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Sports Oakville Beaver By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR: JON KUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2010 35 OT rides momentum of early score to another Halton title With their rich history of rugby success, the Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils already have an advantage of intimidation when they take to the pitch. When the Devils score an early try, it just makes them that much harder to beat. OT won its 39th Halton senior boys' rugby championship in 40 years yesterday (Thursday) at Burlington's Sherwood Forest Park, downing the up-and-coming Abbey Park Eagles 27-8 in the league final. The one-sided result was set up by an OT score in the opening minute of the game. Abbey Park kicked the ball deep into Red Devils territory, but a crazy bounce ended up in the hands of OT's Jordan Bissett and he had a clear path to the Eagles goal. "That was a killer... just a backbreaker," said Abbey Park head coach Tyler Leggatt. "It's high school sports and it's great the level of rugby is getting better, but you're still dealing with young guys playing sports. It just takes the littlest thing to set it off." OT rode the early momentum to two more first-half trys, carrying a 17-3 advantage into the intermission and coasting the rest of the way. "It was good to get the momentum going and just show that our reputation stands," said Bissett, who had two tries on the afternoon. The teams played a much more competitive game during their lone regular-season meeting, when OT pulled out a 22-17 victory over the Eagles. The Red Devils scored even quicker in that contest, but then let down their guard a bit. Yesterday, that wasn't the case. "They did a good job," said OT coach David Schaffler. "That's what we stressed to them, not to have the shutdown we had last time. Abbey Park has definitely gotten much better. We knew if we left them in the game, they had the ability to score on us." OT advances to the Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference (GHAC) championship game Tuesday against a Hamilton representative, where the winner will qualify for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER Oakville Trafalgar's Brenden Gilbert (with ball) pulls away from Abbey Park's Jordan North during yesterday's Halton senior boys' rugby final in Burlington. OT won 27-8, earning the school's 39th Halton senior boys' title in 40 years. (OFSAA) tournament. Next year, GHAC will have two representatives at OFSAA because Schaffler made a successful bid to host the provincials. Leggatt lightheartedly suggested Schaffler might have had a little extra incentive to host OFSAA, considering the strength of Abbey Park's junior program. With young stars Djustice Sears-Duru and Sawyer Herron (both national junior team members) as well as Chris Woodhead, the Eagles expect to give the Devils all they can handle next season. "Maybe (Schaffler) sees the future coming," said Leggatt, "and he knows that even if he's going to be a bridesmaid next year, he'll be in OFSAA. "At least, that's what I'm saying. I feel really good about these guys." Aquinas runner wins three gold at GHAC track and field It seems success on the track runs in the Hennessy family. Kelly Hennessy won three individual gold medals at this week's Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference (GHAC) track-and-field championships, claiming the junior girls' 800-metre, 1,500m and 3,000m titles. The Aquinas student hopes to follow the path of her older sister, Colleen, who won a pair of medals at the 2008 Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) meet. Top-five finishers at the GHAC meet qualified for next week's South Region championships, where top-four finishers will advance to the OFSAA competition in London. Oakville had several other multiple-event champions at GHAC, which was held Monday in Hamilton and Wednesday in Burlington. Abbey Park's David Watson (midget boys) and Holy Trinity's Eric Labelle (senior boys) each won both their 1,500m and 3,000m events, while Trinity's Rachel Bronzovich was first in the midget girls' 800m and 1,500m. Loyola's Ashara Cadogan won the senior girls' 100m and 200m, T.A. Blakelock's Devon Bosada claimed gold in the junior girls' 200m and 400m, Abbey Park's Connor Mabbott won the senior boys' 200m and 400m, and Iroquois Ridge's John Breeson took top honours in the midget boys' 400m and 800m. Other individual event winners on Day 2 of the GHAC meet were White Oaks' Madison Milner (midget girls' 3,000m), Blakelock's Karley Donnelley (junior girls' 300m hurdles), Iroquois Ridge's Garth Duncan (junior boys' high jump), Blakelock's Colin Liberty (senior boys' triple jump) and White Oaks' Fatim Ammor (midget girls' shot put). Ridge's Emmanuel Tayi (senior boys' long jump) and Trinity's Toluwa Fayemi (junior boys' 100m hurdles) won individual gold on the opening day of the GHAC championships. Oakville schools added two relay gold at the GHAC meet. The Loyola 4x400m open girls' team of Megan O'Neill, Ashara Cadogan, Marti Killeen and Meredyth Dwyer won its race by more than six seconds over second-place Nelson, while Abbey Park's 4x100m junior girls' squad of Brittany Osland, Nicole Roblin, Seyi Adaghe and Sarah Brennan edged out Ancaster's Bishop Tonnos by eight-hundredths of a second. See page 37 for a list of top-five local finishers from Wednesday's Day 2 of the GHAC championships.