Sports Stuff
By Ned Bekavac 

An acrobatic catch by Guelph’s Michelle Reynolds has netted a prize of $1,000.

With the help of voters, it could score a handsome sum of $25,000.

Reynolds, a Western Mustangs softball player, is a top-10 finalist for The Sports Network’s Advil Highlight of the Month contest.

The Bishop Macdonell high school graduate made a face-first diving catch in shallow right field that sealed a victory for Western in a game at nationals in Saskatchewan last season.

The video, submitted by Western coach Pete Lemon, can be seen at http://advil.tsn.ca.

At that site, viewers can vote for their favourite highlight and the winner will take home $25,000, an amount that Reynolds would split with her team should she win, says her mom, Grace. The voting period for the contest ends on March 3.

Reynolds is the only female finalist in the contest. By reaching the finals, she won $1,000, a total she shared with Lemon, said Grace.

Mom didn’t even hear about the dazzling catch until well after the fact, as modest Michelle apparently stayed mum about it.

“She didn’t tell us about the play until weeks later,” said Grace, with a laugh.

Michelle has three siblings – Adam, Caitlyn and Bryan – and she is the youngest of them. Adam is likely well known to local ball fans – he has pitched for the senior Inter-county Guelph Royals and won the junior national title in 2006 with the Guelph Silvercreeks.

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John Alexander has stepped down as executive director of Guelph Soccer, after about a year on the job.

Alexander’s last day was to be Feb. 15, Guelph Soccer has announced.

His first was in February of 2012, a few months after Alan Gould stepped away from the position.

The club has announced that Christy Rumfeldt is taking on the role of interim executive director.

She’ll start the job on Feb. 25.

The club will begin the formal selection process for a new executive director in the fall.

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Guelph’s Erin Stamp earned three gold medals and a silver at the Canada West Swimming Championships in Victoria, B.C.

Stamp, a rookie at the University of British Columbia, won two individual golds, a relay gold and a relay silver.

Stamp, a Centennial CVI graduate, was named a Canada West All-Star for her achievements.

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Local volleyball player Tim Warnholtz has been named to the OUA All-Rookie team for the 2012-2013 season.

Warnholtz is a Guelph CVI grad who just finished his first season with his hometown Guelph Gryphons. He averaged 2.9 points per set this season, second best on the team.

His teammate Kyle Richards, of London, Ont., was also named to the All-Rookie Team. Gryphon Winston Rosser has been named an OUA Second Team All-Star. Rosser, of Whitby, just completed his fifth season.

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Saturday was the last regular season career game for two long-serving local Guelph Gryphons basketball players.

Dan McCarthy, a Centennial CVI graduate and Jasmine Douglas, a John F. Ross grad, have put in five years of play for the men’s and women’s basketball teams, respectively.

Douglas’s last game was last night as the women’s Gryphons fell at McMaster in an opening-round playoff game. The men’s team has missed the post-season.