Local Sports

If bigger is better, the New Westminster Salmonbellies used last week’s junior draft to get closer to where they want to be.

New players and returning players showed that growing together over a long season can have its crowning moment.

They entered as underdogs but came out champions. The New Westminster boys field lacrosse team captured the tier 1 under-15 title 10 days ago, on the strength of some stellar netminding and excellent team play.

The New Westminster Hyacks corralled the Burnaby-New West junior girls championship title with a 48-28 victory over the Burnaby South Rebels last week.

Emily Chilton picked up a well-deserved gold in the 800-metres, leading the medal haul for the Royal City Track and Field Club at the Van Ryswyk Indoor Invitational in Kamloops last week.

New Westminster’s Nina Schultz added seven centimetres to her indoor high jump personal best, clearing 1.75m at the Harry Jerome Indoor Games last week in Richmond.

The New Westminster Hyacks are one-win away from clinching a berth to next month’s B.C. AAA senior girls basketball championships in Langley.

To hear Ernie McLean’s story – or ‘Punch’ to his legion of friends and acquaintances – it sounds like a Canadiana tale as told by Jack London. A builder, a pilot, a prospector, and a darn good hockey man.

An incredible comeback spurred the Douglas College Royals women’s basketball team past the Columbia Bible College Bearcats 65-60 on Saturday.

New Westminster’s Jeff Schiebler paced a lot of races during his middle- and long-distance running career. Now the two-time Olympian is joining a distinguished group as the University of B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inducts a trio of athletes for 2016.