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Bluevale‘s Deanna Hollinger takes the baton in the 4X400 finals. t proved to be a little closer Ij\an in year‘s past, but that idn‘t stop the Bluevale Knights from winning their sixth consecutive team title at the WCSSAA Track and Field championships at Centennial Stadium last week. Bluevale on track This time it was the boys who proved to be the differâ€" ence, winning every track final they appeared in to give the school the overall boys‘ setting performance by longâ€" distance runner Adam Hortâ€" ian, who capped his high school career by adding his name to the local record books in the 3,000 m. again at WCSSAA "There was a little bit of pressure on me because 1 wanted to get the school some points," said Hortian, who chose to forego the 800 to concentrate on the 3,000 final. "But I kind of figured it was my last year and I kind of wanted to be a little selfish today _ and _ take _ a shot at that record." Capping it off was a record By Bos Vrzanac In addition to the expectaâ€" Chronicle Staff tions, Hortian also had to batâ€" tle the elements on a cold, oved to be a little closer _ rainy Thursday afternoon. "I \ in year‘s past, but that _ went out a bit harder than I n‘t stop the Bluevale _ expected... and I just decided s from winning their _ to go with the flow because it onsecutive team title at _ was going pretty good," he po oo io Hortian hopes to mainâ€" tain that fast pace at CWOSSA this week, with the ultimate goal of winning another medal at OFSAA before he heads off to school in the U.S. on a fourâ€"year scholarship to Jona university. To do that he‘ll have to He broke the old WCSSAA record of 8:36.2, by almost a second running a time of beat his rival, Kurt Benninger from Walkerton, who recently registered an 8:32 in the 3,000 "I beat him at OFSAA (crossâ€"country) by a couple of seconds," said Hortian. "He‘s in good shape and I‘m in good shape, so we‘re ready to battle it out. It will be excitâ€" ing." s There was also a lot of Continued on page 25 ere was a lot of purring I around the Waterloo Sr. Tigers clubhouse on Sunday as the Tabbies won their home tpener 12â€"4 over the Barrie Baycats at Bechtel Why all the optimism from a 1â€"2 team? Well after starting out a combined 0â€"11 the last two seasons, the Tigers were just happy to get their first win out of the way so early in the Senior Interâ€"County camâ€" In fact, they could have easily started the season 3â€"0 after coming up just short in tough losses to Brantford and Oshawna to start the season. o ® , ® V ipers scare up some competltlon By Bos Vrmanac zâ€": boasted players like Wilfrid l Julien Radlein, selected third A fter looking for a group » _ e bat overall in this year‘s CFL draft. _ And they look like a scrapâ€" pier bunch than the moriâ€" bund team that failed to make it to the playoffs last year â€" the first time the club missed the postâ€"season since the big cats were reborn three fter lookin tral Of Football League And that aggressiveness was on display Sunday as the Tigers pounded out 13 hits The Tigers new field boss Jason Adair admits there‘s a new swagger to his club. for the Triâ€"City Vipers. And after spending much of last season on the road, the Vipers return home Sunday at 6 pm. to take on the best of a 30â€"yearâ€"old league that feaâ€" tures teams like North York and collegiate division featuring players from 17â€"19 who haven‘t yet graduated to playing uniâ€" versity football. The eightâ€"team league has an eightâ€"game schedule, with the Vipers hostâ€" ing the championship Aug. 9. The Vipers are also hoping to be in that game boasting one of the biggest and fastest lineups the club has had in its nineâ€"year existence. That includes four Great Lakes Footâ€" bail championship teams that The Vipers will play in the SPORTS fter looking for a group to play in last year, the Central Ontario Minor all League came calling By Bos VrBanac Chronicle Staff â€" and were in doubleâ€"digits in the stolen bases department. "I played an aggressive style of baseball and I want to bring that back," said Adair, who won championships with the Jr. Tigers and was a driving force behind getting a senior club going again in Waterloo. "I think we had 15 stolen bases today and we ran right over them, and that‘s Tigers stater Greg Heffernan throws a curve at the Barrie Baycats on the way to a 12â€"4 win A Viper makes a tough catch during scrimmage last Thursday what we‘re goingto continue to do. "We want to show the league that baseball‘s back in Waterloo and that‘s what we‘re doing." Bringing fun back to the _ he‘s noticed the change. ballpark is also what the "Senior ball is a commitâ€" Tigers are about this year. In _ ment," said Stefan who had the past couple of years they _ the big bat for the Tigers Sunâ€" had problems getting players _ day going fourâ€"forâ€"five with committed to the program. Continued on page 24 They‘ve now decided they‘re no longer going to chase their Second baseman Greg Steâ€" fan, who has been with the club since its inception, said he‘s noticed the change. A quarterback on one of those championships squads was Matt Hodge, who takes over the head coaching reigns of the team from the departed "This is one of the most talâ€" ented teams I‘ve seen out here," said Hodge. "We have a lot of team speed and a lot of "I‘m comfortable with givâ€" ing them the ball and letting them do something for us." Vipers, who like Joe Popkey, Todd Galloway and Kevin Moogk, bring some of their university experience back to the team. And they‘ll need it going into a new league. Hodge heads up a coaching staff made up of mostly former "We don‘t know what to expect from the league, but they don‘t know what to expect from us either," said Hodge.