For immediate release

Big medal haul for Nova Scotia Athletes

Halifax, NS (Friday, February 13, 2009)  – Nova Scotian athletes brought home gold, silver and bronze medals after competing at major events in January.

Alexandra Duckworth, 21, of Kingsburg was named Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Female Athlete of the Month. Snowboarding at the Canadian Open North American Cup in Calgary, she scored a 38.0 on Saturday and a 34.1 on Sunday to take home a gold medal both days. This qualifies her for the Canadian World Cup Tour in February.

Custio Clayton, 20, of Dartmouth was named Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Male Athlete of the Month. Clayton won four consecutive fights on his way to the gold medal in the 69 kg weight class at the Boxing National Senior Championships in Trois-Riviere, Quebec. This marks Clayton’s fourth national title, which follows three junior titles. Clayton will fight in Edmonton in the Senior Final Team Selection Competition, hoping to earn a spot on the National Team.

John Mattatall, 25, was named Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Male Team Athlete of the Month. Mattatall and his partner, Mylene Brodeur, took a bronze medal in the Senior Pairs Division at the BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Saskatoon. This third place finish came with a personal best in both the short and free program. Mattatall and Brodeur placed fourth and sixth internationally to qualify for Nationals. This is the first senior medal for Nova Scotia since 1981.

Jessica Wong, 17, was named Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Female Team Athlete of the Month. Wong competed in the World Women’s Under-18 Hockey Championships in Fussen, Germany, last month and helped Canada bring home a silver medal. She scored the game-tying goal in the final minutes of the gold medal game, forcing overtime where Canada eventually lost to the USA. Wong tied for third overall in scoring for the Championships. She is now tied for the lead in points in Canada with five goals and seven assists in five games.

The Nova Scotia Provincial Tween Team was named Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Team of the Month after bringing home a gold medal in the Pierrefonds Ringette Tournament in Pierrefonds, Quebec. The team went undefeated against some of the best Tween Ringette teams in Eastern Canada, and took home a gold after an exciting shootout, and overtime win. The team will represent Nova Scotia in the Atlantic Championships in February and the Eastern Canadian Championships in April.

The Cleve’s Source for Sports / New Balance Athlete of the Month program is administered by Sport Nova Scotia, whose members are eligible to nominate athletes for the awards. A membership committee selects the award recipients for five possible categories: Male Individual Athlete, Female Individual Athlete, Male Team Athlete, Female Team Athlete, and Team. For more information about the awards, please visit www.sportnovascotia.ca.

Sport Nova Scotia is a voice for amateur sport that promotes the benefits of health, personal development and achievement of all participants. Sport Nova Scotia is a non-profit, non-government organization representing over 60 provincial sport organizations and more than 160,000 member Nova Scotians.

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For More Information:

Catherine McKellar
Director, Communications and Public Relations
Sport Nova Scotia
902-425-5450 ext. 321
cmckellar@sportnovascotia.ca