Cross Country
The cross country season finished in style, with 12 Blue Jag athletes traveling to Abbotsford for the BC championships. Four different race categories each featured more than 250 runners, with superb weather and a grassy, flat terrain promising some excellent times.
In the end, the day belonged to Tion McLeish. A relative newcomer to the provincial scene, the Grade 10 student capped a remarkable season by blowing away a strong Junior Boys field over 4 km, winning comfortably in a time of 12:44.01. Calum Webber-Smith, Diamond Haripottawekul and MudMee Khankham also performed well at the Junior Boys level.
At the Senior Girls level, Izzy Champion enjoyed an excellent outing, finishing in 41st place. Kristina Matthews also ran strongly, while Lauren Randall-Guy, Alanna Henry, Nika Klenz, Nadine Reis and Angel Lan each produced their best races of the term.
Soccer
The Senior Boys Soccer squad took on Claremont in the quarterfinals of the Colonist Cup, turning in a top effort in winning 1-0. A back four of Ben Shaw, Erik Peters, Adam Roberts and Paul Mueller, backstopped by goalie Philip Doerfler, kept the Spartans at bay. Late in the first half, an Andres Vega Perez cross created havoc in the opposition penalty area, with Sahaj Grewal slotting home from the ensuing goalmouth scramble.
The SMUS-hosted Island AA tournament is on today at Braefoot Park. The Blue Jags enter play as the top South seed.
Volleyball
The Senior Boys Volleyball team went through final playoff preparations, beating both Lambrick Park and Spectrum in straight sets. Then, at the Oak Bay Invitational, SMUS took out AAA No. 10 ranked Semiahmoo, as well as going to five sets with highly rated Dover Bay and Pacific Christian School.
Karter Fry, Peter King and Ben Beattie paced the attack with some big hits, with Jack Kelley, Mark Finamore and Matias Totz also prominent at the net.
The Senior Girls, after two tough matches versus Stelly's and Vic High, did just enough to claim the third South Island berth to the November 15-16 Island AAA tournament in Campbell River. Jasper Delichte and Anna Brinham both played very solidly.
At the Junior Girls Development level, SMUS found the going tough against Glenlyon Norfolk School, Mount Douglas and Stelly's. Patty Boonsermmit served impressively and registered some powerful strikes.
Padel
Last month Grade 9 student Lémiel Hoy represented Japan at the 12th Junior Padel World Championships in Spain. (Padel is a racquet sport that combines aspects of tennis and squash.) He competed on the U16 team, and helped the team secure team wins against Belgium and the United States. Japan finished the tournament in a respectable 11th out of 16 teams. Lémiel already has his sights set on representing Japan once again at the next World Junior Padel Tournament in 2021.
