Badminton
The SMUS Badminton team captured three medals on Thursday as the Blue Jags hosted eight other schools for the Independent Schools Athletic Association Tournament.
The SMUS Boys captured silver, falling short to repeating champion St. George’s School of Vancouver despite valiant efforts by Blue Jags Kyle Shek and Alan Wang. The SMUS Girls ‘A’ team earned bronze, thanks in large part to YouLan Li’s singles victory and a tight tie-breaking game by Memi Sonsophon and Nicole Meng.
The SMUS Girls ‘B’ team, consisting mostly of junior players, had an amazing day and took the silver in its division. Yanyu Zhang was a standout performer for the ‘B’ team.
The SMUS Badminton team also saw its first Lower Island league action this past Tuesday against Oak Bay. After some close matches, the Blue Jags managed to prevail 7-4. Ian Chan and Catelyn Lee led SMUS in the victory.
This week, the SMUS team will visit Mount Douglas on Tuesday before hosting Claremont on Thursday. The Blue Jags would appreciate any and all fan support for those matches, which begin at 3:45 pm.
Squash
SMUS Squash team members have turned in some notable performances in recent competition, highlighted by two silver-medal showings from Anderson Brown in the U17 category.
Brown placed second in U17 at the BC Closed (provincials) tournament played in mid-March at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club. Teammate Lucas Quon also earned a second-place finish at that event in the U19 division.
Brown then captured a silver medal in the Ontario Junior Open, a National Junior Circuit event, held April 5 to 7 at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Brown lost a close 3-2 match in the final of that tournament.
The SMUS Squash team is now preparing for its last event of the season, the Nationals, which will be held April 27 to 30 in Calgary. Six Senior School athletes will represent SMUS in that tournament – Quon, Brown, Roshan Pathak, Mila Lampa, Max Arndt and Kieran MacKay.
Rowing
The SMUS Rowing team turned in an impressive showing at the Maple Bay Regatta on Quamichan Lake over the weekend, winning two gold, five silver and three bronze medals.
SMUS raced against local clubs (Maple Bay, Nanaimo, Victoria City Rowing Club and Salt Spring Island) as well as the Vancouver Rowing Club and other Vancouver Island schools (Claremont, Brentwood and Shawnigan).
“Our racing was filled with a little bit of everything – solid results, sun and wind,” said Head of Rowing Susanne Walker Curry. “The athletes had the opportunity to witness several Canadian national team crews training as they prepare for the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. The U19 men’s 8+s had the pleasure of racing alongside the Canadian Women’s 8+, reigning Olympic Champions, as they joined their final as a training exercise.”
SMUS gold medals in the regatta came from the U17 women 4+ and U17 men 4X+. Earning silver medals for SMUS were the U19 63kg women 2X, U17 women 8+, U17 women 4X+, U19 men novice 4X+ and U19 men novice 8+. SMUS U19 men 8+, U19 women 4X- and U17 men 4+ captured bronze.
The next racing event for SMUS Rowing will be the Brentwood College Regatta, April 26 to 28 at Mill Bay.
Track and Field
SMUS track and field athletes turned in some notable performances in Week 2 of Lower Island league competition at the University of Victoria.
Standout boys’ efforts included Grade 12 athlete Leupold Wang successfully clearing 1.80m in high jump for his season-opener after he finished first overall in the previous week’s long jump competition with a 5.83m effort. SMUS Grade 10 Tommy Hong cleared 1.65 in his high jump season-opener, finishing second overall in the event.
The SMUS Senior Girls had a good showing in the 100m with three Top 10 finishes. The previous week, they managed three Top 8 finishes in the 200m.
Girls Rugby
SMUS Girls Rugby enjoyed a terrific week, highlighted by a program-record 38 girls attending practice on Thursday.
That was followed up nicely on Friday, when two Senior SMUS sevens teams went undefeated to win their divisions in the Epilepsy Awareness Jamboree at MacDonald Park in James Bay.
The SMUS ‘A’ side earned a close 12-7 win against Claremont as well as convincing victories against Oak Bay (24-7) and Belmont (39-0). Standout players for SMUS included Sammi Robinson in the forwards (and on the wing); speedster Ruki Madzimure with inspired play, tackles and artful footwork; captain Harper May with great tackling and leadership; Taylor MacDonald with some fine kicking; and Chioma Duru, returning to the squad as a force in tackling, counter-rucking and scoring.
“It was a great team effort, though, and it is difficult to name just a few players,” said Coach Ian Farish.
The SMUS ‘B’ team also went unbeaten with wins over Claremont ‘B’, Lambrick Park and Vic High.
“It was Sasha Cruz and Ivanna Wu leading the charge with determined running and scoring, supported by amazing team play throughout the squad. Great tackles, and so many firsts ... first games for several, first tackles for many, and first tries on the same day!” Farish said.
Three Junior players joined the Senior squad – Mia Wong and Sonia Naimi shared scrumhalf duties and Lily Ford, in the scrum, also earned her first try. Sophia Emelianenko did some fantastic kicking for the ‘B’ squad, and she added several tackles.
“Thanks to coaches Morgan Warner '19 and Chloe Hill-Huse '20 for their fine work with the girls!” Farish said.
Last Monday, 18 members of the Junior Girls team played informal exhibition sevens games at Esquimalt versus Stelly’s and Belmont. Although it rained hard, the girls played with tremendous spirit. Many were playing their first games and making their first tackles.
“It was a fine effort in difficult conditions, and the result was a sense of pride among the squad with some great learning along the way,” Farish said.
Boys Rugby
The SMUS Senior Boys shook off a slow start due to “ferry legs” to record an impressive 54-24 win over the Rockridge Ravens in an exhibition 15s match on Saturday at Klahanie Park in North Vancouver.
Blue Jag tries came from Sam Gramada (2), Zaki Pelyhe, Rohan Lee, Braxton Lechner, Savo Mrdjenovich, Will Woods and Emad Al Khusaibi. Jack Driscoll went seven-for-eight off the tee and was voted Player of the Match by the Rockridge coaches. Rhys Tuohy played well in the forwards and Gramada was the standout in the backline.
The Senior Boys will play host to Central Coast Grammar from Australia in an exhibition game this Thursday. Kick off is 3:45 pm.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team returned to play this past week with back-to-back competitive Lower Island Tier 1 games, beating visiting Royal Bay 1-0 on Tuesday before falling by the same score to Reynolds on Thursday at Braefoot.
The Jags dominated play from the opening whistle against Royal Bay, although they struggled to find the back of the net. Mid-way through the second half, SMUS broke down the Ravens’ back line and Joss Olcen got the winner off a wonderful pass from Maddy Albert. Monika Jurkovcova earned her first shut-out in the Blue Jags’ net.
On Thursday at Braefoot, SMUS once again dominated possession and created several scoring chances but was unable to capitalize. Reynolds scored on a quick counter attack to take a 1-0 lead into the half. The Reynolds goalkeeper made several outstanding saves to keep the game locked down at 1-0.
The Blue Jags return to action at home this Tuesday at 3:45 pm. against the Spectrum Thunder. They follow up that game with the annual Vikes Invitational tournament on Thursday and Friday.
Junior Girls Soccer
The Junior Girls Soccer team split its games last week.
The Junior Jags recorded a decisive 7-2 win on Monday over Vic High, showing their depth as all players contributed during the high-scoring game.
SMUS fell 4-2 on Thursday to visiting Reynolds. “But the two beautiful goals scored by the exceptional Mackenna Brown are a strong indication of good things to come,” said Coach Samantha Butler.
