DEC. 2012
FIELD HOCKEY GIRLS B.C. CHAMPIONS AGAIN!
shot off a short corner came right back to Hailey Reeves who swept it into the net. While the game ebbed and flowed, the Cavs were definitely worthy 1-0 winners.
For the third time in five years, Collingwood’s senior field hockey team has raised the trophy and brought home the B.C. AA banner. The Cavs 1-0 win over Shawnigan Lake School in the final capped an incredible season where the team also won the North Shore AAA title for the first time since 2000.
The team now says good-bye to a splendid group of Grade 12 veterans. Almost all of them leave with two provincial gold medals and one silver. It was certainly a teary-eyed moment when coaches Ashleigh Gold, Catherine Underwood and Sara Bruner said farewell to Katarina Angus, Katie Delesalle, Leah Frome, Ainsley Heffell, Meg Isaac, Victoria Konantz, Natalie Ludwig and Hailey Reeves after the team had received the championship trophy and medals.
Winning the North Shore title was perhaps even more impressive than the B.C. Championship as Collingwood had to beat the defending B.C. AAA champions, Handsworth, in the final. Collingwood’s ability to withstand a seemingly never-ending barrage of short-corner opportunities for Handsworth and a lethal counter-attack that set goal-scoring phenom Leah Frome loose were the keys to the epic 2-1 victory. Handsworth went on to win the AAA B.C. Championships. Their defeat to Collingwood was their only loss in the past two years. Collingwood remains the only AA school to ever win a North Shore AAA field hockey title. Collingwood cruised through much of the B.C. Championships. After their first four games, they had scored 19 goals and allowed 0. They dominated St. Michaels University School for much of their semi-final and came away with a 2-1 win. The final against SLS was a repeat of last year’s final. This time, Collingwood got off to a great start when Katarina Angus’ powerful
Naturally when your program has gone to five straight B.C. finals, an enormous amount of credit must go to the coaches. Ashleigh, Catherine and Sara combine to give Collingwood the finest high school coaching staff in Canada. There are none better! Congratulations to the team and the coaches on yet another fantastic year.
JUNIOR FIELD HOCKEY WINS ISA CHAMPIONSHIP
to win this championship will be making the jump to senior hockey next year. It looks like the talent pool continues to be deep at Collingwood. Congratulations to coaches Sandra MacKeen and Cameron Black and the entire team on their big win.
ISA Championships are hard to win, but none may be harder to win than ISA Field Hockey titles. When you consider that St. Michaels University School, Crofton House, Brentwood and Shawnigan are all field hockey powerhouses in B.C, you quickly realize that it takes a great team to win the ISA Field Hockey tournament. This is just what Collingwood’s junior team did with a fantastic performance in this year’s two-day tournament. Collingwood beat Crofton House in the final 1-0 to bring home the trophy. During the tournament, they also defeated Southridge, Brentwood and Shawnigan’s B team. Many of the girls who helped
GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM MAKES HISTORY For the first time in Collingwood history, the school qualified a team to the B.C. High School Cross-Country Championships. An outstanding 3rd place finish at the Howe Sound Zone Championships was good enough to earn the girls’ team a trip to Prince George. This is pretty incredible considering that the team’s top runner, Grace Thompson, had to pull out of the race with an injury when she was comfortably sitting in 2nd place. Even more impressive is that none of the runners are in Grade 11 or 12. With Charlotte Campbell, Katie Harris and Emma Rastad in Grade 8, Alexandra Weir in Grade 9 and Grace, Natasha Darc and Heather Park all in Grade 10, the girls are bound to be even better in the next two years. Lester Lee also capped off his cross-country career off with a trip to the B.C. Championships. This was the 2nd straight year that Lester earned a berth in the championships.
UNCHALLENGED, UNSTOPPABLE, UNDEFEATED! GRADE 8 RUGBY CRUSHES EVERYONE DURING THEIR PERFECT SEASON Collingwood’s Grade 8 rugby team became only the second team in the school’s storied rugby history to capture the Grade 8 North Shore and Vancouver and District Championships. The first team to do this was Collingwood’s 2000 squad who fought tooth and nail to win their two championships. By contrast, this year’s team crushed everyone who stood in their way, winning the North Shore title 37-5 and the V & D trophy 41-19, and finishing the season with a perfect 12-0 record. So powerful were this year’s Cavs that the starting XV rarely got to play more than 15 minutes together per game before Coaches Rickard and Hall had to start liberally substituting in order to not humiliate the other team. However, even when the team’s top players were off, the depth of the squad ensured that there was little drop-off in the quality of play. Collingwood has produced many players who have dominated the North Shore Grade 8 league. However, few can claim to have been as devastating as Carter Proc was this year. The team around him was superb, but Carter was the finisher that all coaches dream about. Even a team as powerful and well-coached as Carson Graham had no answer as Carter rambled for try after try in each and every game.
Congratulations to this terrific team and their outstanding coaches who worked together to produce one of the top Grade 8 rugby teams in Collingwood history.
GRADE 9 RUGBY CAPTURES VANCOUVER AND DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP The Grade 9 rugby team had some highs and lows this season, but when it counted, they played their best game of the year to win the Vancouver and District Championship with a 17-8 win over McRoberts from Richmond. This victory brought the historic Grade 9 V & D trophy back to Collingwood for the third time in four years. This trophy is a particular favourite of Collingwood players and coaches as it was first awarded in 1926 and thus details enormous rugby history. Collingwood’s win over McRoberts was earned through a great combination of forward power, determination and a backline that moved the ball incredibly well despite being hamstrung by a soft and slippery field. The team’s enormous improvement in rucking throughout the year ensured that the Cavs controlled play throughout the final. In the end, it was a real team win for a group of boys with a bright future ahead of them in rugby.
SENIOR VOLLEYBALL EARNS BERTH IN NORTH SHORE DIVISION 1 FINAL Collingwood’s senior volleyball team finished the season with a terrific 9-3 record in North Shore Division 1 league play. They then defeated Carson Graham in their playoff semi-final to earn a berth in the final. Here they ran into a powerhouse Elphinstone team that had not lost a set all year. Despite being over-matched, the Cavs battled hard and played their best volleyball in the 3rd set before eventually losing the match. This year also marked a new era for Collingwood volleyball as the team competed in its first Western Canadian Volleyball Championship. This tournament brings together a number of the best independent school teams from British Columbia to Manitoba. This year’s tournament was hosted by Crofton House, but future volleyball squads can now look forward to a fun road trip to a great tournament.
SENIOR SOCCER SAVOURS SUCCESS The senior soccer team finished league play with an outstanding record of 5 wins, 1loss, 1 overtime win and 1 overtime loss. This gave them 18 points for the season, which meant that they ended up 1 point behind STA and Sentinel for first place. This meant that instead of getting an early playoff bye, the team had to take the long route in their quest for a provincial bid. The Cavs took care of Rockridge in their first playoff game 2-0. They then overpowered Whistler 5-0 to advance to face the formidable Sentinel team.
In the end, Sentinel proved to be too strong for Collingwood, but that cannot take away from another successful year for the team. In the last three years, Coaches Kanavos and Waterhouse have turned the Cavs from ‘lovable losers’ into a force to be reckoned with. The addition of Coach Garland this year has strengthened the coaching staff even more. Although the squad is losing a number of great players to graduation, the team should once again be a contender next year.
YOUNG SWIM TEAM MAKES WAVES Collingwood’s swim team is young and fast and based on the results of the B.C. Championships, it looks like the next couple of years are going to be very special. As she did last year, Emily Overholt led the way at the provincial meet. Despite not being in top condition due to her exchange to South Africa, Emily won a bronze medal in the 100 Free. Emily then teamed with Emma MacRae, Grace Thompson and Sarah Vafaei to finish 4th in the 400 Free Relay. Emily and Emma then teamed up with Mackenzie Branham and Levent Shah for a 5th place finish in the Co-Ed Medley Relay. All four of these swimmers are in Grade 10 and are getting faster and stronger each year. Coaches Bernat and Reid are already looking ahead to next year when they figure to bring home a boatload of provincial medals.
THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY
The success of Collingwood’s Athletics program is built on three essential factors: the skill and dedication of our coaches, the enthusiastic support of our parents, and the passion and talent of our student athletes. Each year, hundreds of Collingwood students build their skills, develop lasting friendships and learn valuable life lessons by participating in school sports. We are proud of our tradition of sporting excellence at Collingwood.
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