Golf
The five-member SMUS Golf team participated in the Independent Schools Athletic Association championships this past week in Squamish.
SMUS lost its first match to host St. George’s before beating Brentwood College in its second match. Hayden Keens sunk a five-foot putt on the final hole with a gallery of players watching to clinch his match and the SMUS team victory.
The consolation final match ended in a tie between SMUS and Collingwood.
Tennis
The SMUS Tennis team is also headed to provincials after a second-place finish in the Island Championships this past week.
The Blue Jags entered the Island tournament as the South Island’s top seed. They beat Queen Margaret’s and Shawnigan Lake School in early matches to set up the final against rival Brentwood College.
Wataru Yamano and Lucas Quon closed a 5-2 deficit to even out the set score at 3-3 going into a tight second half of the Island final match. However, Brentwood ultimately emerged with an 8-3 victory.
SMUS will still take a strong Island No. 2 seed into the provincial tournament May 23 to 25 in Burnaby.
“SMUS tennis now looks to polish some match play with exhibitions against GNS and Oak Bay before taking the battle to the Mainland,” said Coach Chris Freitag.
Badminton
The SMUS Badminton team earned a second-place finish in Friday’s Island Championship tournament at Mount Douglas and has qualified for the provincial tournament May 30 to June 1 in Langley.
The Blue Jags won three straight matches at the Island event before falling 8-3 to the host Rams in the final.
SMUS beat Queen Margaret’s of Duncan 10-1 in the first round and followed that up with a 9-2 decision over Shawnigan Lake School. In a semifinal, the Blue Jags beat Oak Bay 8-3.
The Girls Doubles team of Memi Sonsophon and YouLan Li clinched the semifinal against Oak Bay with a key win. Tenth-Grader Nicole Meng stepped up to play in Girls Singles and performed admirably for SMUS.
In Monday’s Grade 10 Lower Island tournament, the Girls Doubles team of Sunny Fan and Nicole Li captured first place after a tie-breaking game against Glenlyon-Norfolk School. Kimberly Koo placed second in Girls Singles, losing to an opponent from Spectrum. The SMUS girls also claimed the first-place team ribbon.
In Boys Doubles, Elmond Aphiwetsa and Hayes Wong finished second behind Mount Douglas while Tommy Hong placed third in Boys Singles.
Sailing
The SMUS Sailing team enjoyed its first regatta of the season – the Discovery Cup – on Saturday at Cadboro Bay. The conditions were fabulous with a gentle breeze and warm, sunny weather.
Notable SMUS performances came from Grade 9 Sofia Mainprize and Grade 10 Angel Guan, who each won both of their races. Grade 9 Siena Gill and Grade 11 Tina Wang finished first and third, as did Grade 9s Mathilda Fletcher and Bronwyn Ellis.
“The regatta was competitive and close, with over 100 sailors from local schools, and it was great to see the SMUS sailors picking up first- and second-places,” said Coach David Kerr.
Each SMUS team featured 12 sailors with a skipper and crew in each dinghy, and they were evenly matched. SMUS 2 was victorious over SMUS 1.
Rowing
The SMUS Rowing team enjoyed a tremendous weekend at the Shawnigan Lake Regatta, earning 13 medals and placing 17 crews in the top four in their events and 20 crews in the top eight.
Finishing first in their events were the SMUS U17 Womens 4+ (Juliet Crowe, Clara Curry, Braelyn Rowan, Mira Wirk and Cox Emily McMillan); the U19 Mixed 2X (Marlene Dietrich, Tiger Zhang), the U17 Novice Women’s 4X+ (Elise Gomori, Liz Hardcastle, Bianca Batoni, Lucy Turnbull and Cox Emily McMillan); the U17 JV Men’s 4+ (Leo Denis, Jiahan Lai, Tristan Salter, William Zeng and Cox Bianca Batoni) and the U17 JV Women’s 4+ (Juliet Crowe, Clara Curry, Braelyn Rowan, Mira Wirk and Cox Emily McMillan).
Five SMUS crews earned silver medals, including: U17 Novice Men’s 4X+ (Will Delisle, Lucas Zhou, Joey Gao, Jiahan Lai and Cox Jaclyn Chow); U19 Novice Men’s 4X+ (Lucas Zhou, Joey Gao, Liam Haberl, Sam Kriegler and Cox Noah Melo); U19 72kg. Men’s 4+ (Brady Hsu, Danny Kotze, Sam Kriegler, Oliver Pressello and Cox Jaieme Aubertin; U19 Mixed 4X- (Marlene Dietrich, Pippa Hlannon, Oliver Pressello, Tiger Zhang); and U17 Women’s 4X+ (Juliet Crowe, Clara Curry, Braelyn Rowan, Liz Hardcastle and Cox Emily McMillan).
Capturing bronze medals for SMUS were: U19 63kg. Women’s 4+ (Rowan Denis, Jaclyn Chow, Pippa Hlannon, Claire Lawler and Cox Caroline Tam); U17 Novice Men’s 2X (Lucas Zhou, Joey Gao); and U19 JV Women’s 4+ (Rowan Denis, Jaclyn Chow, Pippa Hlannon, Claire Lawler and Cox Caroline Tam).
Twenty-three SMUS athletes will now train in preparation for the Canadian Secondary School Rowing Association Championships May 31 to June 2 in St. Catherine’s, Ont.
Senior Girls Soccer
The SMUS Senior Girls Soccer team dropped a 3-2 decision to host Royal Bay in an exciting Ryan Cup semifinal last Tuesday.
After squandering several scoring chances in the opening 20 minutes of the game, the Blue Jags found themselves down 1-0 at the break due to a quick Ravens’ counterattack.
SMUS emerged from half-time flying and Maddy Albert potted the tying goal within a minute of the second half starting. The Ravens struck again part way through the second half and the game ramped up at that point.
The Jags poured on the pressure trying for the tying goal. With two minutes left in regulation, Wynn Brown stepped up and hit a banger in the top corner beating the Ravens’ goalkeeper. However, in the final minute, Royal Bay attacked the SMUS goal and took advantage of a deflection to net the game-winner.
“It was a disappointing outcome for SMUS, but nevertheless good preparation for the Island Championships this Monday and Tuesday at Blue Heron Turf in Sidney,” said Head Coach Jackie Cunningham.
Girls Rugby
The SMUS Junior Girls Rugby team took part in a jamboree at Stelly’s Secondary this past Friday. The Blue Jags played with grit and commitment during a 10-10 tie with host Stelly’s and a 10-0 loss to Esquimalt.
The Senior Girls Rugby team didn’t play this past week but will compete in the Island Championships this Monday and Tuesday at Esquimalt Secondary. The Blue Jags are the South Island’s top seed and will be playing for a berth in the BC Championships.
Boys Rugby
Parker Sheehan crossed the line for four tries to earn MVP honours and spur the SMUS Junior Boys Rugby team to a 52-28 win over visiting Oak Bay in an Island semifinal playoff game this past Friday.
Hiromu Ohara scored his first try for the Blue Jags in the victory, while other SMUS tries came from Declan Longridge, Santi Flores and Seb Ely.
The win moves SMUS into the Island final against Shawnigan Lake School on Thursday at Brentwood College.
Meanwhile, the SMUS Senior Boys Rugby team did not play this past week. The Blue Jags spent the week preparing for the AA Island final this coming Thursday at Brentwood in a 2:30 pm kickoff.
Track and Field
SMUS Track and Field team members turned in a number of notable performances during last week’s Lower Island league meet at UVic.
Grade 12 Leupold Wang finished first in both the triple jump and high jump. In the Junior Boys pole vault, Martin Winnett placed first and Finlay Hlannon was third.
SMUS runner Owen Sandquist-Sherman placed third in the 3,000 metres while teammate Luc Denux was fifth. Nella Meinecke earned a fourth-place finish in the 3,000.
Sprinters Gabriel Glyb, Aaron Gill and Abby McLeish-Shaw each placed first in their 100-metre heat.
SMUS Athletes of the Month
Squash standout Anderson Brown and star soccer midfielder Sophia Eiley have been honoured as the SMUS Athletes of the Month for April.
Brown, a Grade 10 student, capped off a terrific season with an impressive second-place finish at the Canadian Junior Nationals in Calgary last month. In a semifinal, Brown beat the No. 1 seed from Ontario in five games. In the final, he lost to the No. 2 seed from Alberta in four close games with two of them going to extra points.
Eiley, a Grade 12 student, is a talented and creative central midfielder for the Senior Girls Soccer team. As one of the Blue Jags’ captains, she has been inspirational to her teammates and was instrumental in the Jags’ April success by anchoring the midfield and assisting on several goals. Eiley will study and play soccer at UBC Okanagan this coming fall.
