The Leader-Post from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada • 16

Sports 16 The Leader-Post Regina, Saskatchewan Thursday, January 10,1980 Ford wins battle of unbeatens had no option but attempt the shot when Kelln put a guard in front of one of the two rocks she had in the house. "It was tricky," said Rayner. "The ice had been keen but you still had to put something on it." The roles were reversed in the extra end. Rayner had shot rock on the outside circle in the back of the house, partially hidden by a guard. Kelln, with the hammer, attempted to draw for the win but her rock just bit the outside ring at the front of the house.

That gave Rayner the win, by inches. Kelln's sweepers, second Olive Tur-geon and lead Margaret Sklarchuk, stopped bending the brooms for a few seconds, just past the hogline. That probably caused the rock to stop inches short of shot. "It was a good shot," said third Joan Hofos. "We would have had it if I hadn't called off the sweepers.

Stopping for the few seconds took some of the momentum away." "You have to take the good with the bad," said Kelln. "I hadn't attempted a draw shot for quite a few ends. I was playing mostly takeout. But you still have to admit it was a good game." An interesting footnote to the match up was that Rayner and company earlier eliminated the Kelln foursome in competition for a city playdown berth out of the Highland. But the rinks in the Regina Bonspiel are concerend with gaining a berth into the remaining finals.

Altman qualified for the T. Eaton championship game by defeating Joanne Hennie of the Callie 9-6. Crooks beat Irene Hakl of the Callie 12-4 in the other semi-final. After Wednesday's play, Ford was the one to catch in the grand aggregate race. But, there's a full slate of curling today which means the situation can change.

Results of Wednesday's games can be found on Page 19. prt-l feKSMr' rfe VV-J 5' I Is 111 Varga pulls Pats within range of top By Dave Senlck L-P Sports Writer The elimination process ran its course Wednesday in the Regina Ladies' Bon-spiel. Monday, 128 rinks started the competition, all with a clean slate. But, by last night, the field was pared down to just one rink with a perfect slate. Anita Ford and her contingent from Gray defeated the Brenda Forner foursome of the Cal-lie 4-2 to remain the only undefeated rink.

The victory also gave Ford claim to the Laurie Artiss Event title. Another final was held at the Tartan last night. Marilyn Schandor of the Highland edged clubmate Ann Kelln 7-6 in an extra end to win the Molson Brewery, Event. The T. Eaton Event final is scheduled tonight at 6:30 at the Tartan when Kay Crooks' Woodrow rink meets Susan Alt-man of Foam Lake.

Finals in the other events will be held Friday at 1 :30 p.m. at the Callie. Ford and Forner entered last night's Laurie Artiss final as the only undefeated rinks, at 6-0. Forner's status changed in the 10th end. She was heavy with a shot that slid between the only two rocks counting, both belonging to Ford.

Forner's shot went through the house and it was the signal to shake hands. Ford entered the end leading 4-2 and had the two shots counting with Forner having only one rock, the hammer, remaining. Ford, along with third to lead. Randi Kelly, Susan Pearce and Nelda McDonald, held a 2-1 advantage after the third end and never relinquished the lead. "It was a well-curled game," said Ford.

"Once we got up, we simply tried to keep the house clean." Ford had advanced to the final by defeating Ev Krahn of the Regina Club 8-5 while Forner, with Jan Betker, Linda Tanner and Bonnie George, downed Twyla Widdified of the Regina 9-6. Usually, Ford plays third on a rink skipped by Crystal Brunas but Brunas was unable to attend the bonspiel due to work commitments. That left Ford in charge and, as evidenced by her record, she's getting the job done. Jesse Rayner also got the job done last night. Rayner skipped the rink that beat Kelln.

That is her normal position with the group but Schandor entered the foursome under her name. Lorraine Flaman plays third, Schandor second and Rosalind Veitch throws lead rocks. Kelln led 6-5 entering the 10th end of the Molson final. Rayner had last shot and, with it, drew to the four foot to tie the game, forcing an extra end. Rayner A goal by Brian Varga at 1:33 of overtime pulled Regina Pats to within six points of first place in the Western Hockey League's Eastern Division standings.

Varga's second goal of the night lifted the visiting Pats to a 5-4 win over the Calgary Wranglers. Calgary leads the East with 56 points while Regina has accumulated 50. Ron Flockhart assisted on the overtime goal to extend his consecutive-game point-scoring-streak to 31 which ties Bernie Federko's mark, third highest in WHL history. Bill Derlago holds the record of 37 games and Jim Gustaf-son's 33-game string is second. Federko accomplished his feat with Saskatoon Blades, Gustafson with Victoria Cougars and Derlago with Brandon Wheat Kings.

Darren Bobyck, Doug Wickenheiser and Brent Pascal added a goal apiece for the Pats who were assessed six of nine minor penalties and two of four majors. Calgary also received a game Sheldon Currie second goal, at 18:56 of the third period, sent the game into overtime. Blair Peebles and Kelly Kisio added a goal apiece for the losers. The clubs were tied 1-1 and 3-3 by periods. Wrangler goalie Warren Skoro-denski stopped 33 shots while Bart Hunter made 24 saves for Regina.

Hunter also collected an assist, the third consecutive game in which he's accomplished the feat. Pats now return to the Agridome for a two-game series, Friday and Sunday against Portland Winter Hawks. It will be the first apperance of Portland in Regina this season. The Pats could have a new player for those games. The deadline for finaliza-tion of rosters and trading in the WHL is today at midnight.

Rumors have been circulating and one suggests that the Pats could acquire the services of defenceman Ian Tennant from the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades are in the market for help on their forward lines. Leader-Post photo by Roy Antal McConachie happy with nationals plan Brenda Forner glances over Anita Ford's shoulder in the final of the Laurie Artiss event Time here for Cougars to produce tering five goals and 18 assists along with 103 penalty minutes, most of those statistics being accumulated with the Blues. The basketball Cougars may get an indication of how far they have progressed since the early part of Novemeber when their play was rather erratic. During that spell the Cougars were whipped soundly by Winnipeg Nicolett Inn, the class of Canadian senior basketball, and split two games with the Regina Plainsmen.

The Cougars will get another crack at Nicolett Inn and the Plainsmen this weekend. Rounding out the field for the tournament is the Edmonton Express. The round-robin tournament ill begin Friday night at 7:30 with the of meeting Nicolett Inn. The basketball Cougetles's games in Minot, along with another at home next Wednesday against UND-Williston, will be their final tuneups for the remainder of the GPAC season in which they have lost all four of their contests. Sharon Douglas, who has seen little duty because of a recurring knee ailment, flew to Toronto this week for the final fitting of a special knee brace.

The brace is expected to relieve much of the pain and pressure on the joint, but as for this weekend, Douglas is a doubtful starter. Nor'Westers prospects have brightened with the return of coach Dave Siciliano, who served as athletic director at Lake-' head last year after leading the Nor'Westers to second place and the conference final the season before. "The trademark of Dave's teams has been their superb physical condition," said Higgs. "Considering they've only made four or five changes in. their lineup and the better coaching they should be getting over last season, they'll be tough to beat.

And since they lost to Calgary Dinosaurs 4-3, the same as we did, we'll try to treat them with as much respect as possible." For the first time in three months, Higgs has a healthy cub on his hands. The sole question mark is defenceman Kevin Nagel, who seems to be in good shape after injuring his ankle twice last semester. While the ankle has come around, Nagel's conditioning may still be lagging after his layoff. Nagel's status, as well as those extra players available now that everyone can skate, won't be decided until the weekend. i The Cougars added another player over the holiday break, defenceman Don Henry, who played last season with the Regina Pats and Regina Blues, regis The time for rationalizing is over within the hockey camp of the University of Regina Cougars.

For two months, the Cougars could afford to get away with some inconsistent and uninspired performances because all but four of their 17 games were exhibitions. No more. Starting this weekend, every game until the first week of March will mean points in the standings of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Regina meets the Lakehead University Nor'Westers Saturday night at 8 and Sunday afternoon at 2, both games in the Agridome. Three other of teams are in action this weekend.

The basketball Cougars will take part in the Molson Plainsmen Classic along with three senior teams at the university gym Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The basketball Cougettes will be on the road for games Friday and Saturday against the University of North Dakota at Minot, and the wrestling Cougars will be in Edmonton for the University of Alberta's Golden Bear Invitational. While the hockey Cougars were struggling their way to an over-all record of 8-7-1 before the New Year, there seemed to be an attitude among the players that losses could be sustained at that point because it wouldn't be until January that they really had to win. It wasn't an attitude coach Reg Higgs was particularly fond of, but it was there nonetheless. And sure enough, January has come and the Cougars have to win- "It's predominant in my mind that we've reached the point where winning is essential," says Higgs.

"Every game is a must-win situation as far as I'm concerned now. Maybe if we get four points up on the rest of GPAC we can relax a bit, but we have to get the points now." The interlocking series between GPAC and Canada West conference teams earlier this season leave the Cougars with a disappointing 1-3 record heading into this weekend. That series left most of GPAC on the losing side of the ledger. More important, it showed just who would be the Cougar's main challengers as they shoot for their third straight conference title. Manitoba Bisons, who would have finished first last season had it not been for a surprising collapse on the season's final weekend, are solid contenders once again.

Brandon Bobcats, by virtue of their 2-2 mark against Canada West teams, must also be considered strong candidates to challenge the Cougars. Lakehead, on the other hand, is the league's dark horse despite going 0-4 against Canada West clubs. The precedent is not binding and teams can be rearranged. Under that guideline, should the Cougars win the GPAC championship, they will be pooled with the Canada West and Quebec champs. The other pool will be made up of the champions from Ontario and the Atlantic along with a wild card team chosen by the CIAU.

If another team wins the GPAC title, the Cougars will move to the other pool as the wild card team. One problem the hockey nationals have always had is the domination of the Toronto Blues and Alberta Golden Bears. Alberta has won the last two national titles while Toronto took 12 of the 13 before that, and the two have repeatedly faced each other in the sudden-death final game. That may not be the case this year foe the simple reason that those two perennial powerhouses will have their hands full just making it to Regina. "Other teams are catching up to Toronto and Alberta," said McConachie.

"McMaster and Guelph are giving Toronto a run for it in Ontario and Calgary is having a real fight with Alberta in Canada West. It's not just because Alberta and Toronto have some of their best men playing for the Olympic team. That's not really the answer. The challenge is there and teams are responding to it." Toronto and Alberta aren't the only traditional powers under fire within their conferences. St.

Mary's, which was upset by Dalhousie for a national berth last year after a decade of dominance, is in the unaccustomed spot of last place in the Atlantic while Dalhousie and Monc-ton are contesting first place. In Quebec, perennial tit list Concordia is being dogged by the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres. And, of course, the Cougars are by no means in the driver's seat in GPAC with Manitoba and Brandon threatening to deny them their third straight conference championship. The difference for the Cougars is that they've already secured a berth among the final six. F'or everyone else, it's shaping up to be a light to the finish.

For all the problems the University of Regina is having in its efforts to attract fans to its Cougar hockey games, a high-ranking official of the Canadian Interun-iversity Athletic Union doesn't show any pessimism towards the of R's staging of the national university hockey championship in March. In fact, CIAU assistant executive director John McConachie showed little but optimism on that subject Wednesday morning at a press conference called by the of to announce the draw of the hockey nationals. Last March, when the Cougars drew nearly 9,000 spectators for the two games of their Great Plains Athletic Conference final against Manitoba Bisons, the prospect of putting ort the nationals seemed timely indeed. But this season, with the resurgence of the Regina Pats in junior hockey, the Cougars have fallen by the wayside, averaging only about 400 patrons per contest. That does not necessarily mean the nationals will be played before a vast expanse of red seats.

In any case, it is important to note that the sudden massive interest accorded the Cougars wasn't the CIAU's only reason for granting the of the right to stage the nationals March 13-16 in the Agridome. For one thing, this part of the country was due. "The nationals haven't been held in the 'near West' since 1965, when the University of Manitoba hosted them," said McConachie. "The fans in Regina were drawn to university hockey last spring. Another consideration was the success of the program here.

And finally, the job the of did in hosting the women's basketball nationals last year had a lot to with the decision. "The selection is also based on the tradition of hockey in an area. We had no hesitation in accepting Regina's bid. "I definitely expect the fans to be treated to excellent hockey. It's a biased opinion, but I think the college game is better than junior.

There's no doubt in my mind. And the spectators will see the top six teams in Canadian university hockey." Just who five of those six teams will be won't be known until a week before the event. The Cougars, as host club, automatically have a berth in the nationals, although in what role will also remain unknown until the GPAC playoffs have ended. The six teams are divided into two pools. In past years, they have been divided by the ranking of the conference, 1-3-5 in one pool and 2-4-6 in the other.

While the university is proceeding by this structure for the time being, the Robinson, Pryhitka head to nationals In order to qualify for the trip to Kit- chener, the skaters had to place among the top four in their event at the Western Canadian championships last fall in Co-quitlam, B.C. Hatton and Hawkcs placed fourth in novice dance. Robinson and Pryhitka, who were compentent enough to earn-a third-place finish in novice pairs in Coquitlam. have been working together for three seasons. Last summer, they were chosen to attend a national seminar in London, Ont.

In charge of tutoring Robinson and Pryhitka are Fred Hawryliw of Regina and Denisc Willis of Yorkton. This will be the first appearance in the Canadian championships for all four skaters. Saskatchewan will be represented by four skaters in the Canadian Figure Skating Championships planned for Wednesday through Saturday in Kitchener, Ont. Leslie Robinson and Ernest Pryhitka, who belong to both the Yorkton and Regina figure skating clubs, will take part in novice pairs. And Daryl Hatton of Regina and his partner from Victoria.

Carrie Hawkcs, will display their skills in novice dance. The reason Hatton has at his side a partner from the West Coast is simply because that's where ho has been training for the past five months. The pair has been receiving instruction from WestwtMtd, a five-time world ice dance champion. Sports Index) Kings have hearing problem page 17 Pelen the star page 18 Scores and stats page 19 Leslie Robinson Ernest Pryhitka i.