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Zone 5 Pace will go for the gold today against Ontario or Quebec in the U16 junior AA final at the Canadian Ringette Championships in Saskatoon. In the round robin the Ringette Alberta champions finished undefeated in eight games.

Zone 5 Pace will go for the gold today against Ontario or Quebec in the U16 junior AA final at the Canadian Ringette Championships in Saskatoon.

In the round robin the Ringette Alberta champions finished undefeated in eight games. They were the top team defensively with only 14 goals against and the least penalized with 62 minutes.

Ontario ranked second in the standings at 7-1 and Quebec placed third at 6-2. The semifinal between Ontario and Quebec was played Friday afternoon but the score was unavailable at press time.

The zone 5 roster is made up of players from St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan, Beaumont, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove and four pickups from Calgary. The St. Albert contingent of skaters includes co-captains Stephanie Bolduc and Alyssa Cancian, plus Molly Chorney, Jordon Hodge, Kyra Parayko, Sasha Stadnyk and Kennedie Wolosyn.

It’s the second trip to nationals in as many years for Bolduc (first-team all-star defenceman in 2009), as well as Cancian and Parayko on defence and Stadnyk and Wolosyn up front. They skated with zone 5 Snipe, junior AA silver medallists last year in Charlottetown, P.E.I. The second loss of the season for the Snipe was 4-1 in the final to Ontario. In the semifinal, Wolosyn’s third goal of the game was the 5-4 overtime winner against Quebec.

Two years ago, zone 5 Valta didn’t lose a game as the host junior AA team at nationals in St. Albert.

Leading the way offensively for the Pace in the round robin was co-captain Kelsey Hupka of Fort Saskatchewan (7-11-18), Danielle Bechard of Spruce Grove (3-11-14), Wolosyn (9-4-13) and Hodge (11-1-12).

The Pace closed out of the round robin Friday morning with a 7-4 victory over Quebec. Shots were 27-21 for the Alberta reps as they outscored Quebec 4-2 in the last period. Hupka tallied once and added three assists. Wolosyn potted a pair and singles were scored by Kaitlin Hillier of Beaumont, Bechard, Hodge and Paola Romeo of Calgary. Bailey Deschene of Spruce Grove and Stacey Bjornsson of Sherwood Park split time in net.

In Thursday’s 5-1 win over Ontario, shots were 19 apiece as Pace led 4-1 after the first period. Hupka, Stadnyk, Hodge, Wolosyn and Robyn Gillespie of Sherwood Park scored in support of goalie Karen Lefsrud of Calgary.

The winners of the last two St. Albert 10-milers have confirmed they will compete in the 25th annual road race April 18.

Brian Torrance, last year’s champion at 54 minutes and 25 seconds, and Olympic triathlete Paul Tichelaar, the fastest runner in the 2008 race plagued by snow at 56:09, are the pre-race favourites.

Tara Struyk, the top female last year at 61:32 for 18th place overall, will also be back to defend her crown.

Organizers are waiting to hear from Matt Norminton, the course record holder at 50:46 in 2007, if he will be at the start line.

Meanwhile, as of Friday afternoon, 462 runners had registered online at www.eventsonline.ca or by mail. The record for entries is 976 in 1998. Last year 730 runners registered and 651 finished the race.

The 10-mile entry fees are $45 online, $55 mailed in or dropped off at Cranky’s Bike Shop or the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club (SVAC) and $65 on race day at Grandin mall. Race time is 9:30 a.m.

Forms are available at the Tech Shop, Kinsmen Sports Centre, the Running Room, Cranky’s, SVAC and all race sponsors.

This year runners aged 60 and older receive a 20 per cent registration discount. There is also free entry for those who ran all 24 races.

Log onto www.starrt.com for more information.

Volunteers and musicians for the course are still needed. If interested, contact Catherine Buhr at 780-458-0772.

The 10-miler, hosted by the St. Albert Roadrunners and Triathlon Club, is sanctioned by Athletics Alberta and is part of the TIMEX Canadian Road Race Series.

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