The spring championship season continued to deliver memorable results for SMUS athletes, highlighted by a national gold medal and four additional podium finishes at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championships, three provincial track and field medals, the school's first-ever BC AA golf title, and a first-place finish for the SMUS 1 team at the Lower Vancouver Island Sailing Championship. Across multiple sports and stages, Blue Jags athletes closed out the year with performances that showcased both depth and determination.
Rowing
SMUS rowers captured an impressive five medals – including a gold in the Junior Women’s 63-kilogram Eights – as the 79th Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association Championships wrapped up on Sunday in St. Catharines, Ont.
Blue Jags rowers also earned national bronze medals in the Senior Women’s Pair, the Senior Women’s Coxed Four, the Junior Women’s 63-kg. Coxed Four, and the Mixed Quad. Those medals left SMUS in sixth place overall in the team standings for the regatta, which included 130 school and club squads.
Adding to the successful CSSRA regatta performance for the SMUS rowers were a fourth-place finish in the Junior Women’s Coxed Four, a fourth-place effort in the Junior Men’s Coxed Quad, and a fifth-place showing in the Junior Men’s Coxed Four.
SMUS rowed to top spot in the Junior Women’s 63-kg. Eights events in a time of 7:35.290, well ahead of runner-up Branksome Hall of Toronto (7:46.510). Members of the gold-medal winning Blue Jags crew included Addy Newman-Ting, Elsa Dukes, Cleo Price, Silke Behn, Weline Dietrich, Natalie DiFelice-Oinonen, Gretchen Oelschlager, Rachel Oliver, and coxswain Michaela Yee.
Dukes, Behn, Dietrich, and Oelschlager were also members of the SMUS Junior Women’s 63-kg. Coxed Four which captured bronze in 8:26.276, finishing behind only Branksome Hall (7:59.790) and EL Crossley Secondary of Fonthill, Ont. (8:08.400) in its final. Laurel Gomori was the coxswain for SMUS in that medal winning entry.
Clara Curry and Braelyn Rowan teamed up to win bronze for SMUS in the Senior Women’s Pair, finishing in 8:38.160, behind only Eden High School of St. Catherines (8:06.100) and Brentwood College (8:15.290) in their final.
Curry and Rowan were also members of the SMUS bronze-medal entry in the Senior Women’s Coxed Four, along with Mia Nadra and Lucy Turnbull and coxswain Bianca Batoni. They finished in 7:44.88, behind only winner Brentwood College (7:34.080) and runner-up Orchard Lake St. Mary’s of Minnesota (7:35.580).
Turnbull, Elizabeth Hardcastle, Tristan Salter, and Leo Denis teamed up to win bronze for SMUS in the Mixed Quad event, finishing in 7:04.660 behind only EL Crossley (6:55.720), and Saint Paul High School of Niagara Falls (6:57.620).
Track and Field
SMUS athletes earned three individual medals – including a silver by Seb Allard in the Senior Boys shot put – as the BC High School Track and Field Championships concluded on Saturday at McLeod Stadium in Langley.
Allard, a Grade 12 multisport athlete, delivered a clutch personal-best performance of 12.69 metres to win the silver, finishing behind gold medallist Gursher Gabri of Enver Creek (16.65 metres) and ahead of bronze medallist Mitchell Gauthier of Dover Bay (12.34). Santiago Flores La Salvia of SMUS placed 28th in the same event.
SMUS Grade 10s William Low and Will Hamilton also joined Allard on the provincial podium.
Low captured the bronze in the Junior Boys high jump by clearing 1.80 metres to finish behind gold medallist Lorenzo Barillaro of Heritage Woods (1.90) and runner-up Jacob Brown of Fleetwood Park (1.85).
Hamilton took bronze in the Junior Boys 300-metre hurdles, finishing in 41.85 seconds, behind winner Marcus Brandsma of Abbotsford Christian (40.22) and silver medallist Adrian Fong Fong of Burnaby Mountain (40.56).
Other SMUS finishers on Saturday included: the Senior Boys 4x400 relay team comprised of Parker Sheehan, Milann Wenham, Martin Winnett, and Tommy Hong, (8th in the final); Winnett (8th in Senior Boys pole vault); Finlay Hlannon (9th in Senior Boys pole vault); Declan Ross (10th in Junior Boys high jump); Isaac Ren (12th in Junior Boys 1500m racewalk); Piper Geddes (15th in Junior Girls discus); and Sheehan (16th overall in the Senior Boys 200m heats).
In action Friday, Ross finished eighth in Junior Boys triple jump while teammate Santiago Rankin was 30th; Calvin Winnett of SMUS placed ninth in Junior Boys pole vault; and Hong finished 17th in Senior Boys high jump.
Only the top eight individuals or teams in track event heats qualified for finals. SMUS athletes who ran Friday but didn’t qualify included Hamilton and Alex MacKay, 13th and 14th, respectively, in the Junior Boys 100-metre hurdle heats; Sheehan, (13th), and Hong (32nd) in the Senior Boys 100 metre heats; and the Junior Boys 4x400 relay team, comprised of Ben Keyes, Tor Nelson, Hamilton, and Ren (11th overall in heats).
On Thursday’s opening day of the provincial meet, Geddes placed 17th in Junior Girls shot put. The Junior Boys 4x100 relay team, comprised of Keyes, Hamilton, Low, and Nelson, finished ninth overall in the heats in 46.76 seconds, just missing out on qualifying for the eight-team final. The Senior Boys 4x100 relay team of Hong, Zilber, Winnett, and Sheehan, was disqualified from its 4x100 heat for a late exchange in the handoff zone.
Golf
The SMUS Golf team captured the school’s first-ever provincial banner in that sport, winning the BC Boys AA team title on Wednesday at The Redwoods course in Langley.
See separate feature story: Blue Jags Hoist AA Provincial Banner in Golf
The Blue Jags sat third overall, four strokes off the lead, after Tuesday’s opening round but managed an impressive second-round comeback – with all five SMUS team golfers shooting in the 70s. SMUS beat runner-up Mulgrave by four strokes and third-place MEI by eight strokes.
Members of the winning Blue Jags squad and their two-round totals include Ricardo Chen (148), Austin Yang (148), Jeff Su (148), Sting Zhang (152), and West Dingle (161). The SMUS team is coached by Steve Bates, Melanie Bendfeld, and Graham Lilly.
Sailing
The SMUS Sailing team competed in its final regatta on Saturday – the Lower Vancouver Island Championship at Cadboro Bay, hosted by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
“SMUS entered 18 sailors on two teams and competed in some great sailing conditions with 18 races held throughout the day,” said Coach David Kerr. “The racing was consistently close with no one team dominating.”
The SMUS 1 team claimed first place by a four-point margin, while the SMUS 2 team finished fourth overall. The SMUS 1 team consisted of: Pascal Krawez, Ruby Xu, Jai Tatra, Joshua Leung, Emma Li, Matty Kolinek, Alvin Tsao, Marcus Chee, and Ashley Baek.
“Special mention to Pascal and Jai and, from SMUS 2, Siena Gill and Molly Gu, for first-place finishes in at least one of their races throughout the day,” Kerr said. “Congratulations to all the SMUS sailors for a fun, successful season.”
