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_ Midgets ready for postâ€"season By Rick Campbell **We have a Chronicle Sports Editor at our club, 2 The ‘‘Waterioo Division‘‘ courage each of the Kâ€"W Minor Track and not overempl Field Association thrives on mance in Cof Pride in oneself. It is probably the most neâ€" cessary ingredient of a sucâ€" cessful competitor and coach Pete Grinbergs says Iere is no shortage of it g his proteges. By Rick Campbeli Chronicle Sports Editor A 7â€"3 loss to Guelph Sunâ€" day probably has cost Waâ€" terloo Optimists second place in the Interâ€"County Midget Baseball League. But Optimists are not about to sit around and sulk about it as the Iâ€"C playoffs open this weekend. After _ winning _ four straight games leading to the Guelph encounter Sunâ€" day, Waterloo had a 158 reâ€" ,rd and needed a win to inch second place over Brantford. Five Region of Waterioo Swim Club members, acâ€" companied by Head coach Paul Meronen, competed this past weekend in Monâ€" treal at Division II (Eastern Canadian) nationals. The ive were Michelle Gonsalâ€" &,{Marlha Hansen, John h, Paul Hess and Mike Now 15â€"9, Optimists reâ€" main tied for second with Brantford, which has a 158 mark. But if Brantford beat lastâ€"place Paris last night they would move into sole possession of second and play fourth place Kitchener (14â€"9â€"1) in a bestâ€"ofâ€"three semiâ€"final. Meanwhile Waâ€" terloo would drop to third and start their semiâ€"final on the road in Stratford (16â€"7â€"1) sometime this weekend. Pride in oneself key to track club _ West collects gold for ROW at our club, all the kids enâ€" courage each other. We do courage each other. We do not overemphasize perfor mance in competition, our main goal is for every member to continue to set personal bests in their event. **‘There is a basic misconâ€" ception that you have to be good in track and field to join our club. Not true, all "It was far from a nothing game for us,"‘ said Optimist manager Paul Puncher about Sunday‘s loss. ‘‘We just came up flat. Jeff Schaefer started on‘ the mound but he just didn‘t have it. He told me before the game he had a blister on his foot and there was no doubt it affected his pitchâ€" Waterloo, which scored 30 runs in 18â€"3 and 12â€"0 wins over Kitchener and Guelph earlier in the week, had their bats silenced by Terry Drake who limited them to six hits, two each by Jeff Potwarka and Andy Boegel. In beating Guelph Friday, Optimist pitcher Dave Drago upped his record to 9â€" 1. But although he went into the nineth with a 12â€"7 lead, Drago needed lastâ€"out help from Schaefer with the tying runs on second and third. ing."‘ the 100 fly and eight in the consolation finals of the 400 metre freestyle. Michelle Gonsalves came first in the 400 free consolation finals. "Generally we‘re pretty loose and confident heading into the playoffs,"" said i6 * s wC o P : "“ 5 m S e 1e e CR c taÂ¥xaitls saudna n t h U .. > 6 _ . Personal best important "~~â€"®=â€"*â€"=Aâ€"sumnâ€" we want is to see poorlc work hard while enjoying themselves. Regardless of tatent levet, if you work hard, there is always someâ€" thing to strive for â€" to be able to say you beat your own personal best. Once a person does that often enâ€" ough, he or she will soon find themselves right in the midst of topâ€"level competiâ€" very well} against the three got¢ aur nitching toge o:hryers in tlfe playoffs. We g:; (::.;h&l;cmnset(:fii" lost five of our nine games | wa; pe pj hturhe i+ against teams that didn‘t & te. make it." Optimists were also Optimists are 2â€"2 over the firmed last weekend as season with Stratford, and Ontario_ Baseball Assc have a 3â€"1 record against tiOn ‘‘B‘" representa both _ Brantford _ and from the Interâ€"County 1 Kitchener. gue. Minor Hockey Major positions that must be filled include City League coach/manager and conâ€" venor. These jobs involve only several hours of work per week. Puncher. ‘"There‘s not a great deal of choose from among the four playoff teams and if you look at our record you‘ll find we did The Waterloo Minor Hockâ€" Paid positions available ey Association is seeking vo include referees for both lunteers to fill many posiâ€" City and Rep League teams, tions for the upcoming 1979â€" plus timekeepers for the 80 season. same leagues. Rep team coaches and managers are also required and should possess good hockey sense and ability to coach. Commitments are necessary two or three times a week and teams play in the Interâ€"City Lea:â€" gue with other cities such as Kitchener, Galt, Brantford and Woodstock. To point out what he is taiking about, Grinbergs singled out three runners in his club, Beth Merikie, Cathy Bauer and Susan ‘‘I‘d have to say those three girls personify the meaning of our club. They all have such a tremendous sense of personal acâ€" complishment.‘‘ On May 17, all three girls Optimists were also conâ€" firmed last weekend as the Ontario Baseball Associaâ€" tion ‘"B‘"‘ representative from the Interâ€"County Leaâ€" gue. "‘I‘d definitely say we‘re a team that gets up more for the better teams,‘"‘ said Puncher. ‘"We‘ve been hitâ€" ting the ball well, if we can get our pitching together and tighten up defensively we‘ll be right there." Also available are posiâ€" tions as hockey instructors at a program for youngsters 7â€"12 meeting every other weekend. The Association also wishes to point out that jobs such as writing newsletters, submissions to the Waterioo Chronicle and collecting adâ€" missions at the door for leaâ€" ,ue games must also be illed. Anyone wishin? to valunâ€" teer or wishing further inâ€" formation can contact Glen Walker at 886â€"4940 (B) or 884â€"0983 (H). ;a:i 800 lnctcl;: tlm;‘trhll uring practice. The 1J yur-o‘dgurltle ran in 3:06, followed by ‘ 15â€"yearâ€"old Bauer in 3: 10 and 12â€"yearâ€" old Cuesta in 3:11. â€" â€" On July 28 in Buriington at the pmz:cfibmon chamâ€" Et:nlhlpl, rikle lowered t time by an astounding 33 seconds to 2:35.1 while in timed trials Bauer has loâ€" wered her best to 2:41 and Cuesta to 2:43, both almost half a minute under their times of three months ago. In the Legion guallfiers the week of July 7, Merikle lopped off 12.8 seconds off her 400 metre time with a clocking of 66.2 seconds. Bauer‘s 1,500 metre time is down a colossal 27 seconds in less than a month and Cuesta also bested her 400 metre time by 7.2 seconds in just over a month. _ _ ‘Right from the beginning those three girls have shown so much perserverence and dedication. They weren‘t the best and still aren‘t, but the important thing is that they are gaining confidence as they chart their own imâ€" provement,"‘ said Grinâ€" bergs. The Waterioo coach feels his lowâ€"key approach to competition at the beginning of the summer season has paid off huge dividends. **We didn‘t start really heavy, we did a lot of flexâ€" ibility and strength exerâ€" cises, the A‘s and B‘s of training. Gradually we worked into interval trainâ€" ing (increasing runs while decreasing recovery time) and its now starting to show. A lot of our athietes are now showing potentlial they weren‘t â€" showing four months ago." , This weekend the Ontario bantamâ€"midgetâ€"juvenile championships are being held in Sudbury, and Grinâ€" bergs will be taking along 17 of the Waterioo athletes â€" a sizeable number considerâ€" ing the Waterloo faction is still getting off the ground. ‘‘There‘s a lot of young taâ€" lent in Waterioo, I‘m talking about kids who are keenly interested in running and learning how to run properâ€" ly. We want to encourage them to join, to make them better athletes and help them develop pride in their accomplishments." He hopes to increase the awareness of the purpose of the club this October with a three practiceâ€"aâ€"week winter training program