Sports

Bayview Mills schools fighting for gold

FRANCIS CRESCIA/TOWN CRIER
OUT OF MY LANE: Nicholas Poon of York Mills, three-time gold medalist at last year’s swimming citys, will be missed by the Titans cast but they will look to their juniors to follow in the footsteps of Poon, Patrick Vallaincourt, Joseph Ng, Amanda Shum, Samantha Hu and Ingrid Cheung.

Fresh season means more title opportunities

It’s that time of year again.

Back to school and the Town Crier is going to give you the top teams that have the chance to bring home gold for Bayview-Mills’ 13 secondary schools.

As students march out their front doors bright and early for another academic year, a good lot of them will have athletics on the brain. So, here are your local schools and the teams that had phenomenal 2009-10 campaigns.

Bayview Glen
CISAA

A school with a bright future in volleyball after the under-14 division II boys team won 3-1 over Upper Canada College in 2009.

Some of those players will move up to the next level to hit the court for the junior team.

Chand Shah led his division 2 senior boys basketball team into battle, winning the CISAA title.

Also entering the winners’ circle from Bayview Glen was the division 2 junior girls volleyball crew who defeated St. Mildred’s Lightbourn 3-2 (20-25, 9-25, 25-10, 25-15, 15-6).

Crescent School
CISAA

Crescent will look to their youth when attempting to dominate the junior level of alpine skiing after a great year at the under-14 level.

After finishing in the middle of the pack in junior boys division 1 volleyball, the fresh blood will increase their chances of dethroning CISAA victor St. Mike’s in 2010.

The combined forces of Havergal and Crescent in 2009 paid off as the alliance finished second to Lakefield College with a 3-1 record.

Crestwood Preparatory College
CISAA/SSAF

Crestwood was on top of open curling in CISAA as they  beat St. Andrew’s College 7-3 in the championship finals.

The alpine skiing team had a great year as Taylor McPhail finished seventh in OFSAA’s giant slalom.

Also looking to do well in 2010-11 is the bowling team. SSAF champ Alex Casale grabbed himself a silver in April rolling a 422.

Don Mills CI
TDSSAA

The Bruins were on top of the girls unranked tennis world as Isabelle Yang dominated the competition winning gold in the singles bracket. She placed eighth at OFSAA.

Swimming was another area where Don Mills were bears in. Vivian Li won two silvers (200-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle) and one bronze (50-metre butterfly) while teammate Nicole Scott grabbed a bronze in the girls 100-metre backstroke.

When it came to regionals, the badminton team claimed top rung in the North under the tutelage of coach Andrew Fair.

École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé
TDCAA

They were the team to beat in the junior boys volleyball’s North Division, surging ahead with a 6-0 record in TDCAA action.

Girls soccer also faired well in their tier 2 east division, finishing with a 4-0-1 record. Still, they failed to claim top spot at TDCAA, and completed their season at third overall. Look for the team to rebound and pursue number 1 in 2011.

Also looking for number 1 is the girls volleyball team, who did well at the SMASH provincial tournament for French High Schools. The troupe was led by Carine Nemr and coached by Samuel Angély.

George S. Henry Academy
TDSSAA

The girls volleyball team is one to watch after finishing second in the North Region. They will be without Beata Dye who graduated last year.

Also full of promise is the senior boys soccer team. The crew took second to York Mills in the North Region final standings.

Their female counterparts aren’t far behind as the Lions look to keep scoring — they were second behind the Haigwomen for goals scored — though competition is pretty stiff from Earl Haig, Victoria Park and Newtonbrook.

Georges Vanier SS
TDSSAA

The Vikings are looking to improve on last season’s 4-4 record in boys baseball, which was led by the power of Luis Marquez. Vanier looks to get over a quarter-final loss to rivals Earl Haig.

Cricket looks to be where the Vikes, 2008-09 league champs, can excel most. When the league strikes up in 2011, Woburn will be in their sights as the North York school was the one who beat the Vikings on the road to the citys.

Expect the boys basketball teams to make some noise in the Don Mills Peanut, as Vanier look to improve on their 2009-10 season.

Hawthorn School for Girls
CISAA

The spring proved to be fruitful for the senior girls soccer team as they entered the playoffs, only to be knocked out in the first round.

Still, on the winning end for the Hawthorn’s Bees was the junior girls division 2 volleyball team, finishing above .500 with a 6-4 record. They lost a close battle with Lakefield College School 3-2 in the quarter-finals.

Loretto Abbey CSS
TDCAA

In girls soccer Loretto Abbey had a decent season finishing with a record of 4-1-2 led by the on-field prowess of Cecelia Garcia and Heather Mackinnon. They will look to conquer tier 1’s east division in 2010-11, battling it out with Pope John Paull II and St. Basil’s.

The all-girls school had solid efforts put in by their volleyball and field hockey teams as well.

Senator O’Connor CSS
TDCAA

It was life on the ice for Senator O’Connor Blues as the boys hockey team was both a TCDSB City finalist and OFSAA rep in 2009-10.

In addition to having a strong team on the rink, they also fielded a stellar cast on the diamond as the Blues won the TDCAA tier 2 baseball title over CHAT 4-3.

Crossing leagues, the senior football team was a TDSSAA east region finalist and their junior team counterparts also made the City finals against Lawrence Park Panthers.

Victoria Park CI
TDSSAA

The Panthers were beasts in the pool as they snagged 10 medals in swimming at the city championships. Multiple medalists included Ali Rizk, Jairus Ballaret and Lucian Covic.

On the tennis courts Tamara Babic and Lucienne Nouchikian won silver in the girls unranked doubles, losing to Humberside.

Willowwood School
SSAF

With the addition of their gym in 2002, the Warriors have been competitive in the Small School Athletic Federation, especially with a third place finish last season in co-ed ultimate Frisbee.

Willowwood will look to improve on last year’s records in under-20 boys basketball and girls soccer.

York Mills CI
TDSSAA

The Titans rocked the house in 2009-10. Both the boys and girls curling teams dominated the TDSSAA winning the Citys in both divisions by beating Sir Oliver Mowat and Birchmount Park respectively.

York Mills also thundered to the podium after capturing four golds, six silvers and five bronze in the pool. Key swimmers were Nicholas Poon and Samantha Hu.

Also making waves was the boys unranked doubles squad in tennis. Matthew Sherman and Jordan Roberts managed to power their way into the finals against Sir Oliver Mowat.

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