Image
Port Lambton's Shona Branton had a successful weekend at the U Sports national university swimming championship.

Sports Briefs: Branton wins bronze, Pound heading to ACHA Nationals

March 19, 2026

Barry Wright/The Independent

Shona Branton won a pair of bronze medals at the U Sports national university swimming championship last weekend in the GTA. She missed a silver medal by a blink of an eye.

The veteran swimmer, representing Western, finished third in the 50-metre breaststroke in a time of 30.64 seconds only two/100th of a second behind the second place competitor.

The Port Lambton athlete was also third in the 100-metre breaststroke in a time of 1:06.54 and was part of the medley team that set a new Mustang school record finishing fourth in a time of 4:03.46

•••

Captain William Hull of the Strathroy Rockets played in his 200th regular season and playoff games with the franchise in a 3-0 home ice win over St. Marys at the Gemini Complex Saturday.

Hull, from Oil Springs, has seven goals and 61 points over the course of his career that dates back to the 2021-22 campaign. He is now fourth on the all-time games played list with the Rockets.

Petrolia’s Adam Broad drew an assist in the weekend contest that tied their first round playoff series at a game each. St. Marys regained the series lead with a 6-0 win on Monday.

Among other playoff series, Petrolia’s Gage Brandon and the Fort Erie Meteors have a 2-0 lead against Brantford after an 8-2 win by the Meteors Monday.

•••

Petrolia’s Jacob Lassaline and Watford’s Sean Shanahan and their North Middlesex Stars are heading for the PJHL’s Yeck Division final.

The Stars eliminated the regular season champion Thamesford Trojans with a triple overtime win on Sunday.

North Middlesex will now play the Mt. Brydges Bulldogs for the divisional title.

The Bulldogs beat Exeter in six games, including a series- clinching overtime win on Monday night.

•••

Sydney Pound of Camlachie is suiting up for Central Michigan at the ACHA Nationals in St. Louis this week.

Pound, a Lambton Attack grad, is the second ranked rookie goalie in her conference this season with a 3-1 record, a 1.50 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.

She stopped 16 of 18 in a relief appearance in an opening game loss on Monday.

•••

Camlachie’s Avery Robinson and the University of Guelph Gryphons won the OUA women’s hockey championship with a 2-1 win over the University of Ottawa Gee Gees Saturday.

The Ottawa roster included Reagan Samson of Corunna.

Both Guelph and Ottawa advance to the national tournament this week at the Woolwich Memorial
Centre in Elmira.

The Gryphons will take on the host Waterloo Warriors on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Gee Gees open on Friday against the University of New Brunswick, also at 7 p.m.

•••

The Petrolia Oilers u-11’s and the Lambton Shores u-13’s both won championships at the Maple Syrup Country tournament in Elmvale on the weekend.

The Oilers went 5-0, including a 2-1 win over the host team in the final. Petrolia outscored its opposition, 19-2.

Meantime, the Predators also won five straight games in its division. They blanked Wasaga, 7-0 in the semi-finals and then defeated Campbellford, 5-2 for the banner.

•••

The Brock Badgers, with Wyoming’s Kaiya Greydanus on its roster, won the bronze medals at the U Sports women’s volleyball tournament on the weekend in Langley, B.C.

Brock rallied from a set down to beat Trinity Western in five sets in the third-place game. The Badgers won the decisive set, 15-11.

The Badgers lost a five-setter to Sherbrooke in the semi-finals after beating St. Mary’s, 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

Greydanus, one of the younger players on the Brock roster, did not see any action.

The LCCVI grad has several seasons of eligibility remaining. Brock ended the season with a record of 22-4.

•••

Layla MacKenzie is at the Canadian College women’s basketball national tournament in Montreal this week.

The third-year guard from Camlachie was the most valuable player last weekend in leading the Fanshawe College Falcons to the Ontario championship in Hamilton.

The St. Patrick’s grad drained a three-pointer with less than three seconds left in regulation time, part of a 23-point performance, in Fanshawe’s 52-50 win over the host Mohawk Mountaineers in the provincial semi-final.

She followed that up with 20 points in a 72-61 win over Humber in the championship game.

Fanshawe opened the national tournament against BC’s Douglas College Royals on Wednesday night (Mar. 18).

Share This

Image
Front Page

Lancers baseball team aims for regional title

October 1, 2026

Ryan Aarts/The Independent After a strong season last year, the LCCVI Lancers baseball team is looking to build on its success and make another run at a LKSSAA championship. The Lancers had just one loss last season, finishing 7-1 with that loss coming at an unfortunate time to Ursuline College in the LKSSAA final. Despite falling short, the experience has

Read More

Image
Front Page

Henderson to be new leader of Lambton IPM

September 30, 2026

The Independent The Lambton County International Plowing Match has a new leader. Dave Henderson will lead the group bringing the massive farm show to Lambton County in 2027. The 2027 IPM was originally planned at the Brigden Fairgrounds. Planning was well underway when the local committee quit saying it would not host the event because a deal was not in

Read More

Image
Front Page

Petrolia can’t afford bigger arena alone: candidates

September 30, 2026

Heather Wright/The Independent If there is a new arena to be build in Petrolia, it only happen with help from the town’s neighbours. That’s the opinion of the people who are vying for councillor positions around the town council table Oct. 26 about arequest for a double ice pad which came to council more than two years ago. Lisa Vanderwal

Read More

Image
Front Page

Flyers get home opener cut short because of poor ice

September 30, 2026

Barry Wright/The Independent It’ll be take two for the Petrolia Flyers on home ice Thursday when the North Middlesex Stars visit Greenwood for aPJHL contest beginning at 7:30 pm. Petrolia’s home opener Sept. 24 was cancelled at the end of the second period due to what the team called unsafe ice conditions. The Flyers were leading Exeter, 3-1 at the

Read More