SMUS athletes were busy across multiple sports this past week, with teams competing locally and provincially as several spring seasons got underway. Highlights included a strong opening performance from Senior Boys Rugby, impressive results from SMUS squash players at the Shawnigan Silver tournament, and a resilient start to the rowing season at the Elk Lake Spring Regatta. Meanwhile, the Senior Boys Basketball team wrapped up its season at the BC AA Championships and both Senior and Junior Girls Soccer squads began league play.
Senior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys Rugby team got its season off to a solid start last Thursday, playing well in a highly competitive 26-21 loss to visiting Shawnigan Lake School.
Quinn McMeekin, Seb Allard, and Jack Harris scored tries for the Blue Jags and Liam Whiteside added three conversions in the Island league contest.
“The whole team showed tremendous heart and determination on defence, repelling heavy amounts of pressure produced by Shawnigan,” said SMUS Coach Oliver Nott. “With the match coming down to the wire within the final few minutes of the game, it was a scoreline not many people anticipated being that close – a promising first league showing for the team.”
Highlights included McMeekin’s scything run that sliced through the Shawnigan backline to score the opening try of the game 10 minutes in, and Whiteside showing a lovely piece of skill in the second half, executing a perfect cross-kick into the hands of Harris who ran in a 50-metre try, evading multiple Shawnigan defenders.
The Blue Jags have another big contest coming up this Tuesday, as they play host to Oak Bay in the annual Rees Boot Game, kicking off at 4:45 pm.
“The teams are relatively evenly matched,” Nott said. “We met in a friendly on Feb. 24, where Oak Bay just nudged the victory in a 14-7 game . . . It is set to be a competitive fixture.”
Tuesday’s Senior Boot Game will be preceded by an Oak Bay-SMUS Junior Boys matchup at 3:30 pm.
Squash
Thirty-five SMUS athletes from Grades 5 through 10 competed at the Shawnigan Silver tournament on Saturday, posting a total of 14 top-three finishes across eight tiers.
SMUS results included:
Tier 1: Omar Ghoneim 2nd, Liam Wilkinson 3rd
Tier 2: Enzo Sartori 1st, Jimmy Wen 2nd
Tier 3: James Webb 1st, Etienne Denux 2nd, Harrison Sartori 3rd
Tier 4: Shaan Arneja 3rd
Tier 5: Zeke Liu 1st, Kavi Gill 2nd
Tier 6: Derek Hu 1st
Tier 7: James Li-Pittam 2nd
Tier 8: Victoria Xin 1st, Kayci Chan 2nd.
On Sunday, SMUS Squash hosted a girls’ tournament, with 16 athletes from the school competing. Topping their respective tiers were Mila Lampa (Tier 1), Serena Wang (Tier 2, Katie Liu (Tier 3), and Kayci Chan (Tier 4).
Rowing
The SMUS Rowing team opened its spring season at the Elk Lake Spring Regatta this past weekend, delivering a series of strong performances despite challenging weather that forced significant schedule changes.
On Saturday, the SMUS Senior crews – as well as one Junior crew – raced through a condensed schedule and produced several standout finishes, including:
U19 Men Eight – 6th (Final A)
U19 Men Quad – 5th (Final A)
U19 Women Pair – 3rd (Final A)
U19 Women Double – 5th (Final A)
U19 Women Single – 2nd (ranked by time due to conditions)
U19 Women Double – 3rd (time trial ranking)
U17 Men Double – 5th (time trial ranking).
On Sunday, high winds forced the cancellation of all racing at 11:15 am, but not before several SMUS crews put down strong performances, including:
U17 Men Four – 1st in heat (3rd fastest time)
U17 Women Eight –1st (Final A)
U19 Women Straight Quad – 5th (Final A)
U17 Women Double – 2nd in heat (3rd fastest time)
U17 Men Coxed Quad – 7th in times
U19 Men Double – 10th & 14th (time trial ranking)
“Even with two‑thirds of Sunday’s racing canceled, our athletes showed resilience, focus, and competitive spirit throughout the weekend,” said SMUS Coach Sarah Hagkull. “It was an excellent early‑season test and a promising sign of what’s ahead.”
The team now turns its attention to two spring break camps in preparation for regattas on return. The next competition for SMUS rowers will be the Maple Bay Regatta, April 11 and 12.
Senior Boys Basketball
The SMUS Senior Boys Basketball team concluded its season with a 12th-place finish in the BC AA Basketball Championship tournament this past weekend at the Langley Events Centre.
The Blue Jags drew a tough opening-round matchup in the 16-team tournament, facing No. 7 Langley Christian on Wednesday evening. SMUS played a tremendous first half, holding off the far bigger, more physical Lightning squad with solid team defence and hitting their shots to take a well-earned 10-point lead into the locker room at the intermission.
Unfortunately, the Blue Jags couldn’t hold off Langley Christian in the second half as they eventually fell 73-53. A 23-6 third-quarter run turned the game around for the Lightning, who began hitting from the outside themselves and breaking down the SMUS defence for inside buckets.
Grade 10 guard Alex MacKay scored 18 points in the loss for SMUS, 13 of them coming in the first half. Senior guard Dani Pelyhe added 11 points and Grade 10s William Low and Manav Kang contributed 10 and eight points to the SMUS effort, respectively.
The Blue Jags bounced back nicely on Thursday to earn their first win of the BC tournament, an 80-69 decision over the Nechako Valley Vikings. Pelyhe led the way for SMUS with a sterling 45-point performance in that game. Low and MacKay added nine points apiece for the Jags, while Kang and Will Bateson chipped in with eight each.
That result set up a rematch of the Vancouver Island AA final on Friday as the Blue Jags met Pacific Christian. Unfortunately for SMUS, the result was familiar as the Pacers dominated the boards on their way to an 85-53 win. Kang led the Jags with 12 points in the loss, while Pelyhe added 11, and Grade 11 forward Ruibo Wu had seven.
The Blue Jags wrapped up the BC tournament with an 83-68 loss to the Fernie Falcons in an early Saturday morning contest. SMUS played its entire bench in equal parts for the game and all 12 players who dressed saw significant minutes. As he has done for much of his terrific basketball career at SMUS, Pelyhe paced the team with 13 points in the loss, while Bek Farish and Bateson added 10 apiece, and Elias Camhi Arroyave had nine.
The game capped an amazing career run at the provincials for graduating guards and co-captains Pelyhe and Parker Sheehan, who were playing in their fifth straight BC Championship tournament for SMUS.
It also concluded a season over which the Blue Jags made significant strides, from early-season struggles to second-place finishes at both the Lower Island and Island levels and a second-consecutive berth in the provincial tournament, which they entered as the 10th seed. The Senior Boys were bolstered for the Island and BC tournaments by the addition of four key members of the SMUS Junior Boys team.
“It was incredible how the Senior players so willingly welcomed the Junior boys into the mix,” said SMUS Head Coach Reagan Daly. “It was a nice legacy for some of the graduating players like Dani and Parker to mentor the younger guys. The team really got near maximizing its potential – and the first half against Langley Christian was the best basketball it played all season.”
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team will open its season with two games this week, both at home. The Blue Jags will host Esquimalt on Tuesday and Claremont on Thursday in Lower Island Tier 1 league play. Both games kick off at 3:45 pm.
The Blue Jags have moved up to AAA competition this year because of their sustained excellence for the past five seasons at the AA level. Roughly half of the players return from last year’s squad.
Junior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Junior Girls Soccer team kicked off its Lower Island league season with a solid 5-0 win over Belmont last Thursday at Goudy Turf. Pyper Tuohy earned the shutout in goal, while Elena Conde Coll, Fiona Davison, Nola Taylor, Clara Pressello, and Andy Teran each contributed goals.
“It was a solid team effort with Piper Geddes and Letizia Gruen controlling the defence,” said SMUS Coach Samantha Butler.
The Junior Girls will play host to Royal Bay at 3:45 pm this Monday in their second league game. They will also take on Reynolds on Thursday in a 3:25 pm kickoff at Braefoot.
