It's been a busy week in on the Langley sports scene.
Jr. Thunder look to bump slump
Tonight (June 12) provides an opportunity for the Langley Jr. Thunder to dislodge themselves from their most recent losing rut.
Winless in their past three outings, the Jr. Thunder host the Port Coquitlam Saints at the Langley Events Centre.
Game time is 8 p.m.
Going into tonight’s game, the Jr. Thunder sport a 3-11-1 record and are tied with the Burnaby Jr. Lakers for sixth place in the eight-team B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League, each with seven points.
Port Coquitlam occupies the league cellar at 2-11-1, while at the top end of the table, the New Westminster Jr. Salmonbellies own a BCJALL-best 12-1 record, and are one point up on the Coquitlam Jr. Adanacs in a two-team battle for first place.
Burnaby Lakers 8, Jr. Thunder 6
Two-thirds of the Jr. Thunder’s latest loss, on Saturday at Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena, was a game of catch-up for the local juniors.
The Jr. Thunder fell behind 4-0 after the first period but after that had a slight edge on the Lakers, out-scoring them 3-2 in both the second and third periods in an 8-6 loss.
Duston Doudelet scored all three of the Jr. Thunder’s second period goals.
Langley tallied the final three goals of the third period, with a pair from James Rahe sandwiched between a single from William Vanden Hooven.
Doudelet added a pair of assists to his three goals for a five-point night.
Rahe also had a big night offensively, with two goals and two assists.
TWU sprinters win gold
Trinity Western University second-year sprinters Nathan George and James Linde put together impressive performances on their home track last weekend.
George captured gold in the 400m and Linde nabbed top spot in both the 100m and 200m events at the Jesse Bent Memorial Cheetah Meet at Coquitlam’s Percy Perry Stadium.
George clocked a personal best time of 46.77 seconds to win the 400m event, bettering his previous best of 47.12, which he posted at the CIS High Performance Twilight Meet on June 2.
George also finished second in the 200m with a time of 21.61.
Meanwhile, Linde finished first in both the 100m, in 10.73, and the 200m, in 21.46.
Spartans second-year athlete Sabrina Nettey also had a strong showing as she posted an outdoor season’s best in the long jump with a jump of 6.13m.
Cornelson qualifies
Langley’s Adam Cornelson was one of eight players who made the grade at the first of three RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifiers.
The event took place Monday (June 9) at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver.
The eight finished two-over or better to make it through to the final Monday Qualifier of the 2014 RBC Canadian Open.
A total of 44 players competed over 18 holes of stroke play at Marine Drive with the top-15 per cent of the field and ties (top seven competitors and ties) advancing to the final Monday Qualifier to be held July 21 at Club de Golf St-Raphaël in Île-Bizard, Que.
Chris Williams of New York, N.Y. claimed medalist honours after posting one-under 70 to advance through to final qualifying.
Cornelson finished at even-par in solo second, while Dakota Robinson of Discovery Bay, Calif., Alex Francois of Burnaby, and David Byrne of Essex, Ont. finished at one-over in a tie for third.
Rounding out the list of players advancing to the final Monday qualifier for the 2014 RBC Canadian Open were Kevin Stinson of Mission, Roberto Lupini of Johannesburg, South Africa, and Vancouver’s Ryan Williams after two-over 74s.
Marlins pick Robinson
Langley Blaze catcher-third baseman Mitchell Robinson led a group of four B.C. players who were taken Saturday in the Major League Baseball draft.
Robinson, an 18-year-old from Cloverdale, was selected in the 22nd round by the Miami Marlins.
The remaining B.C. players chosen were:
• left-handed pitcher Kurtis Horne, from Sooke and the Blaze, 31st round by the New York Mets;
• right-handed pitcher Cody Chartrand, from Nanaimo and Lewis-Clark State College, 36th round by the Texas Rangers;
• and shortstop Brad Antchak, from Delta and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 39th round by the Houston Astros.
– From the Vancouver Sun
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Rams add 35 players
The Langley Rams junior football team has signed added 35 high school, midget, and former CIS players from across Western Canada.
Among the 35 is a former Langley Stampeder, offensive lineman Keith Horne.
The group of newcomers will join Rams returning veterans at the Canadian Junior Football League club’s main camp, which starts July 4 at McLeod Stadium.
The Rams open the 2014 B.C. Football Conference season at home on Saturday, July 26 versus the Vancouver Island (VI) Raiders from Nanaimo. Kickoff at McLeod Stadium is 4 p.m.
Then, on Saturday, Aug. 2, the Rams host the Okanagan Sun at McLeod, with a 7 p.m. start.