It was a jam packed couple of weeks on the athletic front, with athletes representing SMUS in no fewer than eight sports.
Badminton
The badminton team split a pair of league games, dropping Claremont 7-4 but not quite able to record a second straight win over Mount Douglas. Lucy Zhu and Jerry Liu played solidly, while kudos go to Skyler Ji, Mido Luo, Reven Liu and Wilson Ye for their positive attitude and exemplary leadership.
Basketball
Tristan Kuhn, selected by virtue of his fine performance in the BC AA Basketball Tournament in March, represented SMUS with distinction at the April 13 Provincial All-Star game.
Golf
At the Delta Police Golf Tournament, SMUS, thanks to even par 72s from both Sonja Tang and Jack Rothwell, finished Day 1 in second place. Unable to record similar scores in the second round, the team slipped to fourth overall. Nonetheless, the event provided wonderful preparation for the April 28-29 ISA competition, to be played at Cordova Bay Golf Course and Highland Pacific Golf Course.
Rowing
On the water, the rowing team's spring season began at Maple Bay, though unfortunately, due to high winds, only six of 20 scheduled races were completed. Nonetheless, in difficult conditions, both the U19 Women's Novice 8+ and the U19 Novice Women 4X+ topped the podium. Other crews that medalled included the U17 Men's 2X, the U17 Men's Novice 8+ and the U19 Men's 4X. Next up is the Brentwood Regatta, with some 1,500 rowers set to take part in Mill Bay April 26-28.
Rugby
In rugby, the Junior Boys enjoyed an exciting 31-31 draw at Brentwood, with the home team scoring on the final whistle to share the spoils. Then, up against a big and polished St. Georges side, SMUS, while perhaps shading the forward battle, was ruthlessly exposed out wide. Allistair Catto, newcomer Tadeo Allerding and Louis Chang all showed well.
The 1st XV had its own issues, falling to BC AA#1 Collingwood. Lock Jin Woo Park and winger Ty Olynyk both produced fine performances, with fly half Jacob Robb scoring the Jags' only try in the 32-7 loss. The squad now begins its preparations for the highly anticipated and 25th Annual Boot Game versus Oak Bay, set for the May 3-5 Alumni weekend.
Senior Girls Rugby enjoyed a tremendous 10 days, winning all seven of its seven-aside matches, first at the Claremont Scrum Fest, and then at the Island tournament. As usual, Tate Robinson, Kiri Ngawati and Morgan Warner were at the heart of the action, with Chloe Hill-Huse, Sophia Tafel and Grade 10 speedster Dasha Tosova contributing well.
Jordan Stonehouse, Eliska Slukova and Jessica Nonay were others who impressed. The whole group displayed great spirit and learned many valuable lessons in advance of its upcoming trip to the CAIS tournament in Ontario.
Soccer
In soccer, the Senior Girls recovered from an unexpected slip up at Esquimalt to win the bronze medal at the UVic Invitational Tournament. Goals from Margo Leggatt and Claire Pontefract, and then Nesha Colgate and Elizabeth Hyde, secured a pair of 2-0 victories over Mt. Boucherie and Shawnigan Lake School. After a 1-0 loss to Oak Bay in the semi-final, the team rebounded to defeat Glenlyon Norfolk School, thanks to a Pontefract strike. Claudia Murr was rock solid in goal, while the tireless Meredith Selwood excelled in the stopper position.
Back in league action versus Parkland, SMUS won 5-0, with Pontefract (2), Maggie Fekete, Claire Southgate and Diya Courty-Stephens on the score sheet.
Meanwhile, the Junior Girls made light of their relative inexperience to go on a three game unbeaten streak. After a hard fought 2-2 tie versus Belmont, the Blue Jags accounted for Mount Douglas 3-1 and then GNS 4-0. Lauren Withers, Marbella Ramirez-Rodriguez and Anna Brinham were all prominent, while captain Julia McDermott ran miles in the midfield.
Squash
Seven SMUS athletes travelled to Edmonton to participate in the Canadian National Squash Championships. Congratulations to all, in particular Jay Herring, who defeated the tournament No. 2 seed 15-13 in a fifth game on his way to a highly credible 7th place finish in the U17 Boys Division. Likewise, in the U17 Girls competition, Alex Brown also performed extremely well to place 7th.
Tennis
After its league opener was postponed due to rain, SMUS tennis moved on to an Invitational Doubles tournament at Brentwood. Max Zhang and Nemesio Artola played extremely well to reach the A Division final, with teammates Ben Fyfe and Turay Akdogan, themselves semi-final winners, providing the opposition. In the end, after a very close match, the former pair claimed the title. Back in town, SMUS edged Oak Bay 6-5 in league action.
Track and Field
In track and field, both Preetinder Dhillon and Chika Duru made big improvements in the shot put event, while Angelina Shandro continued to dominate the Senior Girls' sprints, with wins in the 100, 200 and 400m races. Two Grade 9 boys also left their mark, with Calum Webber-Smith successful in the sprints and Tion McLeish running a blistering 1500m.
