SKEENA ANGLER
ROB BROWN

Trout Travels 17

enny knew from experience that the

K next few moments were critical.
This was the time when a fish, out
of its element, drowning in air,
thrashed frenetically.

Man and fish regarded each other. Neither
moved. Kenny stared with awe and admiration:
the muscular beast waited like an automaton for
movement to trigger impulse.

It occurred ta the man that the fish was
marshaling energy that could turn the struggle in
its favour. He yanked impulsively. The fish had
burned so hot during the fight its energy had
turned to ash. Kenny couldn't believe how
easily it slid onto the rocks, how feebly it
flipped.

He put the rod down carefully then pinned
the steelhead with his left hand. Quickly, he
brought the rack down on its head with a sharp

hammer blow. There was a dull thud combined.
with the sound of cartilage splintering. The fish.

shuddered and spasmodically flapped its tail fin
against the rock as its brain cells flickered and
died.

Its pupil was still firmly at the botiom of its:

,eye socket. Kenny socked the fish a second
‘time. Blood oozed out at the place where the
Polar Shrimp held firm. The fish's mouth opened
‘and closed as if it were pleading with its.
assailant, then its pupil moved to centre of its
eye and lost its light.
As life drained from it, the fish turned gray.
For Kenny, the lustre of the experience drained
just as quickly and was replaced by a feeling.of
sick melancholy, Still on’ his:kKnees' he caught

EE,

his breath and recovered. some. strength, ‘He

TERRACE STANDARD

escsn, SPORTS |

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - BS

STEVE Raders, Kyle Wilcox, Natou Kurtz and Shane Spencer did Terrace
proud as they tackled a downhill course last month, JON RODERS PHOTO

Riders pick up speed

FIVE TERRACE mountain bikers battled
it out for tap honours last month as they
navigated technical lines in the second in
a series of summer downhill races.

The McBike downhill series dares ri-
ders to take on challenging, steep down-
hill courses in four different cities across
the northern part of the province. The
Prince George race was the second of the
series and saw Terrace riders nab second
and third place overall best times.

Natou Kurtz took top spat in the men’s
17-21 expert division with a time of
2:43.18. It was also fast enough to place
second overall. Kurtz came in less than
six seconds behind the race’s overall win-
ner Jordan Giesbrecht who’s time was
2:37.63, Giesbrecht is a former Terrace
rider and now lives in Prince George.

Shane Spencer nabbed third place
overall honours with his time of 2:45.06.
That also put him in first place in the
men’s 22-35 expert category.

The men’s 16 and under expert divi-

sion saw two Terrace riders place in the
tap 10. Steve Roders’ time of 3:02.00 was
good enough for fourth place and Kyle
Wilcox came in eighth in 3:35.81.

Suki Spencer competed in the
women’s 22-35 expert division and nab-
bed third place with her time of 3:38.03.

There are two races left in the McBike
series. Next up in the series is the
Shames Mountain Wild Descent Aug. 18.

There'll be more fast-paced, high-adre-
naline downhill action July 21 at Shames
Mountain as the All Season’s Source for
Sports Downhill takes off.

Last year more than 50 competitors
weaved their way through the technical,
root bound course. Registration is at 10
a.m, and racing starts at noon.

It's also the first event of the Terrace
Standard Adventure Challenge 2002 — a°
series of outdoor competitions which dare
participants to take on a variety of sport-
ing events from biking to running to rock
climbing to skateboarding.

Jumpers test skills

638-7283

Sports Scope

Speedway turns 35

IT’S BEEN 35 years since drivers first put the pedal to
the metal at the Terrace Speedway and in less than two
wecks stock car racers and fans past and present are
gearing up for a big celebration.

The Terrace Speedway is hosting the 35th Anniver-
sary Reunion July 20-21. Former drivers, pit crew mem-
bets, track officials and volunteers are invited to come
out and relive the memories and maybe even catch up
with some old friends.

There will be plenty of time for rehashing memories
of race days gone by on July 20 as organizers are hald-
ing a barbecue for reunion participants — but not until
the day’s race event is run,

On that first day of racing — July 27, 1967 — more than
1,000 people came oul to watch the exciting, side by
side oval track racing. And there’s still plenty of room
for just as many people to come out for the Reunion
weekend events.

For details cal! Margo Fleming at 635-6549 or Dawn
Patterson at 635-4110,

' THE TERRACE seniors slo-pitch team is heading off

to the B.C. Senior Games next month representing
Zone 10. They defeated Prince Rupert June 8,

‘They’re out of the park ..

TERRACE’s seniors’ slo-pitch team will be testing its” zk

‘looked at the rock in his hand for a moment
then flung into the river.
He felt haflow and drained. Where was the

BY

ability against other provincial representatives at this ,
year’s B.C. Senior Games in Prince George next month.
The local ball team, coached by Fred Martens, defea-

in gymkhanas

SOM RNET Ty

TAS

elation? He picked up the rod and the cadaver
then made his way back to the camper where he
was suddenly confronted with the dilemma of
what to do with the big fish.

He took the beer and meat from the cooler,
crammed it into the fridge then slid the corpse
into the icy slurry. Its tail and head hung over
the ends. Kenny went outside and opened the
propane bottle. When he returned he decided
not to turn on the heat for the sake of preserving
his fish. After a smoke, he pulled off his waders
and slid into his sleeping bag with his wool
pants still on.

The roar of big rigs amplified by the canyon
and a cold desert wind strong enough to shake
the camper to the point where he worried it
might tapple over, kept Kenny awake most of
the night. When he arose early the next
morning, the sky was clear and shafts of
sunlight were finding their way into the canyon.

He had to move the giant steelhead and its
icy coffin outside in order to find enough space
to make breakfast. Damn thing's always tn the
way, he cursed.

The big fish now dominated his agenda. He
couldn’t cut il into steaks. [f it was as big as he
_ thought it was he would have to have it
" preserved for posterity,

By eight, the steelhead was back in the
camper and Kenny was on the road. He felt like
he was driving a hearse. By eight-thirty he was
pulling into the store at Shaw Springs, A man,
possibly Shaw himself, was picking up a sign

‘that had blown over in the wind. When Kenny

-| ‘pulled the cooler out of the camper, stuck his
. hand under the fish’ gill plate, and pulled the:
dead steelhead from it, the man froze for a few
moments, then trotted over to him.

“Geez, that’s a big fish!” he exclaimed.
“Come on in, We'll put him on scale.”

Kenny’s hand was aching as he hung the fish
on the hook. The red needle spun around the arc. :

“Thirty-one pounds, eight ounces! What a big
fish!”

The man grabbed Kenny’s hand and shook it
as if it was a pump handle. “Where'd ya catch
“im?”

“Goldpan Campsite.” Kenny could see that
.the man was surprised by his tack of
enthusiasm.

“You gonna get him mounted?”

“T guess,” said Kenny.

The man rummaged around in a drawer
behind the front counter, “There’s a guy in
Kamloops does real good work, I got his card
here somewhere. Yeah. Here It is,”

He slapped the card on the counter then tore
a piece of paper from a pad and copied. out the
information. “Len Holtzhausen,..here.”

Kenny took the piece of paper. He lifted his
-fish off the scale, nolicing that its body was stiff
and bent now, and made his way back to the
truck,

To be contin ned.

By Marty Cox
AS THE Totem Saddle
Club’s season progresses
Clear Rounds and Gymk-
hanas are well under way.

Clear Rounds kicked off
the June 23 events with
with seven riders taking
part.

Amy Hayduk took Per-
sia and Terro clear through
all six rounds on each
horse.

Next up was Birke
Schemmerling on Alex
with only one rail down in

six rounds. Cynthia Focker
. was third for the day riding

Kid with two rails down
over six rounds.
Schemmerling and
Focker then went on to
ride two horses each in
the Gymkhana where
Schemmerling nabbed
third place in Senior rings

_on Robin and another third

an

AT. THE OIAMOND
TYLER NOBLE

TERRACE'S 13-15 year-
old All Star baseball team
is getting ready for the up-
coming Babe Ruth provin-
cial tournament in Ques-
nel, July 21-26.

The players were selec-
ted from the three Junior
Babe Ruth house league
teams: Speedee Printers,
Kinsmen, and Terrace and
District Credit Union.

Gearing up for the pro-
vincial tournament the
team has been practising
since the end of May and:
has played exhibition

games against the 16-18 -

in Seniors Barrels on Alex.

As Clear Rounds progr-
€55 more jumpers are par-
ticipating in gymkhanas
and performing well,

Other highlights saw
Senior Lyn Lavoie on
Gizmo edge out Danita
Petch on Tabu in scurries
by 0.5 seconds with an
11.427,

In Keyhole Jr. A rider
Amy Hayduk once again
showed Terro’s speed and
accuracy by completing it
in 8,750 — the fastest time
of the year,

Second went to senior
Jason Rempel on DJ with
a 9.355,

The ring spearing event
- similar to jousting in
days of ald - was won by
master rider Dan Muller in
a on Skip with a time of
9.980,

Brittany Johnson, a Ju-

Making the team

Senior team and Men’s
team (19+).

Using June’s house lea-.
gue games to fine-tune
their skills and techniques,
the players feel they are
now ready to take on the
province.

Most of the 13 youth
have already been to at
least one provincial tour-
nament in the past. Sev-
eral players, including
Codey Latimer who is fea-
tured this week, took part
in 2000 when Terrace hos-
ted the provincials,

In this week’s At the
Diamond special report,
check out feature profiles
for five of the team mem-
bers travelling to Quesnel.

The remaining eight play- .

ers will be featured next
week,

Sean Davidson

Age: 14

Positions: Pitcher, third
base

Previous provincial: 1

House league — team:
Kinsmen

Codey Latimer

nior A rider came in sec-
ond with a time of 13,477.

In flag picking, the rider
pulls a flag on a pole out
of a barrel then-races down
around a stake in a figure
8 pattern, races back and
puts the flag back ia the
barrel.

The fastest time went to
Amy Hayduk on Terro with
9.669 followed by Dan
Muller on Skip with a’
10,322.

The Barrels once again
went to Lyn Lavoie on
Gizmo with a time of
17.205 followed by Dan
Muller
18.494,

Riders are gearing up
for the next Clear Rounds
and Gymkhana set to go
July 21 starting at 9 a.m.

The 2002 Totem Saddle
Club Queen contest also
takes place July 21.

Sean Davidson

’ Codey Latimer
Age: 15
Positions: Pitcher, cat-

cher

Previous provincials: 4
House league team:

Speedee

on Skip with °

ted Prince Rupert in the zone finals here June 8 earning
them the right to represent the zone at the games.

As the games approach local athletes are getting
geared up for great competition. The next monthly meet-
ing for Zone 10 is at the Happy Gang Centre July 13 at
1:30 p.m. Call Bud at 635-9505 for information.

A marathon for you?

RUNNING A marathon can seem like a daunting task
for just about anyone. But for many people walking ina
matathon poses a challenge they just can’t pass up.

The Arthritis Society of B.C. and the Yukon is start-
ing a training program for people interested in running —
or walking - in the Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii this
December.

Joints in Motion is a program designed to raise money
for arthritis. The idea is for people to travel to interna-
tional destinations to walk or run for someone with ar-
thritis. Joints in Motion offers an 18-week training pro-
gram for participants so they can train for the big event.

Last year Terrace’s Debbie van’t Kruis took part in
the program and successfully crossed the finish line at
the Honolulu Marathon. She said it was a once-in a life-
time experience,

For more information about the Joints in Motion pro-

- gram call Christy Sampson at 604 714-5562.

’

BROTHERS Devin, 13, and Tyrall Mikkelsen, 14,
both play ball on Terrace’s 13-15 year old All Star
Baseball team.

Speedee

ond base

Speedee

ond base

Devin Mikkelsen
Age: 13
Positions: Outfield, sec-

Previous Provincials: 0
House League Team:
Speedee

ond base

Previous provincials: 1
House league team: .

Tyrell Mikkelsen
Age: 14
Positions: Outfield, sec-

Previous provincials: 1
House league team:

Tanner Noble
Age: 15
Positions: Outfield, sec-

Tanner Noble