Penticton Western News Friday, August 15, 2014
Sports Editor: Emanuel Sequeira • Phone: 492-3636 ext. 224 E-mail: sports@pentictonwesternnews.com
sports
Cooke sets a new record Emanuel Sequeira
A11
55 ROOT BEER NOW AVAILABLE! Come and grab a cool 55 Root Beer hand crafted by burger 55 and The People’s Craft House! Made from REAL ingredients and it’s locally brewed! ORDER ONLINE:
www.burger55.com
Western News Staff
Andrew Cooke returned from the 2014 Pan Pacific Para Games in Pasadena, Calif., Aug. 6-10 with a silver medal, bronze medal and Canadian record. “It was amazing. It was pretty hard,” said Cooke of his accomplishments. Earning a Canadian record in the 50-metre freestyle was amazing for the KISU swim club member as he beat out a teammate by one second, finishing the event in 42 seconds. It was Cooke’s best performance in that freestyle distance. Cooke earned silver in the 50-m back stroke and bronze in the 200 -m individual medley. Cooke also trimmed 13 seconds combined in the preliminary and final heat for the 200-m free-
www.pentictonwesternnews.com
#84 - 52 FRONT STREET
Experienced scorer joins Vees in trade Emanuel Sequeira Western News Staff
KISU SWIMMER Andrew Cooke represented Canada well in the Pan Pacific para-swimming championship in Pasadena, Calif., Aug.6-10 by winning two medals and setting a Canadian record. Photo courtesy of Swimming Canada/Scott Grant
style. In the five events Cooke competed in, he came short of achieving a personal best time just once.
Representing Canada and facing a strong field of competitors brought out the best in Cooke. “I performed fan-
tastically,” said Cooke, who had personal best performances in all but one swim for preliminary and final
heats. “It was tense. They (coaches) had high standards for me. They felt I performed very well.”
Symonds back for the Challenge Western News Staff
He came, he crashed, he conquered; and last year’s Valley First Challenge Penticton champion Jeff Symonds is back to race again. Symonds took a nasty spill on his bike in the inaugural Challenge Penticton race in 2013, but made a miraculous comeback in the irondistance event crossing the finish line bloodied, bruised and battered to win the top male title. His race was defined by some as one of the top triathlon performances in 2013. “It was pretty unreal,” said Symonds, who set a course record finish time of 8:29:57. “I think the reason we all do triathlon is to see how tough we are, especially when we have those moments of adversity that we have to pull ourselves out of and see how we respond. “It was pretty cool to have that moment at Challenge, in my hometown, and get up and keep going,” he continued in a new release. “Having the fortitude to keep pushing to the finish line is what makes triathlon special. Everyone in that race does it. They all have their own moments when they have to dig deep to get to the finish. That is what is great about Challenge
because the whole field has that in common, professional athlete or not.” The pull of racing in his hometown overcame Symonds and he decided on the last day (Tuesday) of registration to enter, despite only having a few Jeff Symonds weeks rest since he finished second in Subaru Ironman Canada Whistler on July 27. He will join more than 1,200 participants registered from 17 countries on Aug. 24 to race VFCP. “It’s something special for me to race in my hometown, in front of people I grew up with, who helped me along the way and will be cheering me on,” said Symonds. “I know I am not coming into this race as fresh as I would like to be, but the big thing is having fun and supporting this race.” Symonds was hesitant about committing to VFCP because of the short turnaround from competing in Whistler.
“I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel,” he told the Western News. “I just wanted to make sure that it was a smart decision before I kind of got caught up in the hype.” The defending champion isn’t putting much thought into how he might perform and said, “It’s kind of nice because it puts me back to the underdog, kind of wildcard role that I seem to excel at.” Symonds entered Subaru Ironman Canada Whistler because he knew Belgium’s Marino Vanhoenacker was competing. “He is the Ironman world record holder. I really wanted to test myself against the best in the world,” said Symonds, who finished nine minutes behind Vanhoenacker in Whistler. “It was pretty good considering he’s the real deal. I got some work to do on the bike.” He won’t be the only one with a hometown cheering squad on the course. His brother, Mike Symonds, will be racing the half distance. VFCP Canada is busy preparing for its second race this summer and offers a full distance, half distance, full relay and now the inaugural half-distance relay.
More offence is being injected into the Penticton Vees roster with the acquisition of Demico Hannoun. The North Delta product was picked up in a deal from the Surrey Eagles in exchange for the Canadian Junior Hockey League playing rights of defenceman Alex Coulombe and future considerations, the Vees announced Wednesday. “Demico is a player who we are very familiar with, and I look forward to working with him so he can achieve his maximum potential,” said Vees general manager and head coach Fred Harbinson in a team statement. Hannoun, 18, joins the Vees after asking for a trade from Surrey two weeks ago when he learned that former Vancouver Canuck Peter Schaefer wouldn’t be coaching. Hannoun is now looking forward to learning under Harbinson, who he believes can improve his play in the defensive zone. “Fred is probably one of the best coaches in our league,” said Hannoun. “I’m excited for him to help me de-
Demico Hannoun
velop, become a better player.” Hannoun, committed to Michigan Tech for the 2015-16 season, said he will be able to help the Vees in the offensive department. In 138 BCHL regular season games, he lit the lamp 41 times and assisted on 61 goals, for 103 points. He has also produced at a near point-per-game clip in the last two playoff seasons, scoring eight goals and finishing with 26 points in 44 games. Hannoun has played in two RBC Cups with the Eagles and last season with the Vernon Vipers. Hannoun also represented Canada as a member of Team Canada West at the 2013 World Junior A Challenge in Nova Scotia. see HANNOUN pg.A12
Available until 10:00 am
ONLY
7
$ 95
1909 Main Street, Penticton, BC • 250-493-0465
PLUS TAX
1. PULL UP TO THE FRONT 2. HONK FOR SERVICE 3. WE’LL BE RIGHT OUT TO SERVE YOU Includes potato medallions and 8oz coffee or tea