It was another strong and wide-ranging week for SMUS athletics, with teams and individuals delivering standout performances across the region and beyond. From championship titles in badminton and tennis to national-level success in squash, and key wins on the pitch and field, the Blue Jags continue to build momentum as the spring season heads toward Island and provincial competition.
Badminton
It was a good week for the SMUS Badminton team, which captured a gold and a bronze in the Lower Island Senior Championships last Tuesday and Thursday and then earned three first-place finishes at the Lower Island Junior Championships on Saturday.
The Senior Girls edged traditional powerhouse Mount Douglas 4-3 on Thursday at Belmont to capture their gold. Meanwhile, the SMUS Boys defeated host Belmont 7-0 to claim bronze.
Both SMUS Senior teams will take part in the Island Championships this coming Friday, with the Girls playing at SMUS and the Boys at Mount Douglas.
The Senior Girls advanced to Thursday’s final with a win by default over Oak Bay on Tuesday, after Oak Bay didn’t have enough players to form a team. The SMUS Boys dropped a close semifinal to Vic High by a 4-3 score.
“Shout out to the Doubles pair of Nicole Meng and Janette Ooi for their performance,” said SMUS Coach Lawrence Wong. “And kudos to Carl Sham for his consistent performance and sportsmanship throughout the week.”
SMUS Badminton turned in a strong performance at the Lower Island Junior Championships, which were also hosted by Belmont.
Nancy Wu and Katheryn Sun of SMUS teamed up to win the Grade 9 Girls Doubles event. Leighton Foster and Kevin Jiang of SMUS took first in Grade 10 Boys Doubles, and teammate Ellie Whitehouse earned top spot in Grade 10 Girls Singles. Sirius Wang of SMUS finished fourth in Grade 9 Boys Singles.
Tennis
The SMUS Boys captured the Lower Island Tennis team title this past week, making the Blue Jags the top South seed for the Island Championships this Monday at Brentwood College.
SMUS beat Glenlyon Norfolk 3-2 in a quarter-final playoff match the previous week. In the semifinal round, the Blue Jags edged Oak Bay by the same score. In Wednesday’s championship match, SMUS defeated Claremont 4-1.
The SMUS Boys will look to place in the top two at Islands in order to qualify for provincials.
“They are a strong crew and this is definitely achievable,” said Coach Dayton Preissl.
The SMUS Girls played hard, but lost 4-1 in a Lower Island quarter-final match to Oak Bay, which included some very close sets. The Blue Jags then beat St. Andrew’s 4-1 to place fifth.
“Unfortunately, this means they do not qualify for Islands as only the top three schools move on,” Preissl said. “They had a good season with many dedicated players that have improved a lot.”
This spring, AA and AAA schools were combined into one division, Preissl said. “This made this year’s matches even more competitive.”
Squash
SMUS Squash turned in an impressive performance at the 2026 Canadian Junior Nationals that ended last Tuesday in Vancouver.
Leading the way for the Blue Jags was Anderson Brown, who finished fourth in the Boys U19 Division and earned a spot on Team Canada for the 2026 World Junior Championships this July in St. Catherines, Ont.
Other strong showings by SMUS players included: Max Arndt, 10th in Boys U17; Kieran MacKay, 12th to 16th in Boys U17; Rakshith Arun, 12th to 16th in Boys U15; and Carsten Rodger, first consolation finalist.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team recorded a notable pair of victories last week.
The Blue Jags finished off the Lower Island Tier 1 regular season with a 3-1 win over visiting Stelly’s on Tuesday. Manon Denux scored twice to lead the Blue Jags while Crystal Cai added a single. On a day that SMUS honoured its Senior players, it was fitting that all the Blue Jags’ goals and assists came from Grade 12 players.
SMUS then kicked off the Ryan Cup Lower Island playoffs in fine fashion, scoring four straight goals to open what was eventually a 4-2 win over visiting Spectrum in a Thursday quarter-final. Mackenna Brown, Clara Pressello, Ruby Dieringer, and Denux scored for the Blue Jags in the victory.
SMUS will travel to Royal Bay for a Ryan Cup semifinal game this Tuesday, beginning at 3:30 pm.
Senior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys rolled to a convincing 45-24 win over visiting Brentwood College under sunny skies and in front of a large crowd in the annual Alumni Weekend feature rugby match on Saturday afternoon.
Santi Flores La Salvia scored a pair of tries for the Blue Jags in the victory while singles came from Drew McLeish-Shaw, Dani Pelyhe, Seb Allard, Declan Longridge, Rory Davison, and Des Grant. Grant also kicked three conversions on the day.
The Senior Boys will next see action in a Lower Island clash Thursday at Claremont, beginning at 4:45 pm.
Junior Boys Rugby
The SMUS Junior Boys Rugby team split its two games last week, easily dispatching Brentwood College 38-5 in an Alumni Weekend game on Saturday afternoon after falling 33-7 to visiting Shawnigan Lake School on Thursday.
Jasper Dingle scored a try and kicked four conversions for the Junior Jags in Saturday’s win. Graeme Shanks, Jamie Johnston, Des Farish, Daniel Hop-Hendy, and Tiger Zhong contributed single tries.
The Junior Jags struggled to get much going offensively against Shawnigan on Thursday. Toma Pittman scored the try for the Junior Jags with Dingle adding the conversion.
The Junior Boys will also travel to Claremont this Thursday for a 3:30 pm kickoff.
Senior Girls Rugby
The Senior Girls Rugby 7s team took on squads from Mount Douglas and Esquimalt in Lower Island league action on Friday afternoon at Windsor Park.
Miho Oishi and Julia Nemitz scored tries for the Blue Jags in a very competitive 17-10 loss to Mount Douglas. Rieko Hara and Nemitz crossed the line for SMUS in a 39-10 defeat against Esquimalt in the team’s second game of the day.
In action on Monday at Edward Milne, Hara scored a pair of tries and Mia Wong had a single in a 20-15 loss to St. Margaret’s. Oishi tallied the Blue Jags’ lone try in a 39-5 setback to host Edward Milne.
In their final action of the Lower Island season, the SMUS Senior Girls will play host to teams from Claremont and Belmont this Monday in games beginning at 3:45 pm.
Golf
The SMUS Varsity Golf team finished seventh out of 23 teams in the Vancouver Police Tournament held last Monday and Tuesday.
Golfers were challenged by the wind coming directly off the water at Kings Links in Delta on Monday, which was followed by a wet round at Mayfair Lakes in Richmond on Tuesday. The SMUS team was led by Ricardo Chen, who shot 75 on the opening day and an impressive one-under round of 70 on Day 2.
The tournament featured a strong field of teams from the Lower Mainland. Jerry Tai of SMUS also anchored the Blue Jags with back-to-back rounds in the 70s (77-78). Sting Zhang (78) and Austin Yang (73) also posted excellent scores on the final day of the tournament to solidify the team’s Top 10 finish.
Track and Field
SMUS Track and Field team members earned two first-place finishes in the fifth Lower Island league meet of the season last Wednesday at UVic.
Grade 10 Will Hamilton won the Junior Boys 300-metre hurdles for SMUS while Grade 12 Parker Sheehan placed first in the Senior Boys 200 metres.
Other SMUS finishers included: Tommy Hong, 4th in Senior Boys long jump; Harry Lynch, 5th in Senior Boys Long Jump; Declan Ross, 5th in Junior Boys long jump and 6th in discus; Piper Geddes, 5th in Junior Girls shot put; Caitlyn Chen, 6th in Senior Girls long jump; Finlay Hlannon, 6th in Senior Boys long jump; Kevin Yin, 7th in Senior Boys long jump; Calvin Winnett, 7th in Junior Boys discus; Seb Allard, 8th in Senior Boys discus; Rhys Beare, 9th in Junior Boys 1500 metres; and Tor Nelson, 9th in Junior Boys long jump.
The SMUS team has its sixth and final Lower Island league meet this Wednesday at UVic before heading into the Lower Island Championships on May 13.
