike during a game against Brazil during the World University Games in Japan. age begins at 8 a.m. on KSTW O ’Brien, 24, part o f least won that fight and the next one (cable 7). Canada’s five-women even. judo team. “Anything ■ BASEBALL: The Tigers “I don’t know if I just didn’t quite you wanted, they had it visit Toronto at 10:30 a.m. on TSN have it all together.” (cable 16). The Giants visit the there.” With Mitchell playing middle Cubs at 11:15 a.m. on WGN (cable “It was like being blocker, the volleyball team finished 30). The Mets visit Montreal at stuck on a resort for two a disappointing 10th in the 14-team 4:30 p.m. on CBC French (channel weeks,” said Mitchell, event with a 1-2 record. 4, cable 5) and TSN (cable 16). 21, who played on the ■ G O LF:PGA Canadian Open women’s volleyball team. They finished with a 3-1 record in coverage begins at 2 p.m. on “You didn’t have to the second round but were already in BCTV (channel 2, cable 3). leave the village other the loser’s bracket. ■ C F L :The Lions visit Ottawa than to play.” Mitchell said the team ran into at 1:30 p.m. on TSN (cable 16). “They actually spent early injury trouble and one of the The Argos visit Hamilton at 5 p.m. more money on these tougher draws of the event. on PGTV (channel 2, cable 3). Games than the Back home now, it’s fend for ■ NASCAR AUTO RACING: Barcelona Olympics,” themselves time again. Winston Cup Genuine Draft 400 said the 28-year-old MITCHELL: back to school BILODEAU: teaching O’BRIEN: back to the grind coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on “It’s back to the grind,” sighed Bilodeau, quoting fig­ to Japanese culture. he ran his fastest last lap ever, 53 sec­ TBS (cable 24). O’Brien, who completed her degree ures in the $6 billion range. onds, which left him one second off ■ EQUESTRIAN: Spruce It was all a bonus for Bilodeau, in physical education at UBC in With the money organizers even the bronze medal. Meadows coverage begins at 1 p.m. O’Brien and Mitchell, already happy April, but is returning for the 12- bought a private beach where the ath­ enough just representing their coun­ month teacher’s program. on PGTV (channel 2, cable 3). “It (the result) gives me a lot of letes could enjoy beach volleyball ortry at this level for the first time. confidence in racing,” said the grad­ Armed with degrees in education just soak up the sun in the daily 30- In competition, Bilodeau met with uate of the Prince George Track and and science, Bilodeau is leaving degree weather. CA LL US the most success of the three, coming Field Club. UBC to pursue a teaching career in Outside their condominiums, ath­ in sixth overall in the men’s 1,500 “Running the 53-second lap Vancouver. letes were provided with a fleet of metre event. shows me that I can be a lot more Mitchell, meanwhile, heads back Citizen Main Line bikes they could ride to any destina­ His finish was one of just five competitive than I thought before. Itfor her third year at the University o f tion, then just leave the vehicle for top-10 finishes by the 55-member was not something I expected.” Manitoba, where she studies in biol­ 562-2441 another athlete to pick up. Canadian track team at the event. O’Brien, who was trained in the ogy and psychology and was a sec­ Bilodeau said they had over Ranked 21st of 47 in his event, F A X Prince George Judo Club, was ond-team all-Canadian last year for 300,000 volunteers to take care ofBilodeau set the tone for the meet by knocked out of singles judo after one the Wesmen. the 6,000 athletes. finishing third in the preliminary 562-7453 fight. The women’s team was ousted ■ Bilodeau said about $4 billion O’Brien said her team was adopt­ race. in the second round. of the money spent on the Games ed by students from a high school His best time was three minutes Answering machine “I was expecting to do better than will be recouped when the condo­ who took them to parties and events 39 seconds in the semifinal, well off that,” she said. “I felt I could have at miniums are sold. 562-3101 that offered the Canadians exposure his best of 3:42. But in Sunday’s final