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26 + WATERLOO CHRONICLE * Wednesday, February 27, 2008 t was a threeâ€"peat for the Blueâ€" Ivale Knights swim team last week at the CWOSSA swim championships in Guelph. And head coach Shannon Henkel admitted it was a surprise win as the Knights became the first Waterloo County school to win three centralâ€"western Ontario titles in a row. Knights threeâ€"peat as CWOSSA swim champs Henkel said she only had 20 swimmers competing at this year‘s meet, and after finishing second at WCSSAA the week before had some modest expectations for another title defence. But her swimmers saved some of their best performances for the OFSAA qualifier, finishing second in both the boys team competition and the girls competition to take the overall title. Fellow teachers were even surprised to see the troâ€" phy back at the school the next day, thinking that the team had mistakenly forgotten to take it to the competition. "We had no expectations at this meet at all," said Henkel. "I just wanted them to swim well, and we had a few swimmers with OFSAA potential and we just hoped they were going to qualify." "Everybody swam great and there were no disqualifications, so everything worked in our favour," said Henkel. The Knights strong suit was the relay teams, and they didn‘t disapâ€" point bringing home a number of e Waterloo Siskins 3â€"2 loss I to Listowel Friday night did two things as the Midâ€"Westâ€" ern Junior League wrapped up its 48â€"game schedule on the weekâ€" end. Listowel‘s win ensured there wouldn‘t be a rematch against the secondâ€"place Cyclones unless the Siskins win their opening round series. And it left the Waterloo side in eighth place as they open the playoffs against regular season champs Elmira on Wednesday night in the Highway 86 Roundâ€" about series. Elmira hasn‘t been kind to the Siskins in the opening round of the ):)TmB;méu‘l‘éBomve ;r:umi)cjr“:)f str(;f{é 1nd1\71dL;af;;erf8;ma;1ces greésié}l that Fraser has made ‘ming and in the team synchroâ€" Continued on page 35 © & & @ Siskins open playoffs against firstâ€"place Sugar Kings By Bos VRBANAC Chronicle Staff By BoB VRBANAC Chronicle Staff â€" The Bluevale Knights swim team brought home their third consecutive CWOSSA title last week, with a strong showing in the relays clinching them the title. sos vRBANAC rOTO medals including gold in the â€" including Ross Bennett, who had _ since she gave up competitive synâ€" 4X100â€"metre freestyle open girls â€" gold in the relays and won the 200â€" chronized swimming with the relay finals. â€" metre freestyle, and Cassandra Waterloo Regional Synchronized "They gave us the 17 points we needed to get over North Park for the title," said Henkel, "Relays have always been an area we focus on, and they came through for us again." â€"The Knights also got some strong individual performances playoffs. The Siskins decadeâ€"long drought of getting out of the first round of the playoffs started in their country neighbour‘s barn. It‘s also a bit of a homecoming for Siskins head coach Kevin Bloch, who guided Elmira to a title, and knows how tough it is to play up the road with the crowd sitting right on top of the action. Contrast that to the spacious Sun Life Financial Arena, at the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex, and the atmosphere promises to be more hostile than the sterile but spacious local arena. But that hasn‘t dissuaded Bloch from believing his team has a chance against Elmira despite finâ€" ishing 24 points back in the league standings. The Siskins have been SPORTS including Ross Bennett, who had gold in the relays and won the 200â€" metre freestyle, and Cassandra Fraser, who also won gold in the 200â€"metre freestyle while finishing second in the 200â€"metre individual medley. She also won two medals in the relays including gold for the 4X100â€"metre freestyle relay team. It was a sign of the steady proâ€" gression that Fraser has made playing better hockey since a tough winless streak in December ended in the early part of January. Kevin Bloch CHRO since she gave up competitive synâ€" chronized swimming with the Waterloo Regional Synchronized Swim Club to join the Knights swim team. She was seventh at QFSSA last year in the 200â€"metre freestyle, an endurance event that complements her previous experiâ€" ence in the pool where she won provincial titles in figures swimâ€" ming and in the team synchroâ€" The additions of players like Olivier Guilbault, from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, has added a little more scoring punch to the lineup, and the changes made at the trade deadline have started to pay off in the team‘s improved play to close out Februâ€" "We brought in a number of players right around that Jan. 10 deadline," said Bloch, about the changes. "There was a lot of buildâ€" ing that needed to take place there." The hope is the roster has gelled in time to give Elmira all they can handle in their firstâ€" round series. "Everybody who wears the jerâ€" sey has to step it up to a degree," nized swim competition. "That‘s why I swim 200s," said Fraser, 16. "I swam synchronized swimming for about six years, the last three being competitive. "Then I moved over to the Golden Hawks swim school when I was in Grade 10 which has helped a lot too." She‘s even shown improvement in her swimming this year cutting more than a second off her gold medal performance at WCSSAA. "CWOSSA was hard work, and I managed to take a second off of each of my times," said the Grade 11 student. As for OFSAA, Fraser‘s hoping to improve on her topâ€"seven finish from the year before. â€" "I‘m looking for a top five finish at OFSAA," she said. "That would be great." â€" ts She wasn‘t the only local swimâ€" mer who had a strong showing at the CWOSSA finals. Kaitlyn Hayes of Sir John A. Macdonald brought home the only gold medal for her school breaking the record in the girls 15 and underâ€"50 metre breaststroke finals. ment said Bloch. "We‘re playing the firstâ€" place team, and there‘s a reason they‘re in first place. â€" â€" Hayes, 15, shaved almost two second off the previous CWOSSA record finishing with a time of 39.28. That time surprised even Hayes, who was hoping for a time around 40 seconds. "We‘re going to have to be at the top end of our game to beat them." "My expectation is that we‘re going to work hard, and our execuâ€" tion is going to be good," said Bloch. "If we do that we‘re going to Two of the Sugar Kings seven losses this season have come against the Siskins, and one of those wins even came in Elmira‘s barn. So despite holding a 4â€"2 mark against the Siskins, Bloch thought there was some room for optimism. "Hopefully we get a good start in the playoffs because a good start means a good finish." "I thought that was impossible," That was a real accomplishâ€"