It’s an extremely busy time on the sporting front at SMUS with the school’s Cross Country team returning from a strong weekend showing at the BC Championships in Vancouver and SMUS hosting two major competitions this coming week – the Vancouver Island Senior Boys AA Soccer Championships on Monday and Tuesday, and the BC Senior Girls AA Field Hockey Championships from Wednesday through Friday.
Cross Country
The SMUS Cross Country team braved conditions that Coach Jeff Hunt described as a “mudfest” to turn in an impressive performance at the BC Cross Country Championships in Jericho Park.
Luc Denux ran to a seventh-place finish in the 141-competitior field, leading the SMUS Senior Boys to a second-place overall finish in the BC AA Boys team competition. Meanwhile, the SMUS Senior Girls team finished sixth in the province.
Teammate Owen Sandquist-Sherman wasn’t far behind Denux in the boys’ race, finishing 12th. Other Blue Jag boys included Michael Carpiano (40th), Finlay Hlannon (47th), Lucas Wang (110th), Ethan Lee (126th) and Hayes Wong (139th).
The silver-medal Senior Boys team finish was the best result for SMUS since winning the provincial title 35 years ago. That SMUS team from 1989 – which raced to the BC championship in Castlegar in about five centimeters of snow – was coached by a young Laura Keziere (current SMUS French teacher) and featured a Grade 11 athlete named Jeff Hunt, the current SMUS Cross Country team coach.
“The Senior Boys team, in a word, ‘delivered’,” Hunt said of the 2024 SMUS squad. “All the tough training sessions paid off as the boys came through with an epic team performance. Both Luc and Owen ran near the front of the race and did not let up. This was their day. In support, Michael and Finlay pushed through the trenches of the peloton to emerge from the main pack. A final kick from the two of them yielded two superior results.”
Beatrice Sharpe was the top SMUS Girls finisher, placing 34th, followed by teammates Amelie Fleck (54th), Yashita Kaku (55th) and Sophie DeLauniere (94th).
“The Senior Girls race was highlighted by Yashita, who redeemed herself after a difficult race the week prior, as well as Amelie, who continued to finish the race in fine form after tripping into the mud at the end of Lap 1. She would finish covered head to toe in mud,” Hunt said.
SMUS runners took to the 5K course at Jericho Beach with tenacity and a sense of purpose, Hunt added. With a few runners battling sickness, they dug deep and found the strength to persevere through the elements.
“This is the kind of heart and determination we have come to expect from SMUS cross country athletes over the years – there is no quit,” Hunt said. “We are not often the fastest, but we often are the toughest, and punch well above our weight.”
Senior Boys Soccer
The Senior Boys Soccer team headed into this week’s eight-team Island AA Championship tournament as the No. 2 seed from the Lower Island. The host Blue Jags are playing in a preliminary pool along with Brentwood College (North 1), Alberni (North 3) and Kwalikum (North 5).
The other pool includes Lambrick Park (South 1), Mark Isfeld (North 2), Stelly’s (South 3) and Wellington (North 4). The Blue Jags were scheduled to meet Alberni in their first game on Monday, November 4, at 11:15 am. Their second round-robin game is at 2:45 pm, also on Monday, against Kwalikum. SMUS will complete preliminary pool play with a game against Brentwood at 10:45 am Tuesday. All tournament games are being played at UVic.
“This last week, we moved our training up to the turfs at UVic to prepare for that style of play, which is a bit different than our smaller grass fields,” said SMUS Head Coach Evan Fryer.
SMUS brings a four-win, five-loss, four-tie season record into the tournament. All but one of those losses (vs. Lambrick) came against larger AAA schools.
“We have bolstered our squad with a few of the Grade 10 players from the Junior Boys Soccer team, who have come off a very successful season,” Fryer said. “We are looking forward to having them join us and round out the team as we head into our own Island finals.”
Second-place teams from each pool will meet for the bronze medal on Tuesday at 1:45 pm and the Island championship game between the top teams from each pool follows at 2:15 pm. The top three Island teams qualify for the BC AA Championships November 18 to 20 at Burnaby Lakes Sports Complex.
Field Hockey
SMUS will play host to the 12-team BC Senior Girls AA Field Hockey tournament beginning this Wednesday. All games will be played at UVic.
The Blue Jags, seeded fifth in the tournament, have been placed in Pool B along with Collingwood and Southridge. SMUS will take on Collingwood at 11 am on Wednesday, followed by its second game that same day at 2 pm vs. Southridge.
Other teams in the BC tournament include Crofton House, Glenlyon Norfolk, JL Crowe, Little Flower Academy, Shawnigan Lake School, Southern Okanagan, Brentwood College, Seycove and York House.
Teams must finish first or second in their pool to advance to Thursday’s quarter-final round. The tournament semifinals will also be played Thursday. The tournament will wrap up with the BC championship game at noon on Friday.
The Blue Jags played two games last week. On Tuesday, they played to a scoreless tie against Quw'utsun in Duncan in a game that matched the best AAA team on the Island against the top AA team.
“This was a good practice for both teams in preparation for their respective BC Championships,” said SMUS Head Coach David Kerr.
On Wednesday, SMUS played against Oak Bay for the May Tully Shield, a plaque which dates back to 1928 and is awarded to the best high school field hockey team in Victoria. The Blue Jags retained the shield with a dominant 4-0 win, getting two goals from Lauren Dhrolia and one apiece from Kendyll Adams and Amelie Fleck. It was also the last home game before the BCs for seven SMUS graduating athletes, who were presented with framed photos for all their efforts in the program over the years.
Junior Boys Soccer
The SMUS Junior Boys Soccer team wrapped up its season with a fourth-place finish in last week’s Vancouver Island Championship tournament at Oak Bay.
The Junior Jags fell 3-1 to Claremont in last Tuesday’s bronze-medal game of the eight-team tournament. That came on the heels of a 1-1 draw with host Oak Bay in the morning as the Blue Jags conceded the tying goal in the game’s dying minutes – a game result that prevented SMUS from reaching the tournament final. Manu Achuthan scored both goals for the Blue Jags on the day.
In opening-day action last Monday, SMUS played to a 2-2 draw with a strong Brentwood College side and beat the Carihi Tyees 2-1 in their second game.
“Overall, the Jags performed well and showed they could compete with any side on the Island,” said Coach Jonah Smith. “A strong season with some great performances should give confidence for next year’s soccer teams.”
Senior Girls Volleyball
On the basis of Lower Island league results, the SMUS Senior Girls Volleyball team entered the South Island AA playoffs in second place and had a bye last week.
This week, the South Island playoffs will be hosted by Pacific Christian. The Blue Jags will play Lambrick Park in a best-of-three semifinal at 6 pm on Tuesday, November 5, with the winner to meet either PCS or Glenlyon Norfolk in the final at 7:30 pm.
SMUS has already secured a berth in the Island AA Championships November 15-17 at Comox Highland, for which Lower Island seedings will be decided by Tuesday’s playoffs.
Senior Boys Volleyball
For the first time in SMUS Senior Boys Volleyball history, the Blue Jags finished first in Lower Island league play with a 17-3 record over the regular season.
The finish means SMUS has secured an automatic berth into the Vancouver Island AA Championships, November 15-17 at Lambrick Park. The Blue Jags just edged Lambrick, the second-ranked BC AA team, which finished at 16-4 in league play.
SMUS clinched the league regular-season title by beating both Vic High and Parkland in straight sets last week while playing without big man Elliot Mairet, who is currently sidelined with a sprained knee.
“The boys truly deserve this placement as they have worked extremely hard over the course of the season and overcome sickness and injury ... it’s a very resilient group,” said Head Coach Brady Doland.
The Blue Jags will compete in the Lower Island playoffs this Thursday at Lambrick Park.
Junior Girls Development Volleyball
The Junior Girls Development Volleyball team wrapped up its season last Monday. The team was fifth in the league going into its final night of play, when it won four of six sets at St. Andrew’s.
“The team played well with some great setting by Isla, Ava and Aria, and Linn Kuepper hitting hard with her spikes and her serves,” said Coach Samantha Butler. “Special thanks to Emily McMillan for her help with the team this year.”
Rugby
The Grade 9 Rugby team plays an exhibition at Brentwood College on Tuesday, November 5. The team will take part in a joint practice/adapted game with Collingwood and the host school, a round-robin style competition between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.
