Local Sports for Thursday March 29

Fort Frances native Donovan Taylor was well back of the field after his second race at the Olympic swimming trials in Montreal yesterday.

The 17-year-old was last in his heat in the 100 metre backstroke.

His time of of 1-minute 2.31 seconds was almost 8 seconds slower that the day's best time.

Taylor is back in the pool Saturday for the 100 metre fly.

Local Sports for Wednesday March 28

Fort Frances swimmer Donovan Taylor finished second in his heat in his first event at the Olympic Trials in Montreal.

But his time of 4:46 in the 400 metre individual medley was 47th fastest overall, but not good enough to advance to the finals.

He swims in the 100 metre backstroke today.




Track and field underway at Falls High School where the girls team finished 3rd overall at the Paul Bunyan Invitational in Bemidji.

Lexi Olson in the 60 metre hurdles and Savannah Olson in the shot put recorded 2nd place finishes.

The boys team, meantime, scored a number of top ten finishes to end up 13th.

Local Sports for Tuesday March 27

A key event this week for Fort Frances swimmer Donovan Taylor.

The 17-year-old is at the Olympic swimming trials in Montreal.

It's step towards making the 2012 Olympic team.

Taylor competes in four events beginning with the 400 metre individual medley today.





There's an effort to create two bantam baseball teams in the district.

The Borderland Thunder is currently recruiting players, born in either 1997 or 1998.

They're also looking for volunteers, coaches and umpires.

The team was part of Manitoba Baseball last year, playing games in Kenora and Thunder Bay.

Those interested can call Fred or Tammy Jack at 274-6145 or Trish Neilson at 487-2519.





Cody Heyens of Stratton was part of a Fanshawe College curling team that won the Canadian College curling championship on the weekend.

Heyens played lead on the men's team that went undefeated for the title.

Local Sports for Monday March 26

Dates for the SIJHL finals between the Fort Frances Lakers and the Wisconsin Wilderness have been set.

The best-of-seven series will open in Spooner, this coming Sunday and Monday.

Games 3 and 4 will be played at the Memorial Sports Centre April 4 and 5.

The series winner represents the league at the Ontario junior A championship in Thunder Bay.




A former member of the now defunct Borderland Thunder has entered the pro-ranks

Drew Fisher of International Falls has signed with Tulsa of the Central Hockey League after finishing this year with Bemidji State.

Fisher played briefly with the Thunder during the 2002 and '03 seasons.

Local Sports for Friday March 23

Fort Frances Muskies have given themselves a chance to reach the playoff round at the all-Ontario high school boys AA hockey championship in Peterborough.

The Muskies tied top-ranked Glendale of Tillsonburg last night 2-2.

Nick Jourdain and Braden Webb with the goals.

A win by 2 goals or more against unbeaten Kindardine this morning will put them into the playoffs.

The Muskies lost 7-2 earlier in the day to Holy Cross of Peterborough.





Fort Frances Lakers will face the Wisconsin Wilderness in another SIJHL playoff round.

The two teams, who faced each other in the showdown series, now meet for the Bill Salonen Cup.

The Wilderness advanced last night with a 5-2 win over Thunder Bay to sweep that semi-final series.

Dates for final series have yet to be finalized.




The Fort Frances Muskies run at the all-Ontario high school boys AA hockey championship has come to an end.

The Muskies tied Kindardine 1-1, leaving them a point shy of second place in their pool and a chance to advance to the playoff round.

Braden Webb scored for the Muskies.




Rainy River Voyageurs women's softball team has ended ended a trip to Florida winless in six.

They were outscored 93 to 15 along the way.

The Voyageurs begin league play in the MCAC in April.

Local Sports for Thursday March 22

Fort Frances Muskies are back on the ice this morning for their second game at the all-Ontario high school AA boys hockey championship in Peterborough.

They're playing Holy Cross of Peterborough.

Yesterday they scored a 4-1 win over St. Martin of Mississauga.

Robbie Rae, Chris Bobychinski, Tyler Mosbeck and Hunter Leishman provided the scoring.



Fort Frances Lakers will play for the Bill Salonen Cup.

Jordan Christianson goal's four minutes into overtime gave the Lakers a 3-2 win over Dryden and a sweep of the semi-final series in four games.

Byron Katapaytuk and Jordan Larson added the other goals.

It's the first time a Fort Frances team has reached the SIJHL finals since the Borderland Thunder did it in 2005.

Meantime, Wisconsin is up 3-0 on Thunder Bay in the other series after a 5-3 win last night.

Game four of that series goes tonight in Thunder Bay.




Fort Frances Muskies are in a must win situation tonight at the all-Ontario high school AA boys hockey championship in Peterborough.

The Muskies need a win against top-ranked Glendale of Tillsonburg to have a chance at advancing to the playoff round.

Muskies lost 7-2 to Holy Cross of Peterborough this morning to leave them with a 1 and 1 record.

Local Sports for Wednesday March 21

Fort Frances Lakers are a win away from gaining a berth to the SIJHL's Bill Salonen Cup final.

Adam Wensley’s power play marker in the second period proved to be the winner as the Lakers edged Dryden in Dryden last night 4-3.

The Lakers lead the series 3-0 with game four tonight.

Jaret Leclair, Byron Katapaytuk and Jon Carlson also scored for the Lakers.




Fort Frances Muskies open play this morning at the all-Ontario high school boys hockey championship in Peterborough with a game against St. Martin of Mississauga.

The Muskies enter ranked seventh while St. Martin is ranked 20th out of 20 teams.

Be sure to listen to 931 the border for updates from the tournament.

Local Sports for Tuesday March 20

Fort Frances Lakers will try to put the Dryden Ice Dogs on the ropes in their SIJHL semi-final series tonight.

Game 3 goes in Dryden with the Lakers leading the best of seven series two-nothing.

Local Sports for Monday March 19

More hardware for Fort Frances swimmer Donovan Taylor.

Taylor picked up a gold, two silver and a bronze at the Manitoba-Saskatchewan provincial championships on the weekend.

He takes part in Olympic trials next week in Montreal.




Fort Frances Lakers have taken a stranglehold on their SIJHL semi-final series with the Dryden Ice Dogs.

Lakers won 4-2 Saturday to go up to 2-nothing heading into game 3 tomorrow in Dryden.

Meantime, Wisconsin leads Thunder Bay 2-nothing in their series.




Cooper Witherspoon scored the winner as Fort Frances Atom AA Canadians beat the home town Neebing Hawks 3-2 in overtime to win a hockey tournament in Thunder Bay.

Kaleb Bruyere and Nick Hahkala supplied the other goals.




Both Northwestern Ontario bantam and pee-wee all-star teams were defeated by Thunder Bay by identical 5-2 scores in their final games of the branch playdowns,

Fort Frances players Hunter Koles and Cole Tympkin score the goals in the pee-wee game.





Rainy River Voyageurs men's baseball team split a pair of games in St. Cloud, winning 9-8 in a come from behind effort over Northland.

Voyageurs scored 8 runs in the final two innings after trailing 8-1.

The second game saw the Voyageurs drop a 3-2 decision to St. Cloud.




Two anglers, familiar to bass fishing tournaments in Fort Frances and International Falls, are being inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame.

Bemidji's John and Duane Peterson will inducted March 31 as Legendary Anglers.

Local Sports for Friday March 16

Fort Frances Lakers return to the ice tonight for the start of their SIJHL semi-final series with the Dryden Ice Dogs.

It's a rematch of last season that saw the Ice Dogs take the series in six games.

Meantime, Wisconsin hosts Thunder Bay in the other semi-final series.

Local Sports for Monday March 12

It took 22 shooters before the Fort Frances Lakers were declared winners of their mini-series over Wisconsin Saturday.

The Lakers took the second series with 4-1 and 4-3 wins to force the shootout.

Brett McMahon got the eventual winner.

With the victory, the Lakers decided to face Dryden in the semi-finals who dispatched Sioux Lookout in five games.




Rainy River Voyageurs women's hockey team failed to reach the finals of the ACHA Division 2 championship.

The Voyageurs tied with Alaska and Delaware in round robin play, but a goal differential tie breaker eliminated them from the playoff rounds.

International Falls Broncos boys basketball team was eliminated from the Section 7AA championship with a 68-61 loss Saturday to Deer River.

Raymond Roy for Fort Frances skipped his team to the provincials of the Dominion Curling Club playdowns after going 4 and 1 at a regional event in Kenora.

On the women's side, Kathie Jackson of Fort Frances finished third in the standings.

Fort Frances Muskies have been seeded 7th for the upcoming all-Ontario high school boys hockey championship in Peterborough.

It puts the team in a division with schools from Mississauga, Kincardine, Peterborough and top ranked Glendale of Tillsonburgh.

The championship begins March 21.

A regional volleyball team, that included players from Fort Frances and Rainy River, came away from the Ontario Winter Games without winning a game.

The team finish 6th out of 6 teams.

Local Sports for Friday March 9

Fort Frances Lakers will need to score big this weekend as its resumes the second of two two-game total goal series with Wisconsin tonight at the Memorial Sports Centre.

The Wilderness won the first series 9-4.

The winner of the two series get first choice of their next round opponent.




Several district rinks are in Kenora seeking a berth to the provincial Dominion Curling club playdowns.

Rinks skipped by Raymond Roy of Fort Frances, Atikokan's Clint Taylor and Bryan Bonot of Stratton competed on the men's side.

Val Stus of Atikokan, Kathie Jackson of Fort Frances and Jackie McCormick of Stratton battle for a berth in the women's division.




Rainy River Voyageurs men's baseball team split a pair of games with Mesabi East at a spring training tournament in Orlando.

The Voyageurs lost the opener 6-2, before winning the next 7-2.

They opened the tournament Wednesday with a 2-1 lost to Seton Hall of Pennsylvania and an 9-4 win over ASA College of Brooklyn New York 9-4.





The Ontario Winter games are underway in Collingwood.

The Rainy River district is represented in volleyball and squash.

Cassandra Moffat, Seira Cousineau, Karla Taggart and Ericka Cochrane of Fort Frances join Kenzie Godin of Rainy River on the volleyball team.

Local Sports for Thursday March 8

It's Gold for Donovan Taylor.

The 17-year old from Fort Frances High School finished 5 seconds ahead of his near competitor in the final of the 200 metre Individual medley at the all-Ontario high school swimming championships in Milton.

It's the second straight year Taylor has captured gold at the championships.




International Falls Broncos boys basketball has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Section 7AA  championships tournament following an 82-36 win over Eveleth-Gilbert.

The Broncos now face Deer River Saturday in Duluth.




Fort Frances Fireman beat the Fort Frances Lions 3-2 in the Fort Frances Minor Hockey peewee hockey  championship playoffs.

Landon Woods, Aiden Morrisseau and Christian Audette scored for the Firemen.

Scoring for the Lions was not provided.




The MEC Bulldogs won the atom championship with a 3-0 victory over Causeway Insurance.

Jacob Albrieght, Cameron Bowles and Adam George provided the scoring

Carter Hayward got the shutout in net.

Local Sports for Wednesday March 7

A bronze medal performance for Donovan Taylor at the all-Ontario High School Swimming Championships in Milton.

Taylor picked up the medal in the 100 metre butterfly.

The Fort Frances High School student swims in the 200 metre individual medley today.




All-star distinctions for former Fort Frances Muskie girls netminder Katie Stearns.

Stearns, who now plays for the Rainy River Voyageurs, was selected to the 1st team of the ACHA's all-American team.

Defenceman Jenna Brady was selected to the second team.

Forwards Carlee Bosma of Emo and Thea Sauca were honourable mentions.




International Falls Broncos girls basketball team has been eliminated from the Section 7A championship tournament.

The Broncos lost 80-54 to Braham in a semi-final game.

Meantime the boys team will open play today in their championship tournament with a home game against Eveleth-Gilbert.




Donovan Taylor will be the swimmer to beat at the all-Ontario high school swimming championships in Milton.

The Fort Frances High School recorded the fastest time among all swimmers, giving him preferred lane choice in tonight's final of the 200 metre individual medley.

His time of 2 minutes 9.5 seconds was a full 7 seconds faster than the second place finisher.

Local Sports for Tuesday March 6

The Fort Frances Muskies run at the all-Ontario high school AA boys basketball championship has come to an abrupt end.

The Muskies were defeated 69-30 in their opener by St. Francis, then lost 71-39 to Bishop Morocco, eliminating them from further play.




Fort Frances High School might find gold in the pool.

Donovan Taylor is representing the school at the all-Ontario high school swimming championships in Milton for a second straight year.

He competes today in the 100 metre butterfly, an event he won silver last year.




International Falls Broncos basketball teams are in playoff action today.

The boys team opens first round action in the Section 7AA tournament with a home game against Evelth-Gilbert.

The girls team face Braham in Duluth in the semi-final of their championshp tournament.




A Fort Frances man was among the winners at a cross country skiing event in Thunder Bay on the weekend.

Robert Mitchelson was first in the 70-74 age category, finishing 18th overall in an 8 kilometre race.

Jean Bujold, also of Fort Frances, who crossed the line with Mitchelson, placed 3rd in her age category.

Darryl Gannon of Atikokan was 17th overall in the 50 K race, 3rd in his age category.

Local Sports for Monday March 5

Fort Frances Aquanaunt swimmers Donovan Taylor and Adam Stromberg are leaving Ottawa with a ton of hardware.

The 17-year-old Taylor picked up a gold, two silver and a bronze at the provincial swimming championships.

The 13-year old Stromberg earned a pair of silver medals.

Taylor now competes at the Ontario high school swimming championships this week in Milton.




Fort Frances Muskies boys basketball team opens play today at the provincial high school championship in St. Catherines.

The Muskies, ranked 18 out of 18 teams, face St. Francis this morning.




Jenna Vergeldt led with 23 points in helping the International Falls Broncos girls basketball team to a 63-52 win over Evelth-Gilbert Saturday.

The win propels the Broncso into the semi-finals of the Section 7AA championship tournament.



Rainy River Voyageurs women's volleyball team lost to Northland 79-48 in the semi-finals of the MCAC's Region 13-B championships.




Fort Frances Muskies boys hockey team is headed to provincial championship again.

The beat Kenora 6-1 last yesterday in Kenora to sweep the Norwossa champions in two straight.

They won 5-1 Friday.




Fort Frances Lakers lost Saturday 5-1 to Wisconsin giving the Wilderness a 9-4 edge in the first of two two-game total goal series.

The series switches to the Memorial Sports Centres this coming weekend.



Fort Frances PeeWee AA Canadians ended their season finishing second at a tournament in Thunder Bay, losing in the final game in a shoot out.




Fort Frances Thunderhawks are ending their season early.

The senior team was to play the second of two games with Kenora yesterday to decide home ice advantage for the branch playdowns, but could not muster enough players to go.

Spokesman Travis Green says faced with same threat in future games, it was agreed to let Kenora represent the area in the upcoming Allan Cup playdowns.




Strongman Luke Skaarup placed 8th out of 54 competitors at the World Amateur Strongman Championships in Columbus Ohio on the weekend.

Local Sports for Friday March 2

Playoff action opens on two fronts for local hockey teams today.

The Fort Frances Lakers begin the first of two two-game mini-series with first-place Wisconsin in Spooner.

Game two goes tomorrow before the series shifts to the Memorial Sports Centre next weekend.




Fort Frances Muskies open the NORWOSSA boys hockey championship series with a home game against Kenora's Beaver Brae Broncos.

The Broncos were the only team to beat the Muskies this year, doing so in a shoot out back at the start of the season in November.

Game time tonight is 7 pm

Local Sports for Thursday March 1

International Falls Broncos girls basketball team has advanced to the quarter-finals of the Section 7AA championships tournament.

The Broncos beat Deer River 61-42 and face Eveleth-Gilbert Saturday.

Jenna Vergeldt led with 20 points.