Rowing
The SMUS Rowing team captured two medals – including a gold by the Novice Men’s Coxed Quad – and competed in six national A finals as the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championships concluded on Sunday in St. Catharines, Ont.
The gold-medal winning Novice Men’s boat included Adrian Lai, Matt Nacey, David Welton, Mateo Laca Swets, and Rachel Oliver.
SMUS also earned a hard-fought bronze medal in the Junior Women’s 4-plus. Making up that boat were Oliver, Clara Curry, Mia Nadra, Liz Hardcastle, and Addy Newman-Ting.
Finishing just off the podium in fourth place in their finals were the SMUS Mixed 4X- and Senior Men’s 4-plus. The SMUS Senior Women’s 4-plus and Junior Men’s 4-plus each placed fifth.
“A huge congratulations to all 23 rowers who represented SMUS incredibly well on the national stage,” said SMUS Assistant Coach Sarah Hagkull.
SMUS was among 123 high school teams from across Canada and Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia competing in the 78th annual CSSRA regatta, which began Friday.
Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys Rugby team won two of its three games to earn third-place honours in the BC AA Championship tournament that ended Saturday in Abbotsford.
The Blue Jags lived up to their pre-tournament provincial ranking as they dispatched Sir Charles Tupper of Vancouver 20-7 in Saturday’s third-place game. Tristan Mo, Ewan Webber-Smith and Nick Lee scored tries for SMUS, while Jack Driscoll provided a penalty and a conversion to round out the scoring.
The game was played in rainy and windy conditions. The teams were tied 7-7 at the break before SMUS gained the edge in play over the final half.
“The boys adjusted well to the referee and were more selective in the rucks they contested, resulting in some really good penalty wins,” said SMUS Coach Clayton Daum of the team’s decisive second-half performance.
“It was one of our more complete games across the board, a dominant showing from one through 15. It was a great way to send off the Grade 12s who are graduating – a well-deserved win.”
The Blue Jags opened the tournament on Wednesday, with a 31-26 quarterfinal victory over Argyle of North Vancouver. SMUS tries came from Rory Davison, Quinn McMeekin, Declan Longridge, Liam Whiteside and Zaki Pelyhe, while Driscoll added three conversions. The Blue Jags controlled this game, leading 19-0 at the half and using their entire bench.
The win moved third-ranked SMUS into a Thursday semifinal against BC No. 2 Robert Bateman of Abbotsford. The Blue Jags had their chances in the game played under wet and chilly conditions and trailed just 7-0 at the half. But Bateman prevailed 24-0 in the end to advance to the final against eventual champion and No. 1-ranked Collingwood.
Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team turned in an impressive performance, winning four of its five games – and losing the other by the slimmest of margins – to finish fifth at the BC AA Championship tournament that concluded on Friday at Burnaby Lakes West.
The Blue Jags wrapped up that fifth-place finish in the 16-team tournament with a 2-1 win over Notre Dame in their last game. Avery Geddes and Nora Reid scored for the Blue Jags in the well-played finale to their season. Junior callup Linn Kuepper, who had to fill in for regular keeper Indigo Edgington after the latter was injured in the Blue Jags’ final pre-tournament practice session, was the player of the game for SMUS with a strong performance in net.
SMUS opened the tournament on Wednesday with a pair of preliminary pool wins, beating Duchess Park of Prince George 3-0 and defeating Vernon 1-0. Joss Olcen, who was named a BC tournament all-star for the Blue Jags, scored twice in the opening game and had the only goal of the second game. Kate McQueen tallied the other goal for SMUS against Duchess Park and Kuepper recorded two straight clean sheets in net on Day 1 of the tournament.
That set up a Thursday morning showdown with St. Thomas Aquinas of North Vancouver in the Blue Jags’ final pool game to determine which team would advance to the semifinals. SMUS enjoyed an edge in the play for most of the game and took a 1-0 lead about 10 minutes into the second half on a highlight-reel, long-distance strike by Mackenna Brown.
The Blue Jags very nearly put the game away with a handful of other good scoring chances but couldn’t convert and St. Thomas Aquinas tied the score with about seven minutes left in regulation, on a good chance in front that came off a free kick. With the game tied, the teams went directly to a penalty kick shootout, in which St. Thomas Aquinas prevailed 4-2.
The tough loss ended the Blue Jags’ hopes for a provincial title, but they continued to play well and made the best of the situation. SMUS bounced back with a strong 3-1 win over Island rival Mark Isfeld on Thursday afternoon. Olcen and McQueen scored for the Blue Jags in that game as did Julia Rothwell.
The BC tournament capped a terrific season for SMUS, which won the Island AA, Vikes Invitational, and Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament titles with an overall record of 23 wins, three losses, and one tie.
Badminton
The SMUS Boys Badminton team placed 14th in the BC Championships, which concluded on Saturday in Richmond.
The Blue Jags fell 5-2 to Sentinel of West Vancouver in the match for 13th place. Cedric Tam won his singles match and also teamed up with Harry Cai to win a doubles match, to account for the two SMUS points.
SMUS opened the tournament with a 7-0 loss to Dr. Charles Best Secondary of Coquitlam, a match that included a number of close games. The Blue Jags followed that up with a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Johnston Heights of Surrey, a matchup that was tied 2-2 at one point and also featured several close contests. The Blue Jags wrapped up pool play with a 6-1 loss to RE Mountain of Langley with the doubles team of Connor Lee and Jaden Berger-North earning the SMUS point.
SMUS dropped a 7-0 decision to eventual tournament champion St. George’s of Vancouver in its championship Round of 16 match. The Blue Jags then fell 5-2 to Eric Hamber of Vancouver before picking up their first win of the BC tournament – a 5-2 decision over Surrey’s Grandview Heights that moved SMUS into the 13th-place match on Saturday.
The Blue Jags’ team MVP was Kyle Shek, for leading the squad with his consistent performances in the BC tournament. Coach Lawrence Wong also gave kudos to Cai for stepping up and subbing in for Kevin Li, who sustained a knee sprain on Friday morning.
It was the third straight 14th-place finish for SMUS at the BC Championships.
Golf
SMUS Golf team members prepared for this coming week’s BC AA Championships with their annual staff vs. students match last Thursday at Cordova Bay Golf Club.
Eight students faced off against eight faculty members in scramble, match play and even a few head-to-head games. While the students were victorious this year, they were pushed right down to their final putts.
“Thank you to all the teachers for coming out and truly testing the squad,” said Coach Melanie Bendfeld.
Five team members will represent SMUS at the BC championships starting on Tuesday (June 3) at Big Sky Golf Course in Pemberton.
