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U12 Vipers girls softball team prepares for provincials

U12Vipers

Drumheller’s U12 Vipers are up to bat at their first provincial tournament in Castor on Friday, July 15 and Saturday, July 16.

The girls also just came off of a tournament last Sunday, July 10. The girls lost to Stettler 26-14 and won their second game against Lacombe 21-14.

“We like to think of last weekend as ‘practice provincials’ for the real thing. I think the girls may have been a little asleep in the morning, but really came together in our second game,” says coach Dale Telford.

The U12 Vipers are working on practicing batting and throwing accuracy this week to prepare for provincials.

“The girls really prosper in playing as a team. They all get along and are really quick when playing together. We had Kali Fournier come out and give the girls some tips on catching. We have been working on a little bit of everything this week,” says Telford.

With the provincials right around the corner, the Vipers are prepared to dominate on the diamond.

“The girls are very excited to be playing in provincials. From what I can see, not a lot of them are nervous, but it is hard to tell when dealing with 12 year old girls,” laughs Telford.

They play the Lacombe Matrixs on Friday, July 15 at 11:00 am in Castor.

Cenovus donates to Drumheller Girls Softball Association

cenovus donates

Cenovus Energy donated $1000 to the Drumheller Girls Softball Association through the Cenovus Volunteer Program on Wednesday night.

This program provides grants to organizations where employees donate their time. The amount donated is based on the hours volunteered. Pictured is Craig Stanger, recipient of the grant, presenting the cheque to Dale Telford of the Drumheller Girls Softball Association, and the U12 Vipers girls softball team.

Local athlete qualifies for Alberta Summer Games

Drumheller is well represented in the Alberta Summer Games coming up this week in Leduc.

Payton Zacharuk, 16, is competing in the track and field throwing events. She competed last year in the discus and shotput. This year she qualified for all four throwing events, including the hammer throw and javelin.

“She is the only one in the zone to qualify for all four events,” said mother Elizabeth Zacharuk.

This was an exceptional feat, considering that at last year’s event she tore her ACL and MCL and was not able to take on her usual five days a week training regime.

Payton has been having a strong season. Last weekend she competed at the Midget, Youth and Masters Provincial Championships in Sherwood Park where she won bronze in the hammer throw. The weekend before, she went to the Junior Provincials in Calgary, where she went up an age group to the junior level and won bronze. Her mother Elizabeth competed at the master and won four medals.

This will be Payton’s last Alberta Summer Games, but it is surely not the end of her track and field career. It was just announced that she made the Alberta team for the Western Canadian Tri-Prov Championships. This event brings together the top athletes from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This year the event is in Regina.

The Alberta Summer Games are from July 14-17 and features more than 3,000 athletes of ages ranging from 11-17 competing in 14 different sports.

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