It was a week of standout performances and season-defining moments across SMUS Athletics. The Cross Country team battled through rain and mud to qualify multiple runners and teams for the BC Championships, while the Senior Girls Field Hockey squad capped an undefeated league season ahead of a pair of championship showdowns. On the courts, Blue Jags volleyball teams impressed at tournaments and playoff qualifiers, squash athletes swept the podium at the BC Junior Gold event, and the Senior Boys Soccer team showed determination in a thrilling Colonist Cup semifinal.
Cross Country
The SMUS Cross Country team enjoyed a strong day at the Island Championships held last Wednesday in soggy conditions at Beaver Lake. The SMUS Senior Boys and Junior Girls teams qualified for the BC Championships, which will be run this coming Saturday at Arbutus Meadows in Nanoose Bay.
“In all, 22 SMUS runners took part in what was a difficult [Island] course, featuring many mucky and slippery sections,” said Blue Jags Head Coach Jeff Hunt.
Finlay Hlannon turned in the top SMUS finish with a fourth-place result overall among Island AA runners, helping the Senior Boys to a second-place overall team finish.
“The Senior Boys team took to their race and attacked their competitors in packs, passing them with decisiveness,” Hunt said.
Other members of the BC-bound SMUS Senior Boys team are Alex Wessling, Isaac Ren, Henri Jungkind, Michael Carpiano, Pascal Krawez and Anthony Kavalenka.
The SMUS Junior Girls “fought well to stay in the thick of things” and ended up with a sixth-place finish, also qualifying for the provincial championships. The top SMUS Junior Girls runner was Natalie DiFelice Oinonen, who finished 11th overall. Other members of the Blue Jags Junior Girls team heading to the BC meet are Piper Geddes, Ella Buckley, Aleysia Accad, Rieko Hara, Allegra Tollkin, and Hana Ota.
“In the Senior Girls event, the rain pounded down on the competitors, but it did not stop us from posting some of our best times of the season,” Hunt said.
SMUS runner Rina Chida, who finished seventh overall among Island AA runners, qualified as an individual competitor for the BC meet. The SMUS Senior Girls team finished fifth on the Island and did not qualify.
Squash
Ten athletes from the SMUS Squash Elite and A teams travelled to Vancouver this past weekend to compete at the Arbutus Club BC Junior Gold event, highlighted by a medal sweep for the Blue Jags in the Boys U19 category.
Keith Alexander of SMUS placed first in that category, followed by teammates Justin Tam and Rory Davison in second and third, respectively.
Max Arndt of SMUS had a standout weekend in the Boys U17 draw, finishing second. He won both his quarterfinal and semifinal by 3-0 margins to make it to Sunday’s final. In the final, Arndt put up a good fight against the top seed, but lost 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 12-10).
Liam Wilkinson had a successful weekend, playing in his first tournament outside of Victoria. In his consolation final match, he lost 3-2 (9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 6-11, 14-12) and placed sixth in Boys U15.
Eight SMUS athletes are heading to Calgary Nov. 7 to 9 to compete at the Alberta Jesters NJC Platinum event.
Senior Girls Field Hockey
The SMUS-1 Competitive team played its final league game against Claremont last Monday, winning comfortably by a 5-0 margin. Mackenna Brown scored a hat trick to lead the Blue Jags, who also got a goal apiece from Kate McQueen and Talia Klenz as they ended their regular season with a perfect record.
SMUS then entered the neatly named Golden Pumpkin tournament in Surrey this past Thursday and Friday. It was an exhibition tournament that allowed the team to gain more experience and fine tune line ups and strategies heading in to the final stretch of the season. On the opening day, the Blue Jags fell 1-0 to GW Graham of Chilliwack before playing to a scoreless draw with a very good Handsworth Junior team.
On Friday morning, Julia Nemitz scored twice and Brown once as SMUS blanked Argyle 3-0 in a torrential downpour. The Blue Jags followed that up with another 0-0 tie against the Handsworth Juniors.
The SMUS goalkeeping tandem of Emma Knoblochova and Ailo Streitel only conceded one goal over four games in the tournament. The Blue Jags finished first in their round robin Friday and fourth overall out of six teams in Tier 1 of the tournament.
The SMUS-1 squad will play in this Monday’s May Tully Shield game at UVic, beginning at 4:00 pm. The Blue Jags’ opponent for that game, which will determine the best team on the Lower Island, will be AA Glenlyon Norfolk, who finished second at the AA Islands this past weekend. The Blue Jags will also play Qu’wutsun in the Island AAA final this Thursday at UVic, beginning at 4:30 pm.
The SMUS-2 team will wrap up its season with the Tier 2 Island championships, which SMUS is hosting all day Tuesday at UVic.
Senior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Senior Boys Soccer team put up a terrific battle against host Oak Bay on Thursday afternoon in a Colonist Cup semifinal, ultimately falling in extra penalty kicks after the teams played to a dramatic 3-3 draw.
Oak Bay led by 2-0 and 3-2 margins, but the Blue Jags fought back from both deficits to force a 3-3 tie through regulation and extra time. Milann Wenham led SMUS with two goals in the game while Joe MacKenzie-Elrick added a single.
The Blue Jags reached the semifinal by edging visiting Claremont 2-1 in a Colonist Cup Challenge game on Tuesday afternoon. Manu Achuthan scored in the first half for SMUS and the Jags got their second on a Claremont own-goal off a quality corner kick taken by MacKenzie-Elrick.
SMUS will now focus on preparations for the Island AA Championships Nov. 3 and 4 in Campbell River. It will enter that tournament as the South Island’s top seed.
Junior Boys Soccer
The season came to an end last Monday for the SMUS Junior Boys Soccer team with a hard-fought 5-4 loss to visiting Claremont in the Lower Island third-place game.
Claremont scored early in the contest despite SMUS having numerous chances of its own. Tor Nelson tied the game for the Junior Jags on a fantastic free kick, but the Spartans went ahead again 2-1 with another goal just before half.
SMUS came out with constant pressure in the second half. Chance after chance for the Jags were either just missed, blocked, or hit the crossbar. Finally, Oscar Pressello found space and reacted to a loose ball in the box to tie the game at 2-2.
Moments later, however, Claremont went ahead yet again with a counter-attack. SMUS never gave up and pushed forward with Alex MacKay scoring on a fast attack.
With the game tied once again, Claremont was awarded an unusual free kick just outside the box and the visitors fired it home to take a 4-3 advantage. The Blue Jags knew they had to push but they fell behind 5-3 when Claremont found the net again with under five minutes remaining.
“This team does not know how to quit, and they all pushed ahead, led by outstanding play by Avery Mavrikos, Graeme Shanks, and Jerome Chan,” said SMUS Head Coach Kevin Mennie.
With one minute remaining, a SMUS player was tripped and the Jags were awarded a penalty shot. MacKay, the team’s scoring leader this season, drilled the ball into the back of the net and SMUS rushed back for the kickoff.
“The whistle blew moments later, sadly ending the boys’ season, in which they finished second in the league but did not advance to Islands,” Mennie said. “Coach Kelsey [Boudreau] and I are extremely proud of the fight this team showed all year long. They should be proud of their efforts against much bigger AAA schools.”
Senior Girls Volleyball
The Senior Girls Volleyball team finished sixth in the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) tournament held this past Friday and Saturday at Brentwood College.
The Blue Jags won two of their four preliminary matches on Friday to finish third in their pool. SMUS beat Shawnigan Lake School (25-19, 27-25) and Mulgrave (25-20, 25-15) and lost to both Crofton House (15-25, 13-25) and Southridge (11-25, 25-23, 10-15).
In Saturday’s action, the Blue Jags lost to West Point Grey Academy (23-25, 12-25) and Southridge for a second time (26-24, 12-25, 13-15).
The Senior Girls also travelled to Esquimalt Secondary for Lower Island Tier 1 league action last Tuesday night. The Blue Jags split with Stelly’s (21-25, 25-22) and lost to both Brookes Westshore (12-25, 18-25) and Esquimalt (23-25, 19-25).
The Blue Jags will begin Lower Island AAA playoffs this Tuesday, hosting Edward Milne in a best-of-five match beginning at 6 pm. SMUS fans are asked to come out and wear white to support the Senior Girls.
Junior Girls Volleyball
It was a huge week for SMUS Junior Girls Volleyball, highlighted by exciting matches and continued growth across the roster, said Assistant Coach Jake Insley.
The week began with tight battles at Belmont against Royal Bay, Lambrick, and the host team. “The girls fought with focus and joy finishing the day with a 4-2 record, placing them seventh in the city and earning a spot at the Lower Island championships this weekend at Stelly’s.”
SMUS also hosted the two-day ISAA Junior tournament this past weekend, with the Blue Jags finishing fifth overall. “The event was a fantastic showcase of competition and school spirit, with the team posting several strong performances,” Insley said.
“Grace and Clara delivered multiple monster blocks at the net, Fiona fired off fierce jump serves, and Ally powered through with explosive attacks. Addie and Natalie provided steady, precise setting throughout the weekend, while Angelina and Lisa came up clutch with fearless digs and dives on defence.”
“The growth of this group over the past two months has been nothing short of inspiring – a testament to their work ethic, positivity, and love for the game.”
The SMUS Junior Girls will begin the Lower Island playoffs on Thursday at Stelly’s by facing No. 2-seed Spectrum in a 4:45 pm matchup.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Junior Girls Development team played some excellent volleyball at Parkland last week, winning three sets to clinch third-place heading into playoffs.
“Libero Iben Hamilton consistently dug up all that she was given, with Siena Michel and Elia Webster Guillan getting in some great hits to put their team ahead,” said Coach Samantha Butler. “The team played in the ISAAs this past weekend, meeting some stiff competition, which they used to improve their game play.”
The Junior Development team plays at Spectrum this Monday in its final games of the season.
Senior Boys Volleyball
The SMUS Senior Boys Volleyball team enjoyed a successful week, winning all six of its Lower Island league games at Parkland on Wednesday and then reaching the semifinals of a tournament at Comox Highland on the weekend.
In Wednesday’s league action, the Blue Jags went undefeated, beating Esquimalt (25-17, 25-19), host Parkland (25-6, 25-5), and Glenylon Norfolk (25-12, 25-12).
The Blue Jags opened the Highland tournament by winning both their matches on Friday to top their preliminary pool. SMUS beat Wellington of Nanaimo (25-20, 25-21) in its first match before downing host Highland (18-25, 25-18,15-13). “It was an awesome match – super high energy,” said SMUS Head Coach Brady Doland.
On Saturday, the Jags defeated Royal Bay in a quarterfinal (18-25, 25-23,15-9) to move into a semifinal against Vanier of Courtenay. The Blue Jags dropped that match to the Towhees (17-25, 28-30) before losing a rematch with Highland (23-25,16-25) to finish fourth overall.
The Blue Jags now look forward to Lower Island AA playoffs beginning Nov. 5 at Parkland.
Junior Boys Volleyball
The SMUS Junior Boys recorded a split and a loss in two Lower Island Volleyball league matches on Thursday at SMUS. The host Junior Jags split with Oak Bay (25-14, 20-25) after losing two straight to Lambrick Park (17-25, 17-25).
The Junior Boys will take part in the eight-team Lower Island playoffs this Thursday at Pacific Christian. The Blue Jags, who finished fourth in their division in the regular season, are in Pool B with Claremont A, Vic High Black and host PCS. The top six teams from Thursday’s preliminary round move into the second day of the championships on Friday at Claremont.
