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34 » WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, March 26, 2008 t‘s not something a lot of swimmers Iwould admit, but Bluevale‘s Cassandra Fraser says she was peeking the whole way in her final leg at the OFSAA 200â€"metre freestyle finals held recently in Etobicoke. The Grade 11 student said she couldn‘t believe she was in front, especially since she was neckâ€"andâ€"neck with another swimmer at the final turn. But a good transition off the wall put Fraser in the lead. "In my flip turn I came out a whole body length ahead," said Fraser. "That was a little surprising for me â€" 1 kind of looked around and thought where is everybody. "That‘s when I decided I might as well try to go for the gold." _ _ â€" e But it was only when she touched the wall at the end that she finally let up, taking another quick peek to bring home OFSAA gold for the Waterloo high school for the first time since Hilary Lawton accomplished the same feat in 1999. "I had to keep going because I didn‘t know if the girls would speed up," said the 16â€"yearâ€"old. "I tend to look around to see where my competition is and if I need to speed up or not. "I was kind of surprised when I hit the wall and looked around and I was the first one there. I touched the wall, looked up at the clock and I was a little surprised to see I had cut almost two seconds off my best time." ( :raig Voakes, a forward with the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks‘ men‘s hockey team, was named Canadian Interuniâ€" versity Sport‘s rookie of the year last week. Voakes, a geography student, had 23 goals and 19 assists in his first season in the league. _ â€" o â€" And while Voakes‘ offence helped propel the team to a 16â€"9â€"3 record, he didn‘t have his sights on the award coming into the seaâ€" "I didn‘t have any longâ€"term goals comâ€" ing in," he said. "I just had shortâ€"term ones. I wanted to contribute offensively and get some points." "I was a little shocked, but very happy," Voakes said. "It‘s a great honour to be selectâ€" ed from all the good hockey players across Canada." had cut almost two seconds off my best _ Bluevale‘s Cassandra Fraser earned the first OFSAA gold medal in the pool for her school since _ girl could go pretty fast," said Fraser. "And ir time." Hilary Lawton accomplished that feat in 1999. sos vasamac rnoto Continued on page 36 Half of Golden Hawk brother act wins CIS rookie award But he never thought he‘d be named the best firstâ€"year player in the country. _ _ Voakes had multiple point streaks during the season, including 15 games where he recorded at least one point. â€" He had two fourâ€"point games, racking up three goals and one assist against both the University of Toronto and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology squads. Bluevale‘s golden girl brings home OFSAA title By Grec MacDoNaLp Chronicle Staff By Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff â€" Games like those ones made Voakes a potent offensive punch for the Hawks, said head coach Kelly Nobes. _ â€" â€" "He‘s a tremendous offensive player and we‘re proud of his accomplishment," the coach said. Voakes is a skilled shooter and puck hanâ€" dler with the ability to beat opponents oneâ€" onâ€"one, Nobes said. But while he has been a welcome addiâ€" tion to the team, Voakes still has room to develop. â€" â€" "If there is something he needs to improve on, it‘s moving without the puck," Nobes said. He decided to come to Laurier this seaâ€" son to play with his brother Mark, a threeâ€" year veteran with the Hawks. "He‘s going to have to get better at that but we‘re confident he will." Priot to playing with the Hawks, Voakes played 324 games in the Ontario Hockey League, including a stint with the Kitchener Rangers. _ "He was a big factor with me coming here. We have always wanted to play togethâ€" et," Voakes said. "With all the years of playing hockey growing up, we never got to play on the SPORTS Continued on page 36 CHI The Golden Hawks Craig Voakes was named the CIS Rookie of the Year after a 42â€"point seaâ€" son with WLU that included 23 goals. pmoto courtesy of Mike whitEnousem.u ariuencs In fact, she cut almost five seconds from her seventhâ€"place swim of a year ago with a new time of 2:21.93. There aren‘t a lot of swimmers who can shave five whole secâ€" onds off their time in a year. "I don‘t really know how I did it," said Fraser. "I guess 1 was sprinting the last 75 metres in it." It was especially surprising for someone like Fraser who got her start in the pool as a synchronized swimmer. Synchronized swimming is known more for its beauty and grace, and the endurance the athletes exhibâ€" it as they perform their underwater manoeuvres. So she wasn‘t surprised to find she wasn‘t the only highâ€"school category swimmer to have synchronized swimming in her backâ€" ground. A lot of her fellow female competiâ€" tors had a similar pedigree. Freestyle swimming, on the other hand, is more about speed and power and not so much finesse. But Fraser said the one thing the sports have in common is the competiâ€" tive fire it can stoke in a swimmer. "A lot of my competition came from forâ€" mer synchronized swimmers," said Fraser. "But you feel comfortable in the pool because you spend so much time in it." _ "I was pretty sure that the secondâ€"place girl could go pretty fast," said Fraser. "And in Continued on page 36 Still she was surprised to be the topâ€" ranked swimmer in the 200â€"metre freestyle, and two seconds ahead of her closest comâ€" petitor in the preliminary swims.