Mary-Beth Tkachuk
Four members of the Sunset Country Squash Club attended the Jane Sanders Memorial ladies’ squash tournament held Friday and Saturday in Winnipeg.
The format for the annual tournament is team play, with eight teams of four players of varying skill levels playing three best-of-five matches.
One of the Fort Frances juniors, Kaitlyn DeGagne, started playing in the #2 position of her team of Trickle Boasts. Her first match was a 3-1 win over Sonja MacAulay.
After her first match, DeGagne was asked if she would move up a level and play in the #1 position for her team.
Her first reaction was being unsure if she could play at that level, but said she would give it a try even though she would have to play her coach.
Her second match was against Joanne Gautron and she went down to defeat 3-0.
Her next match was against her coach, Mary Beth Tkachuk, and she was able to win one game out of four.
But DeGagne displayed her desire to improve and was a team player when asked to move up a level.
Both Kris Krag and Dana Kosowick also played in the #2 position of their teams.
Krag lost her first match 3-2 in a hard-fought battle with Karen Yamada before dropping her second match 3-1 to Michelle Lampertz.
Kosowick, meanwhile, lost both of her first two matches 3-1 to Lampertz and Yamada.
The final match for Krag and Kosowick was against each other. It was very close, with Krag coming out the winner 3-2.
The final local player competing in Winnipeg was Tkachuk, who opened with a 3-0 to Gautron.
The second match was against Judy Mitchell, who has been a rival for many years.
She took the match 3-2 over Tkachuk.
That loss set up the showdown between Tkachuk and her student (DeGagne), with the coach eventually emerging as the 3-1 winner.
