Prince George, British Columbia - April 8, 2000 - Alberta skated away from the 2000 Canadian ringette championships with three gold medals today, with the Ontario Debs capturing the remaining gold medal up for grabs. For Alberta, the Junior, Belle and Intermediate wins come after each of the teams earned byes into the finals after round-robin play throughout the week.

In Junior play, Alberta, who were 8-0 going into the finals, posted a 6-3 win over Manitoba. Scoring for Alberta were Claire Thomas (St. Albert) with two; Meghan Mutrie and Amelia Hradsky (Calgary), Jackie Thurston (Strathmore) and Jill Lange (Edmonton) with one each. Winnipeg's Danielle Reid and Nikki Donald each scored one goal for Manitoba, with the final goal coming from Starbuck's Lindsay Burns.

The defending Belle champions from Gloucester, Ontario had to settle for silver after losing 6-5 to Alberta in overtime play. Pam Lenz from Bently scored the winning goal with one minute and 19 seconds into overtime play.

"We are a very strong defensive team and I was very confident going into the game that we could win it," said Lenz. "Our win against Ontario yesterday gave us the extra confidence we needed."

The remaining goals from Alberta came from Calgary's Sheena Lawryk, Robyn McNeil, Courtney Jacques and Carley Stewart, and Edmonton's Amanda Beer.   Ontario saw Colleen Hagan (Manotick) and Leslie Jimmo (Gloucester) post two goals each, and Katie Allen (Carleton Place) score one.

Quebec Debs realized their second loss of the week after being downed 3-2 by Ontario. Cambridge's Nicki Madsen, Guelph's Lisa Newton and Sudbury's Kristen Maher each had a goal for Ontario. Catherine Cartier (St. Laurent) and Annie Daraiche (Mascouche) scored one each for Quebec.

In the Intermediate final, the defending champions from Edmonton came away with another gold after downing Ontario 4-3 in overtime play. Edmonton's Shelley Reynolds scored two, including the winning goal just over a minute into overtime. Ontario had two players in the penalty box at the time.

"We weren't on our game today and we needed something extra and they gave it to us at the very end," said Reynolds, whose team gave up three straight goals in the second half.

Ontario dressed six more skaters than Alberta and used that to wear their opponents down in the second half. "I think we thought the game was over at that time and we didn't want to play another period, but we were gritty enough that we kept it out and we were lucky enough to get to overtime." Alberta's remaining two goals came from Edmonton's Jennifer Willan. Naughton's Stephanie Cox, Sudbury's Karen Duguay and Lively's Sarah Miller each scored a goal for Ontario.

More than 500 athletes, representing 29 teams from every province except Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, competed in 105 round robin games throughout the week in Prince George. The 2001 Canadian ringette championships will be held in Moncton, New Brunswick from April 2 to 7.

FINAL MEDAL STANDINGS:

JUNIOR DIVISION (Age 14 and 15)
GOLD MEDAL: ALBERTA
SILVER MEDAL: MANITOBA
BRONZE MEDAL: ONTARIO

BELLE DIVISION (Age 16-18)
GOLD MEDAL: ALBERTA
SILVER MEDAL: ONTARIO
BRONZE MEDAL: BRITISH COLUMBIA

DEB DIVISION (Age 23 and under)
GOLD MEDAL: ONTARIO
SILVER MEDAL: QUEBEC
BRONZE MEDAL: SASKATCHEWAN

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION (Age 21 and over)
GOLD MEDAL: ALBERTA
SILVER MEDAL: ONTARIO
BRONZE MEDAL: BRITISH COLUMBIA