NeilMcDonald Ontario tour champs

 St. Thomas curlers finish first in the provincial standings highlighting local this week

 while at the velodrome cyclist Eve Buczkowski wins three gold and two silvers

    January 20, 2023

   Eve Buczkowski, of St. Thomas, won three gold and two silver medals at an Ontario Cycling Cup event this past weekend in Milton. The Grade nine student at Central Elgin C.I. is racing in Quebec this weekend. (photo / courtesy Andrew Buczkowski)

By Rob J. Ross 

ST. THOMAS - Laura Neil and Scott McDonald are heading towards Curl Ontario's mixed doubles provincial championship riding a wave of momentum.

Skip Neil and third McDonald, aka Team NeilMcDonald, out of the St. Thomas Curling Club, finished atop the standings for the Ontario Mixed Doubles Tour, following a top four result at the Tour championship, Sunday, in Cambridge.

The pair picked up $1000 for finishing first.

At the tour championship, Team NeilMcDonald lost 9-8 to Kim and Wayne Tuck in the semifinals, to finish with a 3-2 record.

"It's definitely nice to have some momentum for the 'provincial play down' portion of the season," said McDonald. "We're playing well and feeling confident. We've put in a lot of practice to make sure that we're prepared for the big games. We're always communicating on and off the ice, which is also really important."

Team NeilMcDonald is 12-4 overall this season, winning the Walker Industries spiel in Arthur, Jan. 8 and making the final at the St. Thomas Classic, in December.

The provincial playdowns are February 24-26, at the Cataraqui Golf & Country Club, in Kingston.

Jessica Zheng and Victor Pietrangelo defeated the Tucks in the final of the tour championship, 6-5, in an extra end.

Fanset Tankard bound

Travis Fanset and his St. Thomas team, of third Aaron Squires, second Craig Van Ymeren and lead Scott Brandon, is heading to the Ontario Tankard, the provincial men's curling championship, January 23-19, at the Plex, in Port Elgin.

Fanset finished third, going 4-1, at the Tankard Open qualifier, January 8.

After a 7-6 loss to Paul Moffatt, Fanset won four consecutive games, including defeating Mark kean, 6-2, in eight ends, in the third place game.

Moffatt finished second, behind winnner Mike McEwen.

Cyclist Buczkowski wins three gold

Eve Buczkowski, of St. Thomas, won the B women tempo five-km race and elimination race and took home silver in the B women points race and scratch final, a 20-kilometer race, at Ontario Cycling's track series event two, at the Mattamy National cycling centre, Jan. 15 in Milton.

Buczkowski, a Grade nine student at Central Elgin C.I., who races with Attack Academy based out of London, also took gold in the B women 500-metre time trial final.

Alexandra Fangeat, of St. Thomas, racing with KW Academy, finished second in both the A women tempo 7.5-km race and elimination race and finished fifth, in the A women points race and scratch 7.5-km race.

Brody Mann, of St. Thomas, also with Attack Racing, won bronze in the B men points race, finished fourth, in the B men temp 7.5-km race and was fifth, in the both B men scratch 7.5-km race final and elimination race.

Upcoming events for the local cyclists include at a new velodrome, in Bromont, Quebec, this weekend, the Eastern Challenge, February 10-12 and the provincial championships, March 3-5, both back in Mattamy.

Howard leads Canadian PHF all-stars

Brittney Howard headlines the Canadian side for the Premier Hockey Federation's three team four game all-star event Jan 29 in Toronto.

The 27-year old from St. Thomas leads the league with 12 goals in a dozen games and is a plus-12.

Canada, the United States and the world, will play a round robin tournament, at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Canada opens against the U.S. with the winner facing the World team and the loser taking on the World in the third game. The top two teams meet in a final.

Each round robin game will consist of two seven-minute periods of four-on-four, with a one-round shootout between periods for a bonus goal.

The event will be broadcast on TSN.

OUA indoor track and field opens

A. J. Stanat had a pair of top five results at the Can Am indoor track and field meet, in Windsor, Jan 13/14, the first on the Ontario University Athletics schedule in 2023.

The 19-year old thrower from St. Thomas, in his second year, with the University of Windsor Lancers, placed fourth, in men's shot put (14.39 meters) and fifth, in weight throw (13.48m).

Brady Fodor, of St. Thomas, competing for the Western Mustangs, was seventh, in men's weight throw (11.58m)

Hallee Knelsen, from Malahide, with Western, finished eighth, in the women's 1000 metre run, finishing in two minutes and 53.39 seconds (2:53.39).

Clairesse Coffey, of St. Thomas, also with the Mustangs, was ninth, in women's long jump (5.08m).

Mason Basson, from Sparta, with the Guelph Gryphons, finished 11th, in the men's 1000 metres (2:34.8).