SMUS athletes delivered strong results this past week, led by a medal-winning performance from the rowing team at the Brentwood International Regatta. Both Senior and Junior Boys rugby teams earned convincing exhibition wins, badminton athletes brought home gold and bronze at the ISAA tournament, and several teams continue to build momentum heading into key matchups.
Rowing
SMUS Rowing turned in a strong showing on the water this past weekend, winning five medals, including two golds, in the 54th annual Brentwood International Regatta.
Club and school teams from Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland, Washington, and Oregon competed in the regatta, which included 556 entries from 21 clubs. Sunny weather meant no delays – a first in many years for the event.
“SMUS had 32 athletes competing who put in a solid performance,” said the school’s Head of Rowing Susanne Walker Curry. “We had 12 crews in the top six and 16 crews in the top eight.”
SMUS Crew gold came in the U19 Women’s 63-kilogram 1X and the U17 Junior Varsity Women’s 8+. Winning silver medals were the SMUS U19 Women’s 2- and the U17Junior Varsity Women’s 4+. The U17 Women’s 4X+ captured bronze.
Other SMUS top eight finishes included:
4th Place: U19 Women’s 63-kg 1X; U17 Women’s 4+; U19 Women’s Novice 8+ (missing bronze by 0.2 seconds); and U17 Junior Varsity Men’s 4+.
5th Place: U17 Men’s 4+.
6th Place: U19 Women’s Novice 4X+; U17 Junior Varsity Men’s 8+.
7th Place: U19 Women’s Junior Varsity 4+ (U17 crew); U19 Men’s Junior Varsity 4X-; and U19 Men’s 72-kg 4+.
8th Place: U19 Women’s 4+
“Congratulations to the athletes and a big thank you to all the coaches and the parents for their support,” Walker Curry said.
SMUS Rowing’s final regatta of the season – before selected crews compete at the Canadian Secondary School Championships in Ontario – will be the Shawinigan Lake Regatta, May 8-10.
Senior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys Rugby team turned in an impressive performance last Friday afternoon, beating Carson Graham of North Vancouver 50-15 in an exhibition game at SMUS.
The Blue Jags, ranked No. 7 among BC AAA teams, got a pair of tries apiece from Jack Harris and Santi Flores, while Quinn McMeekin, Dani Pelyhe, and Seb Allard had singles. Des Grant added four conversions in the win. Carson Graham had been ranked as high as No. 6 among AAA squads in the province earlier in the season.
The Senior Boys will host Brentwood College in the feature match of Alumni Weekend, beginning this Saturday at 3:15 pm.
Junior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Junior Boys were also triumphant in exhibition rugby action against a Lower Mainland opponent, beat visiting Fleetwood Park of Surrey 27-12 on Thursday afternoon.
Jasper Dingle scored a try and added a penalty and two conversions in the win for the Junior Jags while single tries came from Daniel Hop-Hendy, Bruno Chen, and Russell Wilson.
It will be a busy week ahead for the Junior Boys, who will host Shawnigan Lake in a key Island league match on Thursday at 3:45 pm. The Junior Jags will also face Brentwood College as part of Alumni Weekend in a 12:30 pm start on Saturday.
Senior Girls Rugby
The SMUS Senior Girls Rugby 7s team dropped a 26-10 decision to Glenlyon Norfolk in Lower Island league play last Friday. Helena Kim and Nya Tsang scored tries for the Blue Jags in the game.
This will also be a busy week for the Senior Girls. The Blue Jags travel to Edward Milne for league competition on Monday against both the host school and St. Margaret’s beginning at 3:45 pm, and to Windsor Park on Friday for league games against Mount Douglas and Esquimalt. On Saturday, the team will play an intrasquad game as part of Alumni Weekend, beginning at 2 p.m.
Badminton
The SMUS Badminton team captured two medals as it hosted the Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament last Thursday.
The SMUS Tier 1 Girls team won the bronze, narrowly beating St. John’s School 3-2 in the crossover medal match. In earlier pool play, the team fell to defending champion Crofton House 4-1 and beat Shawnigan Lake 4-1.
“Kudos to Memi Sonsophon for winning her singles match to give us the win for the medal,” said SMUS Coach Lawrence Wong.
The SMUS Tier 2 Boys performed extremely well, taking the gold in their division with wins over Queen Margaret’s School (5-0) and Shawnigan Lake (3-2). “Kudos to Irving Wang, who won his singles match in his tournament debut,” Wong said.
The SMUS Tier 2 Girls fell to Southridge in the bronze-medal match of their division. In pool play, they lost to York House (5-0), but beat Queen Margaret’s (3-2). “Kudos to the Grade 9 girls – Elyse Ip, Katheryn Sun, Nancy Wu, and Emilie Zhao – for their sportsmanship, grit, and resilience in their first tournament,” Wong said.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Tier 1 Boys dropped a 4-1 decision to Southridge in the cross-over game for the bronze. In pool play, the team fell 4-1 to St. John’s School and beat West Point Grey Academy 5-0. “Kudos to Kevin Li for his outstanding performance throughout the tournament,” Wong said.
Last Tuesday, SMUS Badminton hosted Mt. Douglas in Lower Island league action. The visiting Rams proved tough competition as they beat the SMUS Boys (7-0) and the Girls (5-2). “The girls fought hard and won two matches,” Wong said. “Kudos to doubles pairs YouLan Li/Lisa Pai and Nicole Meng/Janette Ooi for winning their respective matches.”
SMUS Badminton will compete in Lower Island playoffs this week.
Golf
SMUS Golf entered two teams in the annual Victoria City Police Athletic Association tournament held last Wednesday and Thursday at Olympic View and they acquitted themselves well, placing fourth and ninth overall among the 32 teams entered.
The fourth-place team included Austin Yang, who shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday, Jeff Su (77), Ricardo Chen (78), and Sting Zhang (79). Zhang also captured long-drive honours on the first day of the tournament.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls team split four games enroute to a fourth-place finish in the Independent Schools Athletic Association Soccer tournament held at SMUS and Glenyon Norfolk last Friday and Saturday.
The Blue Jags reached the semifinal round of the tournament with a pair of pool play victories on Friday, beating Southridge 1-0 on a goal by Mackenna Brown in their first game before downing Queen Margaret’s 2-0 in their second. Ruby Dieringer and Clara Pressello scored for SMUS against St. Margaret’s. Indigo Edgington recorded the shutout in net in both games for the Blue Jags.
The Jags couldn’t manage to find the back of the net on Saturday, however, falling 2-0 to Collingwood in a late-morning semifinal at GNS and then dropping a 1-0 decision to West Point Grey in the third-place game that afternoon at SMUS.
The Senior Girls played some of their best soccer of the season in a 5-1 Lower Island Tier 1 home loss to Oak Bay last Tuesday. After surrendering three goals in the first 15 minutes, the Blue Jags then dominated possession and play until the final 10 minutes of the game. Brown scored for SMUS to make it 3-1 and then Elspeth Rodger hit the crossbar, narrowly missing a chance for SMUS to pull to within a goal, and the Blue Jags also had a pair of breakaway chances.
The Senior Girls will play host to Stelly’s in their final Lower Island Tier 1 regular-season game this Tuesday at 3:45 pm. They will be on the road this Thursday for a Ryan Cup playoff quarter-final.
Junior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Junior Girls soccer team wrapped up its Lower Island season last week with a pair of shutout road losses to Spectrum and Stelly’s. The Junior Jags finished league play in sixth place with a 5-5-0 record.
“Congrats to all the players for their dedication to the team,” said SMUS Coach Samantha Butler. “Congrats also to Lauren Arndt, Fiona Davison, and Clara Pressello for their contributions to the Senior team at the ISAAs this past weekend.”
Rowing photos: Kevin Light
Rowing Brentwood Regatta - Kevin Light photo
Rowing Brentwood Regatta - Kevin Light photo
Rowing Brentwood Regatta - Kevin Light photo
Rowing Brentwood Regatta - Kevin Light photo
Rowing Brentwood Regatta - Kevin Light photo
