Sarah Tamura will be Canada’s lone solo female entry at this week’s ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Slovenia.
The 15-year-old Burnaby skater is looking to build on a successful 2016 spring season where she won the Canadian junior national title, which helped earn her a berth at the ISU World Junior figure skating championships last March in Hungary. Tamura placed 13th with an ISU personal best score.
It was a similar result in her previous ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Latvia in 2015.
It will be her fourth international competition on behalf of Canada.
A former novice national champion, Tamura is one of four skaters who’ll represent Canada in Ljubljana, Slovenia at the fifth event in the 2016-17 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit.
Grizzlies’ sniper starts hot
It’s been a solid start to the new season for the B.C. Hockey League’s Victoria Grizzlies, and Burnaby’s Keyvan Mokhtari is one reason why.
The second-year forward has scored four times in the team’s opening five games, including a pair of clutch shorthanded tallies as the Grizzlies posted a 4-1-0 record. His tally Saturday was Victoria’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to Cowichan Valley.
As a rookie last year, the 5-foot-8 Burnaby Winter Club alum netted 11 goals and 19 assists over 57 games.
“Mokhtari’s a young guy and what he’s doing as an 18 year-old in this league is pretty exceptional. You can see his speed and we’re just learning how to make him his best player still and how to use him in the best way because he is a special player,” Victoria coach Craig Didmon told the Goldstream News Gazette.
Tough bounces for EDC men’
The EDC Burnaby men’s premier soccer team matched up well against the provincial cup champions but were unable to make a lead stick, falling 3-2 to Pegasus FC in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League opener.
While Pegasus struck first, the Burnaby squad replied with two markers, off the feet of Joe Agiba and Amara Toure, to take the lead. The Horsemen countered and claimed the win with a vigorous rally.
Holly throws down hammer
Those wet months of training many moons ago under the gaze of legendary Burnaby Central secondary coach Ken Taylor proved to be an excellent foundation for Burnaby native and Vernon resident Cory Holly.
The 58-year-old Holly will be among the athletes competing this week at the 2016 55+ B.C. Games in Coquitlam.
Holly will be attempting to improve on the 41.19 metres distance he achieved at the recent Americas Masters Games in Vancouver in the hammerthrow.
A multiple title holder in the masters bodybuilding circuit, Holly is competing in the 16-pound hammerthrow and is aiming to beat his personal best of 42.29m.
Khan named showcase mvp
It was a spotlight chance for many of the top B.C. boys basketball players, and Burnaby’s Jiordano Khan made the most of it.
The product of the South Burnaby Metro Club was named the underclassman MVP at the North Pole Hoops Showcase, a three-day camp to identify Canada’s best basketball prospects from Grades 8 to 12.
Khan, who started Grade 10 this month, plays for Burnaby South. The B.C. camp drew nearly 100 players.
