B4 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 9, 2003 SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN _ ROB BROWN Taimen 13 e’s using that prairie dog for bait!” H exclaimed York, who had a penchant for stating the obvious. The rodent, bigger than a kitten, but smaller than a house cat, was flopping across the surface of the river like a downed water skier with his foot tangled in the tow rope. The cur- rent pulled hard on the black monofilament, bending it into wide arc. The drowned dog sped up and began to splutter. The glassy tail of the glide shattered. Joan gasped as the prairie dog disappeared in a plume of water. “It's like somebody set off a depth charge un- derneath the damn thing,” said Billy. The heavy line peeled from the spool of the Monpol’s spinning reel and hissed through the water, leaving a spume of spray hanging in the air. “Taimen,” Tugsiin said firmly. “Go after him — chase him!” York comman- ded, pointing downstream in an exaggerated manner. Tugsiin Sugar took his eyes off the point far downstream where the line entered the river and shot the American entrepreneur a withering look. It was clear that Sugar regarded a down- stream step as a concession te his quarry. He looked back down river to where his foe had temporarily halted. He planted his feet and leaned back. The stout rod bent double. “Give him some line,” ordered York, appar- ently unfazed by the Mongolian’s silent rebuke. moments earlier. This time Sugar ignored him. “His rod’s going to explode,” Billysaid. . Joan stepped closer to Billy. She took his hand and squeezed it the way she had during exciting moments of the Whitehorse Claim Jumpers’ ‘home games in the Takahini Arena. He looked at her and smiled warmly, her touch rekindling a memory of those first lean but joyous dates. It was a full {5 minutes before Tugsiin began to gain line and bring the fish back, He was per- spiring; his leathery face tight with determina- tion. The great creature came grudgingly. Tugsiin shook under the strain. The beast torpedoed up- stream. The Mongolian cranked the handle so quickly the silver bail on the spinning reel spun like a propeller on a model airplane. Still, he couldn’t keep up. The line went slack. The ten- sion in the angler and his audience tightened. “He's lost it — shoulda chased it,” said York, a trace of disgust in his voice. Moments later Tugsiin had gathered the slack. He tugged with as much strength as he could muster. The taimen tugged with the force of a team of men at a Teamsters’ picnic. The tele- scopic steel relic of a rod jerked violently downward and outward, It was all the muscular little Mongolian could do to hang on to it. The great fish was close. Joan had seen big King salmon in the Kenai, but this giant salmo- nid was larger — considerably larger. Its im- mense brown form appeared momentarily in the shallow water next to a shoal covered in long, green, streaming weeds then turned and disap- peared into the quivering green prisms of the deeper water. Tugsiin’s rod sprang back, erect. The fish was gone. Joan felt relief, then an anxious shiver when she thought of that large treble hook todged in the great fish’s jaw. Tugsiin let the rod dangle, then turned and looked directly at Joan, It was an apologetic gesture, He turned away and looked at the ground. It was if he was em- barrassed, Joan thought, “Too bad," whispered Billy. “[ guess these guys just don't know how to play big fish.” said York imperiously. “They aren’t good listeners either.” “Too bad,” said Billy, louder this time, as he walked up to Tugsiin and patted him on the shoulder. ' The three flyfishers worked their way down- stream for a couple of kilometres without en- countering another giant. There were Lenok ris- ing but they refused the waking deer hair mice. They left early because Billy wanted wanted to be in camp when Lewis arrived. They were back by mid afternoon. Billy opted to read in the ger. Joan took a stroll alongside the river. She heard the whine of a jet engine in the distance. A glint far dowstream turned into a boat. There were three men aboard. The sled roared up. The man at the wheel killed the engine and leaped from ‘the craft, steadied it. Another man handed him the anchor then watched as the pilot splashed ashore and dropped in the soft sand, He looked at Joan, now only a few feet away. She looked at him. Her legs felt as if they would buckle under her. ‘To be continued... TERRACE STANDARD. 638-7283 Splish splash. Five local sw By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN FIVE BLUEBACKS are diving headlong into provincial competi- tion this week as the age group and senior provincial champion- ships get under way. Caitlin Scales, Haley Schmie- del, Edmund Swan, Allison Knoedler and Evan Watson are all competing at the provincials in Kelowna starting this Thursday. “I’m nervous because it's going to be really busy and it will be really hard to get any medals,” says Hayley Schmiedel, 12, who is going to the provincial level meet for the first time. The calibre of competition will be very high, something Schmie- del says is exciting to watch and compete in. Her goal for the meet is to im- prove on her 100 metre butterfly time. She’s sitting at 1:28 right now and though she'd be happy im- proving her time at all, she would be thrilled if she could make the qualifying time for AAA — 1:19. Sixteen-year-old Caitlin Scales is also on her way to her first pro- vincial championships this week- end. “It’lf be fun because there’s lots of fun people going and it’s a really exciting meet,” Scales said, adding she’s looking forward to the opportunity to check out some of the techniques other swimmers use. Seeing some of the province's — top swimmers in action adds. to the excitement, Her goals for the _Ineet ‘are simple. . “Mainly improving or trying to improve some of my times and having the work from the year pay off a little bit,” she says. At 13-years-old Allison Knoed- immers take a shot at the B.C. championships. TAKING THE PLUNGE: Caitlin Scales, Allison Knoedler, Edmund Swan and Hayley Schmiedle (front) are racing at this weeks's provincial swimming championships. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO ler is no stranger to provincial championships and sees it as a chance to log some fast swims. “T’m hoping to final in a couple events -— the breaststrokes, the flies (butterfly events) and the IMs (individual medley). It'll also give Knoedler some extra training as she prepares to go to club nationals. This is the first year club nationals are being held, allowing a wider range of swimmers from across the country get involved in national level competition. Regional ‘level -swimmers wrapped up the competitive sea- son recently competing at the Prince Rupert panhandle classic.. Being the Jast regional ail- level meet of the year it was a last chance for some swimmers to shoot for goals they'd set earlier in the season. she said, Scramble honours Ray Skoglund RAY SKOGLUND lived for golf after he retired, so it’s fitting that his family is holding a memorial golf scramble in his name this weekend. Skoglund, 86, passed away Dec. 30, 2002 in Whiterock, B.C. A longtime resident and business- man in Terrace, his family wanted to do something special and fitting to remember him. “He was just such a golfer,” says his daughter Alice Gellner, adding Skoglund racked up seven holes in one after his 70th birthday. Because Sko- glund passed away in Whiterock, Gellner says her family really wanted to pay tribute to him here. “We knew we had to do a Terrace farewell,” The Ray Skoglund memorial scramble is set for July 12 at the Skeena Valley Golf and Country Club at 12 noon. A celebration of his life will take place at 4 p.m. For details call Alice at 638-0072. her court. fun.” “It should be interesting to see how my horse acts,” she says. “It should be This was the first year Latimer, who has been ri- ding since she was five “It is quite a positive and fun way to finish up - we take the opportunity to do different events than what they always do,” says head coach Mike Carlyle. “Same swimmers had specific goals that they were shooting for, other swimmers it was just an op- portunity to do events not always done at the regional meets.” Some of those events included super short swims - only 25 metres long — which allowed swimmers to work on getting up to speed quickly. Despite being the end of the season two Bluebacks posted 100 per cent best times in all of their events. Emilie Metz- meier, 11, and Jone Wolfe, 9,2 ‘post competitive times and that both swam their best at the meet. - - “They've been doing these events throughout the year and if we continue the progression of getting faster and faster then the contest. She represent the horse to the judge. Contestants are ship - the ability to Outdoor sports series kicks off thi By JESSIE GIES THIS SUNDAY marks the begin- ning of the endurance-testing, thrill-seeking, adrenalin-pumping sports series called the Terrace Standard Adventure Challenge and several local people have al- ready signed up for all the events. Local athlete Lucy Praught was the first to register for the fi- ve-evemt series which kicks off July 13 with the Ruins open water swim at Lakelse Lake. “T'm out to do it to have a lot of fun,” she says. “I'm pretty keen about all events this year.” The second annual series in- cludes open water swimming, downhill mountain biking, off road running, endurance biking and rock climbing. Last year’s men’s and women’s champions Shane and Suki Spen- cer can’t participate this year be- cause of work obligations. But they've put forward two athletes, including Praught, who they think have what it takes to win . “I know shé’s going to win,” Shane Spencer says. “She's got more thirst than anyone right now.” Two years ago Praught weighed more than 230 pounds ~ and stood at the sidelines handing — out water to her husband at races. She had to change her life. JOHN LAMBERT is just one of several local people t aking part in this year’s adventure challenge outdoor sports series. “] decided I was lacking the quality of life my husband had,” she says. After losing more than 100 pounds and. countless hours of training Praught is in great shape, recently competed in her first triathlon and is up for the chal- lenge. She plans to take on the eight-hour biking event single- handedly, though many competi- tors team up for the event. She's not the only competitor the Spencers say have what it- takes to take the series. John Lambert, 22; is also tak- ing on all events, except the open-water swim which he will miss to altend a wedding. : "It’s going to be a challenge physically and mentally," Lam- bert says. “It's also going to be a lot of fun.” The adventure challenge is not only for adults. Two local young people have already registered for every event in the junior (13-16 year olds) and youth (under 12) divisions; Travis Yagelniski, 16, was crowned the 2002 junior champion after competing in ali but one years old, has been old en- ough to enter the queen at various functions for the remainder of the year and helping out with the club's end of the year awards ceremony and banquet. The queen is named based on several criteria. Firstly the judge locks at showmanship - the overall presentalion of the judges on their horseman- swimmers are doing something right,” Carlyle said. Edmund Swan, 17, also had something to celebrate - he broke the Prince Rupert pool record for . the 50 metre butterfly event. He posted a 28.72 in that event . narrowly beating the existing re- cord of 28.87. Swimmers also worked on get- ling into what the Bluebacks call the circle of excellence — a tool to help swimmers get mentally pre- pared for each event. “You step into your circle of excellence and then you step on io the blocks,” says Carlyle. Focussing on success is a key element for swimmers looking to will be put to the test this week- end as five Bluebacks take a shot at age group and senior provin- cials, Latimer named queen of Totem Saddle Club KIM LATIMER, 13, has been named this year’s Totem Saddle Club queen. The 13-year-old is a Ju- nior B rider with the club and earned her crown ri- ding her quarterhorse Raffi. Latimer’s duties include being in the Riverboat Days parade along with saddle and ride the horse. Finally, contestants are judged on their own ap- pearance and that of their horse and a speech about themselves, their horse and their interest in riding. First and second prin- cesses are Amy Hayduk ri- ding Persia and Sarah Rid- ler who rides Jericho. Other members of the court including Aleaza Schmidt and her horse Coco as well as Brooklyn Neys on Maggie. They'll all be in the Ri- verboat Days parade. club also lack, s weekend event in the series. This year he'll do them all and says he’s excited and nervous about the series, “T think there’s going to be more competition this year,” he says, “There’s some fast guys out there.” Yagelniski says the downhill biking event at Shames Mountain July 20 will likely be his best event. The run up Terrace moun- tain for the King of the Mountain footrace July 27 might be the most challenging for him, next to the open water swim. “Pll try my best,” he said, but added that to him, the outdoor sports series is just for fun. And {2-year-old Adam Sarich has thrown his hat in as the first to sign up in the youth division. “The adventure ‘challenge pro- motes sports that anybody can try,” says Sarah Zimmerman, chalfenge organizer, She came up with idea last year after realizing how many sporting opportunities were around the Terrace area which some people thought were not very ac- cessible. Last year the series drew more than 160 competitors, For details or call Sarah Zim- -merman at 638-7283 or check oul the web site al www. terracestandard, com/pages/a dventurechallenge.