SPORTS
Wednesday July 1 2015 The Surrey-Nor th Delta Leader
13
The Surrey-Nor th Delta Leader Wednesday July 1 2015
13
Botham hired to coach KPU basketball ▼ FORMER UNBC ASSISTANT COACH TAKES OVER KPU EAGLES WOMEN’S TEAM RICK KUPCHUK
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) looked to the north in their search for a head coach for its women’s basketball program, and have announced Mandy Botham of Prince George has accepted the job. An assistant coach with the University of Northern BC Timberwolves of Canada West for the past two seasons, Botham takes over a KPU Eagles team which went 7-14 (won-lost) in the 201415 season to place sixth in the eight-team PACWEST (Pacific Western Conference) league. “I am very excited that coach Botham has Mandy Botham accepted our offer,” said David Kent, the director of athletics and recreation at KPU. “I welcome her to the Eagles family and look forward to great success for the women’s basketball program over the coming years.” Botham is also the current head coach of Basketball BC’s under-15 girls team which placed fourth at the 2014 nationals, and has worked in the Performance and Target Athlete Performance programs run by Canada Basketball and Basketball BC. She played at the collegiate level with ▶ “I am very the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves excited that of the Alberta Colleges coach Botham Athletic Conference, winning a bronze has accepted medal at the Canadian Colleges Athletic Assoour offer.” ciation in the 1994-95 DAVID KENT season. “It’s truly an honour to have the opportunity to take this team into the future and be the next leader of this program,” said Botham. “I am fortunate to be given a position to be able to influence and shape young women and future leaders in our community.” Botham will start work with the program this month, and will announce her coaching staff in the coming weeks. Dates are set for two player identification camps on Thursday, July 16 and Friday, Aug. 14. Tryouts are open to any females who will be studying at KPU in the fall. Registration and waiver completion is required, and all registration can be completed on the KPU Eagles women’s basketball website www.kpu.ca/eagles/wbasketball
White Rock Tritons baserunner Dawson Veeneman dives back to first base while North Delta Blue Jays first baseman Braeden Miller fields a throw. The Tritons swept a double header Saturday at Mackie Park. BOAZ JOSEPH
Jays win one in five, fall to seventh place ▼ BC PREMIER BASEBALL LEAGUE TEAM SWEPT BY WHITE ROCK, SPLITS WITH VICTORIA TO FALL BELOW .500 RICK KUPCHUK
Four losses in five games has dropped the North Delta Blue Jays one position in the standings, and one game below the .500 mark as the B.C. Premier Baseball League heads into the final three weeks of its regular season. The Jays dropped to seventh place in the 12-team 18-and-under league with a 1-0 loss to the Whalley Chiefs Thursday evening at Whalley Stadium, then fell below .500 when swept 2-0 and 7-0 by the
White Rock Tritons at home Saturday at Mackie Park. At home again Sunday, the Jays split a double header with the Victoria Mariners, losing 5-2 before posting a 5-1 victory. Now at 15-16 (win-loss) with 13 games to play, the Blue Jays are still on pace to secure a playoff position, although a top four finish which would have them host a best-of-three quarterfinal series is now likely out of reach. North Delta struggled of-
fensively through much of the weekend, starting Thursday in Whalley. The Blue Jays managed just four hits in the loss. Max Kondratowski was effective on the mound for North Delta, not allowing a walk in six innings pitched while striking out three Chiefs batters. Whalley scored an unearned run on four singles. Matthew Poirier went twofor-three at the plate for the Jays, who left eight men on base. North Delta’s offensive struggles continued Saturday, as they had just six hits in the two games against the Tritons and were shut out twice. Mackenzie Marquis was twofor-three and Trevor Gentles had a double in the first game,
but the Jays left three runners in scoring position. Tyler Hoefer took the loss after pitching all seven innings. He allowed one earned run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out six batters. Braeden Miller had a single and a double, but those were the only hits for North Delta in the second game. The Tritons scored their seven runs on 12 hits and a pair of walks. The Blue Jays scored their first runs of the weekend in the first game Sunday against the Mariners. Mackenzie Marquis doubled to score Lucas Naidu from first base, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Poirier. continued on page 14