B6 - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 14, 1997 TERRACE STANDARD werner SPORTS aguroics SKEENA ANGLE ROB BROWN XCEPT FOR small suards of off- white snow still clinging to life in the darkest of its shadows, and swaths of red dogwood, the forest is green —— evergreen to radiant green; green in what must be all its forms; green and growing. The ponds that straddle the Kitimat River are open; the river is swollen, clean, and a supple, liquid green. Webb has heard about someone who just drove into the creek, hopped out of his truck and caught three steelhead. I’d been to the creek before (more of river than a creek, actually), That was a day a decade ago when Mike Whelpley and I were nearly swallowed up in what the lady at the marina had assured us were calm seas when we'd phoned an hour earlier. Standing in waders, holding onto my rod with on hand and the gunwale of the pitching boat with the other, watching Mike button up his bright orange, spanking new, UVic survival jacket, is an image that survives clearly in my . memory, We thumped through the chop to Dala, then Kildala, talked to the guardian of the power line then surged across a flat accommodating sea of late afternoon to the estuary of the creck where we caught sea faring dolly varden and a steelhead. That, and a six mile brush whack along in- | distinct, confusing traifs through bear country, were the only way to the river-sized creck in’ those days, and that, folks, is what kept it in- shape. I heard from Rick Shaw, this country’s! frst real fishing guide, that a German gent: guided it once, for a few years, taking his” clientele in by boat. But not much of a coastal ° Stream can be gained that way; the predation ‘was probably minimal. Now there’s a lot of heavy-duty industrial log- ging and an accompanying road, The road, Webb speculated, may be gated, For that reason we took our mountain bikes and Trapper Nel- sons, late of Jones Tent and Awning Manufac- ture. There was a gate. We stuff the obsolete back packs and set out over the sharp stone of a newly blasted road. There are no gentle grades, it seems, on a log- ging road. We grunted up some, then rattled down others. At about two kilometers we meet a gaggle of hikers, who tell us the siream is two kilometers south. Two kilometers iater we cn- counter another group who also tell us the creek is only two kilometers away. Its about five more clicks and two small crecks before we meet an- other soul, a leathery skinned equipment opera- tor with a cigarette that dangles from his lip like a candy cane from the bough of a Christmas tree. “It's two kilometers to the creek,’’ he replies to my query. ‘‘Everyone says that,’’ I teil him, but he Jooks as if he knows, and he does. Exact- ly two kilometers later, from the sign at 9 km to the one at 11 km, we are scrambling over the bank and through a devil’s club flat, berry bushes brushing against our waders, to a tea Stained river. Berries, old trees, a salmon stream. Obviously, this place is a bear cafeteria in the fall. The siream has pockets. It’s quick and loud. The kind of contours that suit oat fishing steel- headers, If there are sea trout around we have a good chance to catch them with our trout rods, but there are none, Near the estuary we meet a party of gear fishers who released a pair of steclhead that moming. There being no use covering water that has had bait floated through it recently, we tum back upstream, where, in a short time, we encounter an athletic looking young man with pale white cyes like a husky’s. He’s standing beside the river, watching a young woman, whom I assume is his girlfriend, fishing. There’s a steclhead on the beach beside him. ‘How'd you get here?’ [ ask. “I drove.’’ In what?” “My pickup, I have a key to the gate,”’ “Can you give us a ride back to it?’’ I im- plore, not relishing the return trip. “Sure,” he says, “I’m leaving soon though,'” _ I’m ready to nominate him for fisherman of the year. We bounce back toward the gate, huddled be- tween our bikes in the back of the pickup. After saying goodbye and thanking Cheryl and Eric, » we climb into Webb’s pickup. - We drive over a pair of creeks thal were once full of salmon, then over the big river which would have very few fish were it not for the ef- " forts of a fish factory. The stench of heavy in- dustry squeezes into the cab. It’s hard to im- : agine the robust little creck we just left, with its small run of steclhead, surviving the road, the logging, and the industrialization that will soon setile into its valley. ' By CRIS LEYKAUF SWEAT BEADS under the eyes ofa slim, blond woman as she kicks at a punching bag. Swack! Her right leg swings around and the top of her foot delivers a blow fo the bag which sends it spinning away. She's one of about 16 people enrolled in a sport new to Terrace --- kick boxing. “It’s grucling, sometimes tortuous, but the results are quick and fantastic,’’ says instructor Tony Rudedge. Formerly the cruiser weight (195-205|bs) champion of Vancouver Is- land, he moved to Terrace two years ago with his wife and two children, During his fighting career he won 32 of his 33 fights, and 30 of those were by knock-outs. Now Rutledge devotes his time to teaching, and he just started his first kick boxing classes here a few weeks ago. Enrollment in his classes is limited as his facility is fairly rustic right now, He teaches in an old barn at the back of his property in Thornhill. Before the class starts, stu- dents climb a steep set of wooden stairs to an old hay loft. They do about 15 minutes of stretches, then the real work begins. “Come on bikini butts,” Rutledge yells as a class of five women, dressed in baggy track pants and shorts, looks ready to drop. One woman’s goal is to feel comfortable in a thong bikini she used to wear. Rut- ledge reminds students con- stantly of their goals. And to egg them on he’s pinned posters of scantily clad women in the stretch- ing area upstairs. Motivation for both the men and women probably, Rutledge usually limits his class size to about four people, so there’s no chance of slacking off. Enroliment is about 60 per cent women to 40 per cent men. Students go through sets where they do kicking, shadow boxing, jumping rope and punching, Skipping rope hard for two minutes seems a lot more difficult than it did when you were a kid. Rutledge uses elements of Muay Thai boxing, Hap- kido, Karate and Tae Kwon Do. It results in what he lerms an extreme sport. *“T can push you as hard as a navy training camp,” he says. Most of his students have joined because they want to lose weight and get in shape. **¥ou can see tremendous gains in three months.”’ But students work for those gains, and suffer through a Jot of yelling. “One more minute! Come on. Work it! Work ii!’ be yelis as he encourages his class to kick higher and punch harder, Rutledge was taught by some of the world champions in the sport when he lived on Vancouver Is- land. “T’'ve sparred with some of the toughest guys in the world,” he says. “And I’ve been knocked out by them too,’’ In his prime, back in 1986-87 he would train three hours a day, Having children took him out of competition though. Now Rutledge trains about one and a half hours 4 day, three to four days a week. He’s not interested in ‘com- peting, but will coach to that level, But few people can make it that far he says, “You have to have the right tools before I’m going to be standing in your comer.’” It’s too early to say whether any of his current students could reach compe- tition levels. Rutledge is also careful about the skills he teaches, He doesn’t want his students to start picking fights. The kicks and punches he teaches can cause serious in- jury, and should only be used for self-defense, But the initial two months Es ick boxer kicks butt WITH A WELL PLACED kick Tony Rutledge sends the punching bag spinning. He's just started classes for people who'd like to laam how to kick box, of physical conditioning he teaches weeds out the guys who just want to be tough. Rutledge has room for only three or four more Putting on the mileage IF THERE was a team medal for traveling the greatest distance, northwestem swim- mers would have picked up gold simply by making the trip to a meet in Cranbrook recently. But members of the Terrace Masters Swim Club did more than well enough in the pool May 3-4 to justify the journey to the East Kootenay city for the Masters Swimming Assaciation of B,C, 1997 Safeway provincial championships. The club placed third overall of the 23 teams from B.C., Alberta and the north- westem United States. There were 93 swimmers taking ‘part. And six swimmers from here won a broad range of medals to make it happen. Joe Mandur, competing in a group of eight in the 60-64 ycar old age category took three first and two third place medals, John Dando, in the 45-49 age category, ‘won two firsts and four seconds. Kevin Kelly, in the very competitive 30- 34 age category at the meeting, won two first place medals, one second and one third. Peter Hepbum took home personal bests in all of his swims in the 25-29 ape category. He was particularly happy with a time of 19:32.48 in the 1500 free event, an improvement of 45 seconds over previous efforts. Michael Homeniuk also set personal bests in his events, taking home three first place medals and one second place medal, The Terrace team also took second in the 200 medley relay and third in the 200 free relay. Club spokesman John Dando said mem- bers were happy with their performance, Dando said having 20-year-olds belong- ing to a masters club may sound strange for other sports, but not for swimming. That’s because swimmers slart at age six or so, and by 17 their competitive careers may be over. “There’s really nothing for them after that,”’ said Dando, Top guns shoot it out high NICK KING of Kelowna proved to be the top gun at a handgun shoot two weekends ago in Terrace, King emerged as match winner on both days of the B.C. Practical Shooters’ As- sociation qualifiers here April 26-27, The matches were two of 14 across the province at which practical handgun shooters —- armed with ed ther revolvers or semi- automatic pistols — aim for scores. . Winners represent B,C, at the Cana- dian championships. The second overall winner on the Saturday after King was Larry Knudsen, of Vanderhoof Third place overall went to Prince George's Gunnar Christensen. Hazelton's Ron Fowler was the top shooter in stan- dard class Saturday using a stock gun, Terrace’s top shooters were Brian McCoy, Mike Wood and Terry Morris, Sarah Morris was first in ‘D" class, beating out Prince George’s Jean Christensen and Terrace’s John Dalcy. On Sunday, Christensen came back taking top spot in ‘D’ class, with Sarah Morris second, Knudsen was again second overall that day, but it was Houston's Robert Tiernan who took third spot. More than 30 competitive practical shooters from as far away as Kamloops shot at the meet. adult students, and then he’s closing the classes until the fall. In late September he hopes to open a new build- ing — one with heat so he can keep going through the winter. Then he'll be able to take on more students, and Start a children’s class. him his best time ever. into the youth nationals. week. ‘wecks ago. British Columbia. finals. breaststroke finals, Swimming along TERRACE SWIMMER Chris Kerman is headed off to the youth nationals the end of the month, taking with Kerman’s time of 1:02.89 in the 100 metre back- stroke — good enough for a bronze — at a meet in Ed- monton recently should seed him in the top 16 going “Our goal is to get him into the finals. To do that he'll have to shave off another 8th or a 9th of a sec- ond,” Terrace Bluebacks coach Mike Carlyle said last Kerman’s journey to the youth nationals in Regina will be the last of his career with the Blucbacks, Now 16, he’s off to Victoria in the fall to train with Olympic coach Ron Jacks. “He'll have the opportunity to train with other people his age who race at his speed,"’ said Carlyle. Kerman was one of a group of Bluebacks who went to the Keyano International meet in Edmonton two A significant annual affair, the meet attracted just over 500 swimmers on 30 teams from Manitoba to In addition to his bronze, Chris Kerman placed fifth in the consoijation finals in the 200 backstroke, Fellow teammate Tristan Brown also did well, taking second in the consolation finals in the 200 butterfly, seventh in the finals in the 100 freestyle, seventh in the finals in the 200 freestyle, seven in the finals in the 50 metre freestyle, a bronze in the 200 medley relay (but- terfly), as well as other consolation placings. Julie Vanderlee placed sixth in the finals in the 200 butierfly, and fourth and sixth in two consolation Bryan Patahicky won a bronze in the 200 medley relay (breast stroke) and placed sixth in the 100 metre Placing third in the consolation finals in the 100 metre breast stroke was Seth Downs. Kyle Narzt won the bronze in the 200 medley relay (back stroke). Carlyle said he bas happy with the swimmers’ per- formance, particularly after they adjusted to the 50 metre length of the Edmonton pool.