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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, July 12, 2012 · 24 24 Sports Oakville Beaver SPORTS EDITOR:JONKUIPERIJ Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 432) Fax 905-337-5571 email sports@oakvillebeaver.com · THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012 On top of the world GOLDEN MOMENT: Oakville's Kyle Jones celebrates as he crosses the finish Jones captures first World Cup victory in last pre-Olympic triathlon By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLEBEAVERSTAFF line at the International Triathlon Union World Cup race in Edmonton Sunday. ARNOLD LIM / ITU Kyle Jones learned a lot being an alternate on Canada's triathlon team in Beijing. First, the Olympics is just another race -- swim, bike, run, same distances, same competitors. Second, the Olympics is not just another race -- security, bigger crowds and the eyes of the world watching. But the one thing he learned more than any other: "Sitting in the stands wasn't quite doing it for me," Jones said Monday as he prepared to board a plane for France, where the Canadian team will finish its Olympic training. Jones will not be on sidelines this time around. He will join two-time Olympic med- alist Simon Whitfield and Brent McMahon on the Canadian team that will compete on the Hyde Park course. The next three-and-ahalf weeks will be spent training at altitude as Jones as his teammates prepare for the Aug. 7 race. "If I've done everything I need to do when I'm standing on the starting line, I've ticked off all the boxes, I'll be happy with myself," Jones said. "Whatever comes out of it, that's OK, but I'm putting no limits on what I'm capable of." Jones gave an indication of what he is capable of Sunday in Edmonton by winning his first World Cup race, which also served as the Canadian championships. "The race in Edmonton has been good to me over the years," the 27-year-old said. "Last year, I was fourth (matching a careerbest World Cup finish) and this year, to be on the podium -- and even better than that, on top of the podium -- it's a great feeling. And to be a national champion and do it all in the month before the Olympics, it's amazing." Jones has been focusing attention on the run in the lead-up to Olympics, spending extra time at the track working on foot speed with his coaches. Having not raced since mid-May in San Diego, where he was 12th, Jones said it "was nice to test it out before London." Jones turned in the second fastest run time, 14 minutes and 59 seconds over 10 kilometres, to finish the race in 57:33 ahead of the likes of former world-champion Tim Don of Great Britain. Jones emerged from the water eighth after the 1.5-km swim and was within seven seconds of the best time on the 40-km bike course. He began the run with a large pack but quickly separated himself from the field and held off fellow Canadian Alexander Hinton for the win. Jones and his Canadian teammates will be separating themselves from the Olympics as well. They will skip the opening ceremonies, remaining in France until a few days before their race. When they do arrive, there will be just one thing left to do, Jones said. "Focus on our preparation and execute." --Follow Herb Garbutt on Twitter, @herbgarbutt Titans await playoff fate as league set to rule on forfeit By Jon Kuiperij BEAVER SPORTS EDITOR Two days before the Ontario Lacrosse Association senior B playoffs are expected to begin, the only thing the Oakville Titans know for sure is that they like their chances. What the Titans don't know for certain is who, where, when or even if they'll be playing in the first round. After concluding the regular season Friday with a 13-9 overtime win over the Brooklin Merchants at Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, the Titans thought they had finished the season with an 11-5 record and secured a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. But one of Oakville's wins was changed by the league to a forfeit loss, drop- ping the Titans from second to fourth place and giving them a first-round matchup with Brooklin. Titans general manager Josh Briscoe said the league's decision to make Oakville forfeit a 13-11 victory over St. Catharines June 16 was due to the Titans' alleged use of an ineligible player. Oakville appealed the ruling at a meeting last night (Wednesday), and Briscoe was confident the ruling would be overturned. "We know we didn't play an illegal player," said Briscoe, explaining the issue was about the re-classification of a player whose rights used to be owned by a club in the Major Series Lacrosse senior A loop. "We've asked several times why the onus is on us to prove See First, page 25