Athletics

Coach Camblin sends in this report on the North Shore Track Championships that were held yesterday at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby:

For a day that started out pretty grey and slightly miserable, the skies cleared and it turned out to be a gorgeous day at the track. Many of our athletes not only had a lot of personal bests, but also placed very well.

Top honours go to Emma Rastad, Grade 8,  who placed first in every event she was entered in and was the overall Bantam Girls Aggregate Winner.  (1^st  in 80m Hurdles, Long Jump and Triple Jump).  ** Emma crushed her competition; She was 4 seconds faster in the hurdles than her next competitor, almost 60 cm’s further than the next in Long Jump and over TWO meters more in Triple Jump. I also believe Emma set a new North Shore Record in TJ for Bantam Girls!! In fact- out of all girls Grades 8-12- Emma had the second best jump!

Definite entries for the BC Provincial Meet (Seniors only) will be:

Grace Thompson- 1^st 1500m, 2^nd 3000m, 3^rd 800m (Senior Girls) *qualifies for BC’s in all three events.
Gabby Zeitler- 1^st Discus, 2^nd Shot Put , 5^th Javelin (Senior Girls) *qualifies for BC’s in Disc/ Shot
Brooke Mounsey- 2^nd Discus,  3^rd Javelin 5^th Shot Put (Sr. Girls) *qualifies for BC’s in Disc/Jav

These other athletes are also to be congratulated on their top 5 performances:   

Charlotte Campbell- 1^st 1500m, 1^st 3000m,  2^nd 800m (Bantam Girls)   

Brendan Artley-  1^st Javelin, 2^nd Discus (Juv Boys)

Michael Knowles- 1^st High Jump, 4^th 100m (Juv Boys)

Hailey Szybunka- 1^st 100m (Juvenile Girls)

Alex Weir- 2^nd 1500m (Juv Girls)

Sherveen Amiri- 2^nd Shot Put (Jr.Boys)

Alexa Thompson- 2^nd Shot Put, 3^rd Discus (Jr. Girls)

Casey Thomas Burns- 2^nd Javelin, 4^th Shot Put (Bantam Girls)

Katie Harris- 3^rd 1500m, 3^rd 3000,  5^th 800m (Bantam Girls)

Spencer Morrey- 3^rd Long Jump, 3^rd Triple Jump (Jr. Boys)

Peter Koningsman- 3^rd Javelin, 5^th Discus (Bantam Boys)

Georgie Philpots- 3^rd 1500m,  5^th 400m

Jessie Io 4^th Shot Put, 4^th Javelin, (Sr. Girls)

Brian Lee- 4^th Triple Jump, 5^th Long Jump (Jr. Boys)

Terry Jeon- 4^th 400m (Juv. Boys)

Hazel Atkins- 5^th 200m (Bantam Girls)

Lester Lee- 5^th Steeple Chase (sr. boys)

(Nathan Yu, Taylor Haas, Terry Jeon, Michael Knowles- 5^th- Gr 9 4x100 Relay

Full team results- 5^th overall.

Some of the team pose before a great day of running, jumping and throwing.

Casey Thomas-Burns and Hazel Atkins both had top 5 finishes yesterday.

Coaches Camblin, Ayotte and Pool are all smiles knowing how well their athletes did at this year's meet.

The senior rugby team defeated Rockridge 8-3 yesterday to win their third straight Lower Mainland title.  All three of these victories have been over Rockridge and as usual the game was nerve-wracking until the final whistle. 

Rockridge took a 3-0 lead at the 10 minute mark but Collingwood responded quickly with a Taylor Milliken try to make it 5-3.  Taylor's try was the result of some great work by both the forwards and the backs. In the end, the ball was spun quickly down the blindside channel and Taylor used his great speed to elude the last defender.

With a 5-3 halftime lead, the Cavs immediately went on the attack in the 2nd half and produced numerous good scoring chances.  The Rockridge defence was up to the challenge though and Collingwood was unable to cross the line for another try.  Their pressure did lead to a penalty kick from Taylor, which extended the lead. 

With time slipping away, Rockridge launched a final onslaught.  Three times they had lineouts on the Collingwood 5 metre line and three times the Collingwood defence held.  Both backs and forwards made their tackles to save the day.

Collingwood was led throughout the game by their co-captains Marshall Fuller and Connor McRae.  Marshall was an 'absolute beast' and rampaged through the Rockridge defence multiple times.  Connor's clever kicking and great speed kept the Rockridge defence on their toes all game.  He and Taylor provide Collingwood with a one-two punch that few teams across BC can match.

Calvin Li and Austin Wright also provided a one-two punch of a different kind as the 'Bash Brothers' hit the ball up effectively all game long.  Carlos Sheppard and Thor Eggertson were also noticeable for their great work rate across the field.

Collingwood now faces Smithers in the first round of the BC Championships on May 26th at 5:00 at Klahanie.  Collingwood goes into the BC's as the #2 seed.

2013 Lower Mainland Champions

Calvin Li's return to the team from injury was a huge reason for Collingwood's big win yesterday.

The golf team had a great day on the course yesterday and finished 2nd at the zone championships.  This earned them a berth into the BC Championships.  This accomplishment is all the more impressive when you consider that the team was without its top player, Alix Kong, who was playing in a different event.

Amar Mainra overcame the issues he had at North Shore Championships to lead the team with a brilliant 76.  As Coach Payne stated, "Amar promised and delivered! The "POST MAN" put this team on his back and carried them to the Provincials."

Ben Basran and Nick Lewis followed this up with identical 79's.  Considering the pressure that was on these two Grade 9 students to produce, this was an incredible feat.  They both could barely contain their smiles as they strode up to the 18th green.

'Mr. Consistent' Pierce Kamansek, did his thing again shooting a solid 82. Although he felt some shots were left out on the course he was fairly pleased with his performance and his "sick" drives.

Zamaan Jiwani had an off day for him shooting 86. Coach Payne feels that Zamaan's heavy AP Exam schedule may have had a lot to do with this and is confident that Zamaan will bounce back at the BC's.

Ben Basran, Nick Lewis, Amar Mainra, Pierce Kamensek, Zamaan Jiwani and Coach Payne all looking good at Fraserview yesterday.

Zamaan Jiwani lines up a putt on 18.

Brendan Artley was terrific at the North Shore Track preliminaries last week.  He won both the juvenile boys' javelin and the discus. 

Ben Basran is one of the Grade 9 golfing phenoms at Collingwood.  He shot a sizzling 78 last week at Squamish helping the team to win the North Shore Championships.

Connor McRae scored two tries to lead the senior rugby team to a 38-7 win over McRoberts in a Lower Mainland semi-final last week.

The one great thing about constantly facing AAA powerhouse Sentinel in the North Shore Finals year after year is that it is great preparation for the BC Championships, which always follow about a week later.  Once again, Collingwood made the North Shore Finals, but once again Sentinel was too strong for them this year.  However, the players and coaches know that the tough matches that they played yesterday will have them razor-sharp when they defend their BC AA title next week.  Here is Coach Rose's report:

Our Senior Tennis team put up a valiant effort in the North Shore Tennis Final but was upended by Sentinel 8-3. Winning for Collingwood was Aidan Jarrar and partner Colton Kerfoot in Boys' doubles, Hailey Reeves and partner Tomoe Yazawa in Girls' doubles, and Jack Huebner and partner Isaac Davies in another Boys' doubles. Iacopo Beltramo had a great match against one of BC's top players in a close 6-4 loss. Kyla Jarrar also played very well in her match. Next up for the Cavaliers is the BC championships which begin next Thursday at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver.

Iacopo Beltramo gets ready to unleash another big serve.

Katarina Angus is all concentration before her return.

Collingwood has qualified 34 athletes in 73 events for the North Shore Championships that will be held this Thursday at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby.  This is a great achievement for the track team and its dedicated group of coaches.  The last group of athletes qualified this past Thursday at the Throws Meet.  Here is a list of our Top 3 finishers at that meet:

Brendan Artley- 1^st in Juvenile Boys Discus and Javelin

Gabby Zeitler- 1^st in Sr.Girls Discus

Alexa Thompson- 2^nd in Jr. Girls Discus

Peter Koningsman- 2^nd in Bantam boys javelin

Brooke Mounsey- 3^rd in Sr. Girls Discus and Javelin

Jessie Io, Brooke Mounsey, Coach Camblin and Gabby Zeitler at the Throws Meet.

Emma Rastad flies through the air in the longjump.

When the senior rugby team narrowly lost 15-12 to McRoberts earlier in the year, the team knew it would probably get another shot at the Richmond-based Strikers in the playoffs.  On Friday, the two teams met again and this time it was Collingwood that were the victorious 38-7. 

Things did not start out exactly to plan as McRoberts took the opening kickoff and scored 45 seconds later to take a 7-0 lead.  However, the Cavs stormed back immediately and after a rousing passage of play, Marshall Fuller took a pass from Adam Bushell and scored under the posts to tie the game.

Collingwood went up 12-7 when Connor McRae used his strength to crash over in the corner.  At this point, the Cavs really started to take over but unfortunately squandered a number of good chances to increase their lead.  At halftime, it remained 12-7.

The 2nd half started with a flourish when Alex Ainsworth split the Strikers defence up the middle on the opening kickoff and the ball was then spun wide to Connor who once again scored in the corner.  Taylor Milliken then took a nice feed from Bailey Speirs to extend the lead to 24-7.  Marshall then ripped the McRoberts defence apart as he cut through their centres on his way to a brilliant try.  Alex Chung finished the scoring on a powerful run.  Despite being sick the two days previous with food poisoning, Alex played an inspired game.

Collingwood now faces Rockridge on Thursday in the Lower Mainland Final.  This game is at Brockton Oval in Stanley Park at 4:00pm. 

Alex Chung barrels his way through the McRoberts defence.

NIck Ludwig on a run with Connor McRae in support.

Taylor Milliken rounds the corner for his try in the 2nd half.

The senior tennis team is hitting its stride like it usually does at this time of year.  They easily won their North Shore semi-final this week and routed St. Thomas More in a zone playoff.  Here is a report from Coach Rose:

On Wednesday, our Senior Tennis team showed its strength by soundly beating St. Thomas More 11-0 to qualify for the provincial tournament May 23-25 at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. All twelve players played exceptionally well in this victory. On Monday May 15th, our team plays for the North Shore crown in a match against powerhouse Sentinel at Murdo Fraser courts in North Van at 2:30. Should be some great tennis played here, so come on out if you get a chance, to see BC's top young tennis stars in action.

Jack Huebner hammers a shot in the zone finals.

Isaac Davies has been a great addition to this year's squad.

Aidan Jarrar hits another 'ace' in the North Shore semi-final.

The legendary Coach Rose gives advice to Victoria Konantz and Tina Haertal.

The cricket team's first win of the year has invigorated Coach Diaz and he has sent in this amusing game report:

Despite Evan Ledingham's frequent hair appointments, Gurkiran's "high" batting position, Danny Kuo's constant talking to his mom on the phone and Nathaniel Vince and Oliver Joffe's perennial remarks about coach Diaz's 'landed immigrant status', we were finally able to come together as a team to defeat the combative Byrne Creek.

In a game that lasted just under three hours, the Collingwood Cavaliers were able to stop the offense of the opposing team in only 16 of the 18 overs agreed. Our players played a formidable defensive game in which they took a total of 10 wickets. Our bowling was accurate and penetrating and only allowed 109 runs. Jeffrey Sutcliffe, Lester Lee, James Acres and Merat Goharshadi deserve special praise for their excellent bowling.

Fielding was not far behind, and we made some of the best catches of the season. James Acres, Lester Lee and Lawson Currie all made phenomenal catches. Lawson, in particular, made a difficult catch in which he sprinted, stopped suddenly, contemplated the sky and then dove head first somehow grasping the ball before hitting the ground with a loud thud. At the moment, coach Diaz was not sure if he should celebrate or call Andrew Shirkoff to file an incident report.

When it was our turn to bat, the Man of the Match was Joshua Heffel, who faced the fastest bowlers and scored 28 runs -a record for our season- before being caught running between the wickets. James Acres deserves special mention for hitting the ball beyond the boundary and scoring a respectable 12 runs. We surpassed their score in only 15 overs. Overall, our team showed superior defence, better offence, quicker communication and faster running between the wickets. Next week, we face Saint Georges on Monday and Burnaby South on Wednesday.

Man of the Match, Josh Heffell in action in the win over Byrne Creek.

Collingwood's three top rowers have been nominated this week by Coach Jacoby.  Brynn Danvers, Madison Mailey and Carlo Quicho row all year long.  This could explain why they all in midst of another terrific spring season of rowing.  After a very successful Shawnigan Regatta, Brynn, Madison and Carlo will all travel to Brentwood this weekend.  They will also be representing Collingwood later this year at the Canadian 'Schoolboys' Championship in St. Catherines, Ontario.

Liam Huebner has been the top singles player on the junior tennis team this year.  According to Coach Vidic, "He has dominated all his singles matches. He is hitting the ball with a lot more pace and consistency'.