Journal file photo
Hundreds of tons of sand will transform Minnesota Street into beach volleyball courts for 88 teams and thousands of spectators at the third annual Spikin’ In The Street Sand Volleyball Tournament Friday and Saturday.

NEW ULM — Much of downtown New Ulm will become eight sand volleyball courts and sand wrestling mats for the third annual Spikin’ In the Street.

The Rolling Thunder Sand takedown wrestling tournament starts at 6 p.m. on Minnesota Street sand Friday. Age divisions are kindergarten through grade 12.

Rolling Thunder board member Shanna Kent said 38 male and female wrestlers from the Twin Cities to Wabasso were entered in the tournament as of late Monday afternoon.

New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Sarah Warmka said the Rolling Thunder wrestling club asked if they could participate in Spikin’ In the Street after last year’s event.

“They wanted to be part of the fun. It sounds fantastic. Why not use the sand for another thing?” said Warmka.

She said 60 to 70 dump truck loads of sand will be dumped on Minnesota Street Friday.

It’s a rain or shine event barring lightning or a tornado.

Volleyball games begin at 7 a.m. Saturday and continue until about 10:30 or 11 p.m.

Warmka said a number of volleyball teams from New Ulm and Mankato are entered plus teams from Lafayette, Sleepy Eye, Morgan, Redwood Falls, Stewart, Sioux Falls, Hutchinson, St. Cloud, Plymouth, St. Louis Park, St. Paul, Vadnais Heights, Dakota City, Ne., Madison Lake, Eagle Lake, Duluth, Mapleton, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Faribault, Jackson, Truman, St. James, St. Bonifacious, even as far away as Crestview, Fl.

Division B champion Team Thrivent of New Ulm returns this year.

There are cash payouts for all levels of play. The event is sponsored and planned by many local businesses. Funds raised will go to promote New Ulm and the New Ulm Business & Retail Association, a committee of the New Ulm Area Chamber of Commerce.

Warmka said she doesn’t have a figure on the amount of business the tournament brings to town but said it has a significant economic impact.

“We know our restaurants, bars and stores will be busy this weekend. The big picture is big events like this help businesses recruit and retain employees,” said Warmka.

Spectators are welcome. Bring a lawn chair. No coolers will be allowed. Food and beverages will be available for purchase on site.

Six food trucks will be downtown Friday–Legacy BBQ, Lola’s, Simply Made Right, Sleepy Bison Grill, Ruhland’s Strudel Haus and The Sugar Shack.

Ten food trucks are scheduled for Saturday–Jersey’s Food Truck, Legacy BBQ, Lola’s, NU Franklin Mobile, Reve Coffee Co., Sleepy Bison Grill, Chick-fil-A, Pronto Pups, Ruhland’s Strudel Haus and The Sugar Shack.

Downtown bars and restaurants have extended their liquor licenses into the street. The alley near the B & L Bar is a designated smoking area.

Warmka said volunteers are still sought for the tournament.

For more information, call the Chamber at 507-233-4300, email chamber@newulm.com or visit www.newulm.com.

By Martin Cleary

Gold. Gold. Gold.

There’s no more succinct way to describe Isabel Lowry’s three-race performance during her International Canoe Federation world U23 and junior sprint canoe championships debut in Montemor-O-Velho, Portugal.

Whether paddling solo, in a double or a four, the Carleton Place Canoe Club junior paddler experienced a 10-month goal with her own determination and execution as well as sharing it with her Canadian teammates.

A former member of the Carleton Place Water Dragons swim club, Lowry and Amelie Laliberte of Otterburn Canoe Club combined to win the women’s junior C2 200-metre final on Saturday in 46.05 seconds. They defeated China by a decisive 1.52 seconds.

The championships concluded Sunday and Lowry continued her gold rush. In the C1 200-metre final, she held off powerful Ukraine paddler Yelyzaveta Vozniuk with a time of 49.31 seconds. Vozniuk stopped in 49.54 seconds, while American Audrey Harper was third in 49.57 seconds.

About 20 minutes later, Lowry, Laliberte, Grace Theunissen of the Banook Canoe Club and Madeleine Beauregard of the Rideau Canoe Club worked in unison, found another gear late in the race and scored a comeback victory in the C4 500-metre final in 1:56.98.

The team from Ukraine was 1.64 seconds back in second place, while powerhouse Hungary took third at 1.71 seconds behind the Canadians.

Lowry, 17, labelled her world championship experience ‘surreal,’ according to an International Canoe Federation press release.

“It’s so amazing to have these feelings and to share it with my family and community from my country. It’s great,” said Lowry, who had a loud cheering section led by her mother.

“I was feeling confident coming into today. The competition for the 200 metres was insane, but the C2 gold yesterday (Saturday) definitely helped me. There was only a 20-minute turnover for the C4, but it turned out to be awesome.”

Pat Lester, who has coached Lowry for the past six to seven years at the Carleton Place club, set his alarm early to anxiously await and watch his athlete’s medal races on the Internet.

“It was pretty emotional,” said Lester, who has invested a lot of time as head coach with his athletes. “It’s rewarding. I was tearing up. I got goosebumps.”

After the end of the 2024 season, Lowry sat down with Lester to not only review her latest year on the water, but also to look ahead to 2025. She finished strong with gold medals in the women’s U17 C4 over 200 and 500 metres at the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Szeged, Hungary, which is considered the mecca for sprint canoe racing in the world.

The Olympic Hopes also is seen as a precursor to the world junior championships.

By winning double gold at Olympic Hopes, Lowry figured she could make a statement at this year’s world junior championships by winning a medal. But the gold medal was in her vision.

“I believed Izzy would be in a fight for a medal. I was confident. But you don’t know at this age about the competition,” Lester said.

“We knew about the European champion from the Ukraine, the girl from China and there were some unknowns. But I was confident she had the ability to put herself in the conversation for medals.”

Lester didn’t apply to Canoe Kayak Canada to be one of the coaches for the national team to the U23 and junior worlds in Portugal. He had planned to do that for the 2026 worlds, when Lowry was in her second year of junior eligibility and possibly achieving her first gold medal at that time.

“There are a lot of contributing factors (to her success),” Lester said about Lowry, who will enter Grade 12 at Notre Dame Catholic High School in Carleton Place in September.

“In the last eight months, we’ve had preliminary meetings, and she has increased her focus on the quality of workouts and has taken care of herself (nutrition, sleep, etc.). She has an awesome training group. The athletes make it easier for each other to get up at 5 a.m. for practices.”

When Lowry and her peers aren’t doing off-season strength and conditioning sessions at the club, they also are cross-country skiing on the Gatineau Hills trail system.

Lowry, Evie McDonald and Dyllan Redwood-Wheeler were welcomed home Monday night at the Ottawa international airport by a group from the Carleton Place Canoe Club.

The club’s annual Pep Rally will pay special attention to Lowry’s success as well as the paddling of McDonald and Redwood-Wheeler, who made three and two A finals respectively.

The success of Lowry and her canoe companions allowed Canada to finish in a tie for second place in the Nations Cup standings for juniors. Canada had three gold and one bronze medals.

In the U23 standings, Canada tied for sixth place with seven other nations with one gold medal, which was delivered by Toshka Besharah of the Rideau club. She won the women’s K1 200 metres in 41.76 seconds by a 0.69-second margin over Italy. She also was eighth in the 500-metre final in 2:02.11.

McDonald and Ruby Muhl of Rideau formed half of the women’s U23 C4 boat, which was fifth over 500 metres in 1:58.14. As a double, they were eighth in the C2 200 metres in 50.36 seconds and ninth in the C2 500 metres in 2:14.49.

Muhl ended her championships with Rideau’s Peter Bradley in the C1 U23 mixed relay over 5,000 metres. They placed sixth in 24:45.67.

Redwood-Wheeler and Frederick Brais of Rideau were fifth in the men’s K4 junior 500 metres in 1:30.98 and eighth in the K2 500 metres in 1:39.67.

In other A finals, Callie Loch of Rideau placed fifth in the women’s K2 U23 500 metres in 1:50.09 and Kate Osborne of Rideau was eighth in the women’s K4 junior 500 metres in 1:47.72.

UNBELIEVABLE ROUNDS OF GOLF PLAYED ON LOCAL COURSES

There have been plenty of phenomenal golf performances in Ottawa and area over the past several days from back-to-back holes-in-one to back-to-back 59s to a round of golf that destroyed a pair of records.

Playing on their home Greensmere Golf and Country Club course, Lyle Alexander and Jim Read needed only a single shot each to tame the 154-yard, 12th hole on the Premiere layout.

Alexander was the first in his foursome to hit on the 12th hole and stroked a perfect shot for the seventh career hole-in-one in his 65 years of golf. When the initial excitement died down, Read followed with an equally magnificent shot for his first career hole-in-one, which he said was his equivalent of running a four-minute mile.

“It’s now my turn, and I said ‘Well, this is a tough act to follow,’” Read told CTV Ottawa. “So, I pulled out my trusty wedge, landed it and all of a sudden my ball disappeared. It landed on top of Lyle’s. We were still celebrating Lyle’s when mine went in.”

As Read’s ball was rolling towards the hole, someone in the group said, “No way.” Yes, way.

“We were in absolute shock,” Alexander said about back-to-back aces. “Jim was in shock. It was his first hole in one. I was so excited for him. He was extremely happy.”

The odds of making a hole in one on a par 3 hole are 22,500 to 1, according to Hole in One International. But the odds of making two holes-in-one back-to-back on the same hole are 156,250,000 to 1.

The Commissionaires Ottawa Open presented by Lepine Apartments featured even more rare golfing moments. A pair of up-and-coming Americans carded two unbelievable rounds of 11 birdies, one eagle and six pars for matching scores of 13-under-par 59 at the Eagle Creek Golf Club.

On Saturday, Philip Barbaree Jr. eagled the 18th hole to break the course record and register the second 59 in PGA Tour Americas history. That rare round put him on top of the leaderboard entering the final day of the 72-hole tournament.

Brett White was seven strokes behind Barbaree at the start of the fourth round, but his magical play produced a second Ottawa Open 59 and left him in a three-way tie for first place after 72 holes.

In the three-player playoff with Americans Danny Fisher and Nathan Frank, White marked birdie four on the 18th hole both times for the title and the $40,500 first prize.

Isaiah Ibit of Camelot Golf and Country Club was the only amateur in the field. He tied for 58th place with four consecutive rounds of three-under 69 for a 276 total. It was the first pro-am tournament for the Kent State University sophomore.

Ibit is in a six-way tie for sixth place, after the opening 36 holes of the 120th Canadian men’s amateur golf championships, shooting matching rounds of two-under 68 at Rivermead on Monday and the Royal Ottawa on Tuesday for a four-under 136 total. He is two strokes behind leaders Jager Pain of Woodbridge (66-68-134), Ryan Vest of Vernon, B.C. (67-67-134) and Andre Xhu of Richmond Hill, ON, (63-71-134).

On the opening day of the Canadian men’s amateur, Quebec junior men’s champion Thomas Grenier of Thetford Mines was in a record-breaking mood.

Grenier’s eight-under par 62 (six birdies and one eagle) not only lowered the Rivermead club record by three strokes, but also was the lowest single-round score ever recorded at the national men’s amateur championship. The previous best of 64 was achieved multiple times.

OTTAWA ULTIMATE TEAMS DOUBLE UP TITLES AT HOME MASTERS NATIONALS

Local teams swept the open and women’s divisions to win hometown crowns at the 2025 Canadian Ultimate Masters Championships at UPI Fields in Manotick.

The STILL team had a relatively smooth run to the championship game of the open division with five wins by at least four points, but needed a dramatic finish to win gold over AFC Carbon. Trailing 13-11, the local side scored the final three goals of the match, with Scott Westwell tossing the tournament winner to Greg Ellis. Ellis and Karl Loiseau led the scoring for STILL, which received goals from two dozen different players.

A balanced attack was also key to StellO’s victory in the women’s division, and the championship game was their closest match as well when the local team prevailed 11-8 over Sage.

OT LOSS GIVES ONTARIO NATIONAL WOMEN’S U18 FOOTBALL SILVER

Ontario won the silver medal at the U18 women’s national tackle (6 vs. 6) football championship in Calgary, after losing 27-19 to Alberta in overtime.

The Ontario roster had five players from Ottawa: quarterback Maelle Parthenais, offensive lineman Julia Beumer and defensive lineman Taylor Hodges, all from the Cumberland Panthers, and receiver Qiawna Grant and defensive lineman Sagu Eke, both from the St. Joseph High School Jaguars.

Ontario reached the final defeating Alberta 21-10 in its first game and Saskatchewan 43-26. Parthenais ran 73 yards for a touchdown against Saskatchewan.

OTTAWA PLAYERS ATTENDING HOCKEY CANADA TRYOUTS

Three OHL major junior A hockey players from Ottawa are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the world junior summer showcase, which will help the Canadian coaching staff determine the roster for the 2026 world men’s junior championships Dec. 26 to Jan. 5 in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Defencemen Henry Mews of the Sudbury Wolves and Owen Protz of the Brantford Bulldogs and forward Cole Beaudoin of the Barrie Colts were named by Hockey Canada to its roster of four goalkeepers, 12 defencemen and 20 forwards for scrimmages and exhibition games against Finland, Sweden and the United States.

Hockey Canada has invited five players with Ottawa connections to its national women’s U18 selection camp Aug. 6-9 in Calgary. The final team will compete at the 2026 world U18 championships Jan. 8-18 in Sydney and Membertou, N.S.

Aiming to make the team are forwards Maggie Hughson of Ottawa U22 Elite, Aniston McCrann of East Ottawa U22 Elite and Jaylee MacKinnon of Clark’s Harbour, N.S. and East Ottawa U22 Elite as well as defenders Avery Jones and Kate Viel, both from Ottawa U22 Elite.

University of Ottawa head coach Alison Domenico has returned as head coach of the Canadian women’s development hockey team for a second straight season. She will lead the team in a three-game national series against the United States in Lake Placid, New York, from Aug. 13-16.

END NOTES

· Skate Canada’s NextGen team has 44 singles, pairs and ice dancers, including Reese Rose of Gananoque, who trains with Darlene Joseph of the Gloucester Skating Club and Ottawa’s Brianna Dion, who is paired with Jacob Cote of Halifax. Former Nepean Skating Club athlete Paul Parkinson is the coach for women’s singles skaters Hannah Quinn of Toronto and Lulu Lin of Mississauga.

· Canada’s women’s field hockey team will play for fifth place at the Pan American Cup in Montevideo, after finishing 1-2 in its preliminary pool games. After blanking Paraguay 7-0, the national team lost to defending champion Argentina 4-0 and Uruguay 2-0. Canada reached the fifth-place match, following a forfeit win over Trinidad and Tobago. Ottawa midfield player Kenzie Girgis and goalkeeper Rowan Harris of Ottawa are on the Canadian roster.

· Brooklyn Plomp of the Capital Wave has been named to the Canadian women’s junior water polo team for the World Aquatics women’s U20 water polo championships Aug. 10-15 in Salvador, Brazil. Canada will play South Africa, China and Australia in its preliminary pool.

· The Ottawa-Nepean Canadians will have three players in the 14U minor Canadian Premier Baseball League prospects game on Sunday in Dorchester, ON: pitcher Dante Sacca and outfielder Teddy Rouleau on Team Black and infielder Matteo Akowe on Team White.

· Adam Griesbach of the Ottawa Rowing Club at the Canadian men’s eight team finished sixth in the B final for 12th overall at the 2025 World Rowing Under-23 Championships in Poland.

Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for 51 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly “High Achievers” column for the Citizen/Sun.

When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers “Stay-Safe Edition” to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.

Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.

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OSHKOSH, Wis.- The two-time defending NCAA Division III long jump champion and division record-holder in both the indoor and outdoor events, Joshua Rivers (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) will compete at the USA Track & Field (USATF) Outdoor Championships on Friday (Aug. 1).
 
The USATF Outdoor Championships, the second national meet of the year for Rivers following his fifth-place performance of 7.96 meters at the indoor championships in Staten Island in February, will be hosted by Division I Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene between Thursday and Sunday (July 31-Aug. 3) and will be broadcast both live and on demand on NBC. The live stat
 

“We are all extremely proud of Josh and all that he has accomplished with the program in his career,” stated head men’s and women’s track and field coach Justin Kinseth. “Josh is one of very few student-athletes that can say they have won four individual national titles and competed at two USATF championships as a collegiate athlete. He is a shining example of the continued excellence of both our track & field program and our athletics department in Oshkosh”.
 
The men’s long jump is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. pacific time (6:10 p.m. central) on Friday.
 

Rivers set both the indoor and outdoor Division III long jump records this season at a pair of home meets. He leapt 8.13 meters at the Early Bird Open & Multi on December 7 and 8.04 meters at the WIAC Outdoor Championship on May 2. The now four-time individual national champion with two indoor titles and a pair of outdoor crowns over the last two seasons, is the only long jumper in Division III history to surpass the eight-meter mark.
 

When asked about what it means to be able to compete at such a high-profile meet, Rivers said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to represent UW-Oshkosh track & field at the USATF Championship for the second time this year after competing at the indoor championship in Staten Island back in February”.
 
The 2025 World Athletics Outdoor Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan between September 13-21.

ECU

• Helped lead Pirates to two consecutive Super 16 appearances at the National Invitational Volleyball Championship

• Averaged 14.5 digs/match in 2023 season

• Totaled 633 digs in 80 matches over three years in Greenville, N.C.

• Secured starting libero role with team bests in digs (359) and digs/set (3.86) as a freshman.

BEFORE COLLEGE

• Led Saunders Secondary School to first provincial title as a sophomore with a 55-2 mark, while not losing a set in the tournament

• Averaged 12 digs/match as a senior leading team to city and Western Ontario titles

• 2020 Team Ontario Elite member

• Silver medal-winner for Team Ontario at the 2019 USA VB High Performance Championships

• 2017 gold medal winner in the U16 competition of the Volleyball Canada Indoor National Championships in 2017

PERSONAL

• Daughter of Sandra Lee and Wayne Shum