High School Sports blog

The week's best

Here we go again with the Monday shout-out to some of the week's top performers. Thanks to those who took time to nominate a  student-athete.

Nik Paradis, WCI: The Grade 9 striker scored twice on Thursday to lead the Vikings to a 3-0 win over  SJAM in the WCSSAA junior boys soccer final. It was  WCI’s first junior title since 1981 and Paradis chipped in by scoring 10 goals on the season. The Vikings and Highlanders will compete at the CWOSSA championship in Fergus later this week.

Kelly Burns, Sir John A. Macdonald: The Grade 10 goalkeeper was outstanding in leading the Highlanders to victory in the CWOSAA field hockey championship. She recorded four shutouts leading up to the championship game with Resurrection and then stopped four of five penalty flicks as SJAM won the title. Burns, who plays defence with the Cambridge Fury ice hockey team, had never been involved in a penalty-flick situation before that.

Kellee Snider, Resurrection: The Grade 10 goalkeeper was also great at CWOSSA, recording four shutouts before facing SJAM in the gold-medal game. Snider had not conceded a single goal during the  District 8 season until St. David got one past her in the championship game.

Emma Leger, St. David: The Grade 11 student showed great class as the Celtics field hockey team lost the D8 title to Resurrection and then dropped three straight games at CWOSSA. She scored the only goal that Rez had surrendered during the D8 season and was given a sportsmanship award at CWOSSA. She  also plays softball and ice hockey at St. David and is a member of the Waterloo K-W Rangers of the Provincial Women's Hockey League.

Ben Flanagan, St. Mary's: The Grade 11 student won the senior boys 7.2k race in 21:58 to finish seven seconds ahead of Logan Chappell of Saugeen at the CWOSSA cross-country championship in Brantford. It was only Flanagan’s second competitive race this season as the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club member has been battling a sacroiliac joint issue that has caused pain in the area near the bottom of his back. He will compete at OFSAA this Saturday in Ottawa.

Kevin Connell. KCI: The versatile Grade 12 didn't  leave the field on Friday as he led the Raiders to a 37-7 win over the  St. David Celtics in WCSSAA senior boys football league action.  A slotback and corner who does all the kicking and punting at KCI, he caught caught two touchdowns, and scored a rouge off the opening kickoff, adding up to a 19-point day. He's an excellent student, great leader and willing to do anything to help his team win.

Jeff Mayhew, Southwood: The Grade 12 receiver caught several deep passes, including a touchdown reception that put the game out of reach, as the Sabres continued their solid play in the WCSSAA senior boys football league with a 24-7 win over Cameron Heights. His strong play this season has earned him the nickname "Moneyhands."

Krista Wiens, Elmira: The talented Grade 11 guard is the Lancers' leading scorer and turned in two strong performances last week despite battling the flu bug. She played  less than 12 minutes against Hurron Heights and was the game's high scorer with 14 points. Two days later, she tallied 29 points in a 54-39 win over  Grand River. A three-sport athlete who also plays volleyball and soccer, she was Elmira's junior athlete of the year last year. 

Mike Lynch, Sir John A. Macdonald: The Grade 10 quarterback and team captain rushed for  two touchdowns and 125 yards in a 34-7 win over  Glenview  Park as the Highlanders improved to 5-1 in the WCSSAA junior boys  football league. He's averaging 221 yards per game rushing and has 15 TDs in six games. He rushed for 333 yards in a 15-14 win over WCI two weeks again and has had four games of 200-plus yards.

Joe Sheridan, Alec Elliot, Ravi Patel, Declan Outhit, Cameron Heights: The four runners combined to give the  Gaels a first-place finish in the junior boys team competition at the  CWOSSA cross-country championship, edging the Preston Panthers at Brantford's Northridge Golf Course. Competing in a field of 144 other runners from the region, Sheridan finished 10th, Elliot was 12th, Patel was 17th and Outhit was 22nd.

Congrats to the champs

The picture says it all. Good luck at CWOSSA to the Vikings and SJAM Highlanders.

* * *

The Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders beat the Resurrection Phoenix on penalty flicks in a rematch of last year's CWOSSA field hockey final. The championship game was tied 2-2 after regulation time and overtime. SJAM scored on two of five flicks, while Rez only scored once.

SJAM defeated Forest Heights 2-0 in one semifinal while Rez topped WCI 3-0 in the other.

Both SJAM and Rez move on to OFSAA next week.

WCI wins junior soccer title

I just had to post this picture of a fun-loving teen from Paris District that got an early jump on Halloween as he competed in Thursday's CWOSSA cross-country championship. Thanks to Record colleague Greta DeLonghi for sharing the image from the Brantford event.

Scroll down for video evidence of Jaimie Phelan's win in the senior girls race. Additional videos can be found at www.runnerspace.com

* * *

Congratulations to the Waterloo Vikings junior boys soccer team that captured the WCSSAA championship on Thursday with a 3-0 win over the Sir John A. Macdonald Highlanders.

Nik Paradis scored in the 15th and 37th minutes and Mostafa Ayad scored in the 84th to give WCI its first junior title since 1981.

Both teams advance to the CWOSSA championship that will be held next Thursday and  Friday in Fergus.

The winner of Monday's District 8 championship game between Resurrection and St. Mary's will also compete at  CWOSSA.

* * *

Semifinal matchups are set at the CWOSSA field hockey championship at Budd Park.

Resurrection will play WCI and SJAM will face Forest Heights at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday with the winners to meet at 12:30 p.m.

Rez and SJAM won their pools on Friday with 3-0 records.

Emma Leger of St. David was honoured with a sportsmanship award.

* * *

What the heck is going on with these crazy WCSSAA football results?

SJAM losing to  Glenview Park? Cameron Heights getting crushed by Southwood? Bluevale beating St. Benedict?

And we haven't even tallied Friday's results yet.

Any thoughts? Were teams tanking? Were key players being rested? Are the teams really that even (or mediocre)?

 

 

 

 

Schedule updates

The wet weather has forced WCSSAA to make changes to Friday's football schedule. Of note, the WCI-Jacob Hespeler games have been moved to St. David from Rogers Field and the Galt-Waterloo-Oxford games have been moved to Monday.

Here's the updated list.

Friday

Resurrection at Preston, 12:30/2:30 p.m.
KCI at St. David, 12:30/2:30pm
St. Mary's   at Forest Heights,   12:30/2:30 p.m .
WCI  vs   Jacob  Hespeler, 5:30/7:30 p.m.   @SDCSS

Monday

Galt vs. Waterloo-Oxford, 1/3 p.m.   @ UW - Warrior Field

* * *

The WCSSAA junior boys soccer final between WCI and SJAM will be played at RIM Park on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

The Vikings and Highlanders both reached the final with hard-fought semifinal wins on Tuesday. WCI edges Cameron Heights 5-4 on penalty kicks and SJAM edged Forest Heights 3-2.

* * *

CWOSSA field hockey will be played at Budd Park after all, but games will be alternated between four fields to reduce damage. Saturday's playoff games will be contested on the fields that are deemed to be in the best shape.

* * *

The District 8 soccer semifinals are set for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. with Monsignor Doyle at St. Mary's and St. Benedict at Resurrection.

 

 

 

 

Field hockey on the agenda

Heading out to the University of Waterloo shortly to take in the  SJAM-Forest Heights field hockey final.

With a 1:30 start at  Warrior  Field, I expect it will be me and a few parents taking in the game.

* * *

Resurrection will host St. David in Wednesday's District 8 final at 3:30 p.m.

* * *

The  St. John's-Kilmarnock Eagles have already qualified  for OFSAA in field hockey and will represent the Conference of  Independent Schools Athletic  Association.

 

Field hockey final moved to UW

The WCSSAA girls field hockey final has been moved to Warrior Field at the University of Waterloo because of waterlogged conditions at Budd Park in Kitchener.

The game between the Forest Heights Trojans and Sir John A. Macdonald  Highlanders will be played at 1:30 p.m.

* * *

After watching SJAM dismantle St. Benedict in WCSSAA senior boys football on Friday, it's hard to imagine anything other than an SJAM-Jacob Hespeler final.

Of course, anything can happen but that looks to be the direction we're heading.

* * *

Soggy conditions have caused a number of changes to the  WCSSAA football schedules.

Here's the latest.

Thursday

SJAM    vs    GPSS        5:00/7:00pm    Rogers
SSS    vs    CHCI        1:00/3:00pm    CHCI
HHSS    vs    EDSS        5:00/7:00pm    SDCSS
SBCSS    vs    BCI        1:00/3:00pm    BCI
ECI    vs    GRCI        1:00/3:00pm    GRCI
                       
Friday

RCSS    vs    PHS        12:30/2:30pm    PHS
KCI    vs    SDCSS    12:30/2:30pm    SDCSS
GCI    vs    WODSS    5:30/7:30pm    SDCSS
WCI    vs    JHSS        5:30/7:30pm    Rogers
SMHS    vs    FHCI        12:30/2:30pm    FHCI

* * *

Not a single local Waterloo County team is listed among the top 50 teams in the country by CanadaFootballChat.com.

 

 

Best of the week

No shortage of great performers last week. Here are 10 of them.

Josh Pentecost, Cameron Heights: The Grade 12 middle linebacker and team captain had an outstanding game for the  Gaels in a 21-16 win over the Grand River Renegades in WCSSAA senior boys football play. He played both sides of the ball and on special teams. He made 16 tackles to prevent the Renegades from establishing their running game. The IB honour roll student is also captain of Cameron's wrestling and rugby teams.

Cameron Waind, WCI: The Grade 9 student blew away the field at the WCSSAA cross-country championship at  Bechtel  Park. Waind finished the 5,000-metre midget boys race in 17:25.9 to finish 40 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Waind will try for another strong performance on Thursday at the CWOSSA championship in Brantford.

Taya Ambrose, Monsignor Doyle: The Grade 9 student captured top honours in the midget girls race at the District 8 cross-country championship. The  K-W Track and Field Club member, who competed at the International Children's Games in Scotland last summer, won Wednesday's 3,000-metre race in 12:54.

Shayne Morrow, Sir John A. Macdonald: The fifth-year middle had a great game at the net as the Highlanders improved to 8-0 in the WCSSAA senior boys volleyball league standings with a 3-0 win over Bluevale. Morrow played with the squad that captured a silver medal at OFSAA in 2009 and will have to play a major role if this year's team is  to make a similar run.

Taytum Clairmont, Sir John A. Macdonald: The Grade 10 player scored the game's only goal as the Highlanders advanced to the WCSSAA girls field hockey final with a 1-0 semifinal win over Bluevale. A talented ice hockey player as well, Clairmont and the Highlanders will face the Forest Heights Trojans on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Budd Park in the title tilt.

Carly Payerl, Resurrection: The Grade  12 player scored twice as the Phoenix closed their District 8 field hockey regular-season schedule with a 4-0 win over the St. Mary's Eagles. Payerl played on the Resurrection squad that won OFSAA gold in 2010 and will need to play a huge role if the team is to repeat. The Phoenix open the playoffs on Monday against St. Mary's with the D8 final set for Wednesday.

Riley Alvarez, St. David: The Grade 10 student was dominant in the junior boys race at the Distict 8 cross-country championship. Competing in a field of 22 runners, he finished the 6,000-metre race in 22:03.29, which was one minute and 12 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Lindsay Lessard, WCI: The Grade 12 guard scored a game-high 22 points as the Vikings improved to 9-0 with a 45-33 win over Bluevale in WCSSAA senior girls basketball play. Lessard recently paid a recruiting visit to Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., but she has yet to decide where she'll play next year.

Brooklyn Wright, Jacob  Hespeler: The Grade 11 player had a pair of solid outings as the Hawks improved to 8-1 in the  WCSSAA senior girls basketball standings. She put up 17 in a 52-40 win over  Southwood, two days after scoring 16 in a 34-20 win over Elmira. 

Adam Riggi, Southwood: The  Grade 12 slotback scored a touchdown as the Sabres posted an impressive 21-7 win over the Elmira Lancers in WCSSAA senior boys football league play. Southwood improved to 3-3 in the B division standings while stalling  Elmira's win streak at four games.

 

 

Cancellations aplenty

Just passing along info from WCSSAA that field hockey semifinals as well as junior boys soccer quarter-finals have been postponed until Friday because of waterlogged fields.

Also, today's football games between Resurrection and Jacob Hespeler, and Galt against Huron Heights, have also been called off. No makeup dates have been announced.

In the case of soccer and field hockey, it will certainly be a shame if coaches or players are unable to make the rescheduled games because of prior commitments. It's certainly not a lot of notice, but on the other hand, what's WCSSAA to do?

 

Cross-country championships on the agenda

A couple of busy days ahead with District 8 cross-country running Wednesday at  Bechtel Park, followed by WCSSAA on Thursday.

The plan -- as it stands now -- is to check out both events before sneaking over to Rez later on Wednesday to watch some field hockey and Bluevale on Thursday to watch girls basketball. Both the Knights and Waterloo Vikings are 8-0 going into this one.

On Friday, SJAM and St. Benedict in senior football has the makings of a good one -- although I like the Highlanders.

* * *

No big surprises in WCSSAA quarter-final field hockey play as SJAM, Forest Heights, WCI And Bluevale advanced to the semifinals.

* * *

 

 

If the 2012 football season started today . . .

Waterloo County football teams aren't just jockeying for playoff positions in the final two weeks of the season -- they are also determining which teams will be relegated and which will be promoted in 2012.

Junior and senior points are tallied at the end of the regular season to determine the tiering for the following year. The bottoms three A schools move down, while the top three in B move up. In addition, the bottom two B schools are dropped to C, while the best two from C go to B.

Got it?

So just for fun, here's what would happen if the season ended today:

The A division would say goodbye to WCI, Bluevale and Glenview Park, while welcoming Grand River, Cameron Heights and Elmira.

Huron Heights and Waterloo-Oxford would drop to C, while St. Mary's and Forest Heights would jump to B.

Here are the current junior and senior point totals, combined by division.

A

Sir John A. Macdonald - 14

St. Benedict - 14

Jacob Hespeler - 10

Preston - 10

Resurrection - 10

WCI - 6

Bluevale - 4

Glenview Park - 4

B

Grand River - 16

Elmira - 14

Cameron Heights - 12

Eastwood - 8

Southwood - 8

Galt - 6

Waterloo-Oxford - 4

Huron Heights - 4

C

Forest Heights - 12

St. Mary's - 10

St. David - 8

KCI - 2

* * *

I'm always up for a close, hard-fought game and it looks like we had a  pair of them in District 8 girls basketball play on Monday.

Unfortunately, we also had two more blowout games.

The good news is that St. Mary's and Resurrection had two competitive games, with the Eagles winning 48-41 in senior and  the Phoenix winning 34-32 in junior.

That's  the way we like to see them.

Sadly, St. David faced little resistance from Rockway as the senior Celtics won 48-17 and the juniors won 65-9.

* * *

The Eastwood Rebels and Galt Ghosts met in WCSSAA junior boys soccer on Monday but it almost didn't happen.

Again.

The teams were first scheduled to meet on Sept. 27 but the game was called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

The teams attempted to play the game last week but a busing issue prevented Galt from making it to Eastwood. I've been told a school secretary mistakenly told the bus driver that he or she wasn't needed, but that has not been confirmed.

And then comes Monday and guess what happens?

The Ghosts are on their way to Eastwood and their bus is involved in an accident. The players are forced to sit and wait for another bus to take them to Kitchener while the Rebels are forced to sit and wait for their opponents to arrive.

The 3:30 p.m. game finally started just before 4:30 and the Rebels won 7-3.