Shown
above in the photo, taking a break from their individual competitions
during the North Eastern Ontario Regional Development Meet held on January
28 and 29 at the Howard Armstrong Recreation Centre in Valley East, are
several members of the Valley East Waves Swim Club. From the left: Thomas
Kirkpatrick (13), Jamie Ellerton (14), Cara Kirkpatrick (15), Beau Lacroix
(16), Nataly Begin (14) and Lexine Harvey (15).
As
for their individual results: Thomas Kirkpatrick ended up with four 1st
place finishes and one second. Cara Kirkpatrick took home two first place
ribbons. Beau Lacroix came up with two 1st’s and one 2nd.
Lexine Harvey finished with two 1st’s and four 2nd’s.
Nataly
Begin and Cara Kirkpatrick were two of the eight swimmers who accomplished
a “Perfect Meet”. This means that they swam “personal bests” in
all of their events - something that is a goal of all swimmers. As a
matter of fact, according to Head Coach, Sharon Leger, the “Perfect
Meet” means as much or more to a swimmer than coming in with a 1st
place finish in all events. Others who had “Perfect Meets” included
Stephanie Aubin (11) with two 1st’s and two 2nd’s in her six events;
Bryan Forbes (11) who swam in six events; Carli Hill (10) who took home
four 1st’s and two 2nd’s in her six events; Megan Villeneuve (10) who
had one 1st place finish among her six events; Ian Blechta (9)
who had one 1st and one 2nd in his six events; and Frank
Louiseize (11) who competed in six events also.
Other
members of the Valley East Waves who competed included: Ronald Arbour
(11); Jason Blechta (17) with two 1st’s; Danika Forget (9) competing in
her first meet ever; Stephanie Gobeil (14); Jessica Kivi (10); Michelle
Leger (10); Steven McAnulty with three 2nd’s; Chantal McMahan (8)
competing in her first meet ever; Lee Anne Menard (13) competing in her
first meet ever; Ryan Norton (11); Josee Pilon (11); Gillian Russell (11);
Jessica Verhoeven (13); and Amanda Windsor (10).
A
total of 174 boys and girls from Northeastern Ontario took part in the two
day event.
“We
would like to thank all the volunteers from the Valley East Waves who
helped make the meet very successful,” commented Sharon Leger. “Many
hours of work are required to make the meet run smoothly.”
“We
would also like to thank our corporate sponsors who always can be counted
on to give generously to help support us in our endeavours,” Leger
added.
The
corporate sponsors included: IDA Val Caron; the Hanmer Valley Shopping
Centre; Desjardins Food Basics; Eva Lanctot Realty; Bank of Montreal;
Topper’s Pizza; and The Brick.
The Valley East Waves
will be heading to Sault Ste. Marie for the ‘A’ Championships on
February 9 and then to Timmins for the ‘B’ Championships on February
17.
