The Prince George Cougars picked up three out of a possible four points in their weekend home doubleheader against the Victoria Royals. The Cougars followed Friday’s 4-3 victory with Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss. 5,404 fans were on hand to see the Cougars erase a 3-0 deficit in the Saturday game before the Royals won in the 11th round of the shootout.
–The 50-50 record jackpot hit a grand total of $67,095. Half of that total goes to the Shelly Mrkonjic ALS Research Fund. Shelly, the mother of Tyler Mrkonjic, died of ALS in 2006. Tyler Mrkonjic scored the first Cougars goal and was named the first star.
–With six games left, the P.G. Cougars are closing in on a playoff spot. They are 3rd in the B.C. Division, four points ahead of Kamloops and six in front of last place Vancouver. The Cougars have four games left against the Blazers starting Wednesday in Kamloops. The Cats also play Friday in Tri-City and Saturday in Portland. The Blazers have a home and home this weekend against Kelowna. The Cougars are 5-0-1 in their last six and 7-1-2 in their last 10.
Photo: Courtesy of PG Cougars
–The Prince George Spruce Kings are tied 2-2 with the Langley Rivermen in their best of seven BCHL Mainland Division semi-final series. Game five will be played tonight in Langley with game six tomorrow (Tuesday) at the PG Coliseum. If a 7th game is needed, it would be played Wednesday in Langley.
–The Rivermen won 4-1 on Saturday (before 937 fans) by scoring three unanswered goals in less than three minutes midway through the 3rd period. The Spruce Kings won Friday’s game on home ice 4-2 (in front of 1,037 spectators).
–The major midget Cariboo Cougars survived a scare as they won their first round playoff series two games to one. The regular season champion Cougars edged the 8th place Fraser Valley Thunderbirds 4-2 in the deciding game with the last goal into an empty net. Captain Austin Gray scored twice and added an assist. Cariboo won the opener 3-1 Friday and Fraser Valley took the second game Saturday 4-2.
–The Cariboo Cougars host the South Island Royals in the BCMML semi-finals at Kin 1: Friday at 5pm, Saturday at 1pm and Sunday, if necessary at 8:15am. The 7th place Royals upset the Vancouver NW Giants in the opening round with all three games in that series decided in overtime.
–Jessie Withey of Prince George placed 2nd at the BC Juvenile Curling Championships at Lake Cowichan. Withey lost the girls division final 8-2 to Heather Drexel of Coquitlam. Withey went 2-1 in the round robin before winning her semi-final. Alyssa Connell of PG failed to make the semis in the eight team event despite a 2-1 round robin record. On the boys side, (also with eight teams competing) Coleton Vriesendorp of Prince George ended up 1-2 and not qualifying for the playoffs.
–Bud Burbee of Prince George finished 1-6 at the BC Masters (60 +) men’s Curling Championship in Nanaimo that was won by Ralph Will of Cranbrook.
–The Duchess Park Condors placed 5th at the 16-team BC Girls Double A Basketball Championship in Langley, winning their last game 77-67 over Seycove. Duchess finished with an overall 3-1 record. The top ranked Condors were eliminated from medal contention when they were upset in the quarter-finals, falling 63-61 to Notre Dame. Alina Shakirova of the Condors was named to the second all-star team while Marcie Schlick of Duchess was chosen to the honorable mention team. The tournament was won by Immaculata of Kelowna.
–Also in Langley, Duchess Park finished 13th and College Heights 14th at the BC Junior Girls Basketball Championship. Duchess Park edged College Heights 44-38 in the last game for both teams on the consolation side.
–Cedars Christian whipped Agassiz 58-42 in the 9th-10th place game at the BC Girls Single A Basketball Championship in Lumby. Fort St. James ended up 13th.
–Megan Heinicke of Prince George was 28th overall and the second of three Canadians in the women’s 10 km pursuit at the Biathlon World Championships in Finland. Earlier, Heinicke was 23rd out of a field of 106 in the 7.5km sprint for the top North American result.
–Tony Fiala, an Olympic Biathlete (1992 and 98) and volunteer coach with the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club, won the 30 km Spirit of the Rivers Loppet. Fiala skied neck and neck with Alexander Nemethy from Vanderhoof for 1 hour 21 minutes, 51.2 seconds, edging him out by one half a second at the finish—the third year in a row that the Spirit of the Rivers Loppet winner was decided in a photo finish. The fastest woman in the 30 km event was Nikki Kassel who was back racing for the first time after a two year break. Kassel was fifth overall behind 3rd place finisher Mike Smith and 4th place finisher Kris Yip. Shar Balogh placed second in the woman’s 30 km race for the third consecutive year.
–The Hart Judo Academy finished with a gold (from Grace Northrop), three silver & two bronze at the Pacific International Judo Tournament in Richmond. The PG Judo Club earned two silver and two bronze while the North Capital Judo Club ended up with a pair of silver and a bronze.
Hart Judo Academy
Gold:
Grace Northrop -52 u18 girls
Silver:
Kimiko Kamstra -44 u 16 girls
Lorna-Jane Simmons -57 u16 girls
Lavanna Laass -63 u21 woman
Bronze:
Lavanna Laass -63 senior women.
Christopher Cormack -55 u14 boys.
PG Judo Club
Silver
Branden Edwards, male U16 -60
Kyle Wilkinson, male U18 -66
Bronze
Tami Goto, female U14 – 44
Ryan Russell, male U16 -55
North Capital Judo Club
Silver (2):
Lochlan Young – U14 -50kg Boys
Maxwell Young – U16 -46kg Men
Bronze (1):
Nicolas Richards – U16 -66kg Men
–The three judo clubs from Prince George will all be represented at the Edmonton International Open on Saturday.
–Canada’s best junior snowboard athletes are in China to compete in the Junior World Championships Tuesday to Saturday. The Snowboardcross 11 member team includes Meryeta O’Dine and Evan Bichon of Prince George.