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Hundreds of rowers from sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½, Alberta and the U.S. will converge on Elk Lake this weekend.

Rowing sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s Challenge West Regatta takes place from Friday through Sunday with more than 800 entries, including special performances by sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s U-23 boats.

sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ leads the way with 498 entries, including boats from Victoria City Rowing, Gorge Rowing and the University of Victoria, while 58 entries are from Washington state and teams from New Jersey and California will also be in attendance.

Action on the water begins Friday at noon and runs until 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s events run from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., while Sunday’s action takes place from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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NCAA honour for Nanaimo’s Baker

Nanaimo’s Amanda Baker has capped off her NCAA golf career with a bit of history.

Baker was named this week as a Women’s Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar. The honour makes Baker the only person to win the award three times. The All-American Scholar team combines athletic success with at least a 3.50 grade-point average.

Baker just graduated from North Carolina State with a degree in business administration.

She competed in six tournaments in 2013 and tied for the team lead with a 74.1 scoring average. Baker also finished inside the top 20 twice, including a ninth-place finish at the Tar Heel Invitational.

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Pretorius wins Victoria Open

Veteran tennis player James Pretorius has added the City of Victoria Open to his list of titles.

Pretorius, an American and the top seed for the week-long Victoria event, defeated second-ranked Sven Bornemann 6-4, 6-0 in Sunday’s men’s singles open final at Lambrick Park. The victory capped a perfect week for Pretorius as he won all three of his matches without dropping a set.

In the women’s singles open, Karen Clarke beat Kaitlyn Bettauer 6-2, 6-3.

In the men’s doubles open, Bornemann teamed up with Cameron Gunton to beat Tim Hopper and Shawn Lusignan 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Clarke and Brigit Catherine Tronrud cruised to the women’s doubles open title, defeating Carola Daffner and Amanda Heffeifinger 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

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Brockway top para-thrower

Jessye Brockway of Mill Bay had a record day at the recent Boiling Point Track Classic in Windsor, Ont.

Brockway set a Canadian record in the women’s F58 discus with a throw of 19.57 metres. And even more shocking is the fact Brockway has only been competing in discus since January and is now considered one of sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s fastest-rising para-throws stars. She is also ranked No. 1 in sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ in women’s F58 shot put after winning the gold medal in that event at the recent Canadian Track and Field Championships.

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Fusion brings home hardware

The Saanich Fusion youth soccer association won two gold medals and a bronze at last weekend’s sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Soccer provincial championship tournaments.

Saanich won the Under-15 boys ‘A’ title — a first for the club — defeating the Kamloops Blaze 3-0 in the final in Langley, while the Saanich U-14 girls team won the bronze medal. At the Provincial ‘B’ championships in North Vancouver, Saanich’s U-15 girls won the gold medal. The victory capped a near-perfect season for the Saanich girls as they finish the season with a 25-0-3 record, winning the league title, league cup, Island title and Coastal ‘B’ Cup.