Osmond places fifth in short program at Regina meet

Kaetlyn Osmond of the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club placed fifth in the senior women’s short program Friday at Skate Canada Challenge at Co-operators Centre in Regina.

It was Osmond’s first competition since she suffered a hamstring injury in her right leg at Skate Canada International on Oct. 26. She had previously missed a few weeks of training with a stress reaction in her left foot.

Osmond, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Thursday, has been slowly working herself back into competition shape while recuperating from the hamstring injury.

The reigning Canadian senior women’s champion started jumping again in mid-November after pulling out of the Rostelecom Cup Grand Prix event in Moscow. She didn’t have to compete at Challenge, but it was an opportunity to get some much needed competition experience before defending her title at the Canadian championship Jan. 9-15 at Ottawa.

Osmond scored the most program component marks (27.56) on Friday, but fell on her triple flip (usually her strongest jump) and stepped out on both the double axel and combination jumps.

Osmond will unveil her new long program, Cleopatra, on Saturday night.

Eddies to face Fury in Amway qualifer

FC Edmonton will have to play a preliminary round home-and-home series with the Ottawa Fury FC, Canada’s newest North American Soccer League club, to get into the Amway Canadian Championship semifinals next season.

The championship involving Canada’s professional soccer clubs determines a representative for the CONCACAF 2014-15 Champions League.

The winner of the Edmonton-Ottawa series will advance to the semifinals against the Montreal Impact, who were ranked No. 1 based on league play in 2013 among Canada’s three Major League Soccer clubs. Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC play in the other semifinal.

The Edmonton-Ottawa matchup will be played on April 23 in the nation’s capital and on April 30 in Edmonton.

Campbell hired to coach RedBlacks

OT TAWA — Rick Campbell showed a healthy sense of humour when he was announced as the first coach of the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks’ on Friday.

He might need it as he helps build a CFL expansion franchise from the ground up.

Campbell has only five freeagent players under contract. “We’re not going to take a penalty for too many men on the field,” he said, “so we have that going for us.”

Campbell, who turns 43 in two weeks, is the son of former Edmonton Eskimos head coach, general manager and president Hugh Campbell.