Boys Rugby
A mixed Grade 10, 11 and 12 SMUS Boys Rugby side hosted an Australian touring team from Central Coast Grammar School last Thursday afternoon.
The visitors made a statement in the first half, showing zero signs of jetlag as they raced out to a 21-5 lead by halftime. Grade 10 Declan Longridge notched the solo SMUS try.
With a few key players returning to their regular positions, the Blue Jags were able to keep things much closer in the second half with tries from Marcus Lam and Tristan Mo. But they weren’t able to keep the Aussies out and ultimately dropped this exhibition contest by a 35-17 margin. All the Grade 10s who played up for SMUS performed admirably.
Next up for SMUS Boys Rugby is an Oak Bay doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at UVic’s Wallace Field. The Juniors will begin at 4 pm and the seniors will kick off in the annual Boot Game at 5:30 pm.
“Hopefully we can get a big SMUS crowd out to both of those games in red, white, black and blue as we look to claim the Rees Boot back from Oak Bay who have been dominating this contest for the past few years,” said Blue Jags Coach Wonjin Kim.
BC High School Boys Rugby Player of the Week
SMUS Senior Boys scrum-half Markus Djurickovic has been honoured as the Vancouver Highlanders provincial boys rugby player of the week.
“All season, Markus has set the tempo for our backline from the 9 position,” said Kim. “Dedicated, skilled, and humble, he embodies our school’s core values on and off the pitch.”
Djurickovic was handed the captaincy for the game vs. the Australian touring side. “Markus is establishing himself as an important leader on our first XV despite being in Grade 11,” Kim added. “In the game against the Aussie touring side, Markus played up to his usual high standard, arriving to the breakdown with composure and zipping the ball away without fuss. On the other side of the ball, he tackled effectively and covered the backfield well.”
Senior Girls Rugby
The Senior Girls Rugby team is coming off a long week. With sevens games last Monday and Friday, the Blue Jags have been making good use of their full roster.
On Friday at Oak Bay, SMUS split its two games, losing 22-10 to the host school and then beating Claremont 14-5.
“While we may not have come out on top in the game against Oak Bay, the Senior Girls saw some amazing work from all 16 of the rostered players,” said Coach Morgan Warner. “Newcomer Shawn Vink had a particularly wonderful match as she confidently made tackles and executed footwork on the wing.” SMUS trailed 10-5 at the half and Oak Bay extended its victory margin with a last-minute try at the end of the game.
“The game against Claremont proved to be quite the battle,” Warner said. “With superior leadership coming from Harper May and Sam Robinson, brave tackles from Taylor MacDonald and Moe Ohara, and amazing intensity from Alex Motherwell, the Blue Jags came out on top.”
Motherwell and Ruki Madzimure had a try each in both games Friday for the Blue Jags. Against Claremont, Madzimure put the first points on the board, which settled the SMUS nerves. Motherwell scored a stunning intercept try and ran 70 metres to score right below the posts to give SMUS a 14-0 lead. Claremont scored in the dying seconds.
On Monday at home, SMUS beat Stelly’s and Belmont by 34-5 and 36-5 scores, respectively. MacDonald was the player of the match against Stelly’s with two tries, physical play and dominant tackles. Madzimure had three tries in the win over Belmont.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team had another jam-packed week, tying Spectrum 1-1 in a league game on Tuesday and then winning three out of four games to take the bronze medal in the Vikes Tournament on Thursday and Friday at UVic.
The Blue Jags picked up a lone point against Spectrum with the draw, controlling the game from start to finish. After some nifty passing from the back to the front, Maddy Albert was able to shake off her defender and finish a breakaway to put the Jags up 1-0.
A late goal off a missed defensive clear gave Spectrum its only real chance of the game.
“With league play nearing the end, points are crucial,” said Coach Jackie Cunningham, whose team is now 2-2-1 in Lower Island league play.
The Blue Jags played a gruelling schedule in the annual Vikes Tournament, with four games packed into two days. They earned the bronze with a 4-1 win over Oak Bay on Friday afternoon as Joss Olcen scored twice with singles coming from Bhavneet Aujla and Albert.
SMUS opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Shawnigan Lake School as Kate Fraser provided the lone goal required. The Blue Jags then defeated South Delta 2-1 on penalty kicks as Olcen notched their regulation goal. Albert had the lone SMUS marker in the semifinal as the Blue Jags eventually lost 2-1 in penalty kicks.
SMUS will host Stelly’s in a league game this Tuesday at 3:45 pm before playing host to the Independent Schools Athletic Association (ISAA) Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Junior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Junior Girls soccer team enjoyed a terrific week, winning both its games – beating Royal Bay 2-1 on the road Monday and defeating visiting Belmont 4-2 on Thursday.
Mackenna Brown and Manon Denux scored goals for the Blue Jags in Monday’s win. Brown added two more goals in the Thursday victory, with singles coming from Ellie Lobb and Kate McQueen.
SMUS Coach Samantha Butler said the Thursday win was particularly hard-fought. “This game saw some of the toughest play of the season,” she said.
SMUS finished the Lower Island regular season in third place with a 3-2 record and now moves into the playoffs. The Blue Jags will host Oak Bay on Thursday in a quarter-final at 3:45 pm. SMUS will also host the ISAA Junior Tournament on Friday and Saturday, with the Junior Jags playing on Friday at both 10:45 am and 5 pm.
Both SMUS Girls Soccer teams would appreciate any and all fan support for the ISAA Tournament.
Badminton
The SMUS Badminton team picked up two more Lower Island league victories this past week.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jags beat Mount Douglas 7-4, which marked SMUS’ first win against the rival Rams in two years. The boys’ doubles tandem of Alan Wang and Kyle Shek led the way with early wins, while YouLan Li got her first big win in girls’ singles.
On Thursday, SMUS hosted Claremont and earned another 7-4 victory.
SMUS will travel to Oak Bay for another league match on Tuesday.
Tennis
The SMUS Tennis team enjoyed a successful ISAA tournament on Tuesday at the University of British Columbia.
Undefeated singles performances by Bianca Toaxen and Michael Liu earned third-place finishes for both the SMUS Girls and Boys.
SMUS plays its first league match of the season against Glenlyon-Norfolk School this Wednesday at 3:30 pm on the Henderson courts. On Friday, the Blue Jags will play a friendly exhibition against Queen Margaret’s School.
SMUS Athletes of the Month
Two standouts from SMUS Rugby’s spring break tour of France and Italy have been honoured as Athletes of the Month for the Senior School.
Sam Robinson, a Grade 12 with the Senior Girls team, was selected as forward captain and was a key to the Blue Jags’ success on the tour. Robinson led from the front with dominant ball-carrying and physicality in defence, and her transition from fifteens to sevens rugby since the break has been seamless.
Rohan Lee, the Grade 12 No. 8 and outside centre for the Senior Boys team, also had a standout tour and has been instrumental in the Blue Jags’ undefeated season so far in BC. Lee combines dominant tackling, powerful running, silky hands and a quiet confidence to be an indispensable player for SMUS.
