2017-18 Athletics Wrap Up & Goodbye to Our Graduating Tigers

Volleyball: Our Tigers Teams had great success highlighted by our Grade 8 Team winning ISAs and our Senior Team winning the AA Lower Mainland Championship and placing 5th in BC. We will dearly miss our graduating seniors Gabby and Madison.

Field Hockey: YHS Tigers had their best ever season in hockey both in success and participation.  We had three successful teams and our Varsity Team placed 3rd at the AA BCs. Our Grade 12s played a huge role in our success. Thank you to Aley, Meg, Anna, Alexi.

Swim Team: Tigers swimmers placed 2nd at the AA BCs and had a great season overall. With just one graduating Gr. 12, Jacqueline, the 2018-19 school year looks promising. Thank you Jacqueline for your contributions to our swim team. Also, thank you to our girls who competed in water polo with St. George’s in the spring season.

Cross-Country: Our small but strong team competed hard with three athletes competing at BCs including rising star Sophie, Gr. 8, who placed 4th overall in BC in the junior division.

Basketball: Our girls all competed hard but the highlights of the season were our Grade 8 Team who won our league title, won gold at ISAs, and were the first Tigers team ever to win the Grade 8 Provincial Championship. We say goodbye to three special Grade 12s: Maggie, Kristen, and Kyra.

Ski & Snowboard: YHS students are eager to join our Ski & Snowboard Team and compete at Whistler. Our team won another zone title and our top skiers went on to win a Provincial Championship. Our graduating star, Meg, has been a key part of our YHS Ski Team success over the years. Many other Grade 12s also take part and they include: Kyra, Annabelle, Michelle, and Haley.

Racket Sports: Badminton, tennis, and table tennis teams all represented YHS are various events. Badminton and tennis won bronze at ISAs while our table tennis players won the Provincial Championship thanks to the play of Isabelle, Laura, and Cindy (all Grade 9). Graduating this year are tennis star, Michelle, and badminton star Hannah.

Soccer: Our junior and senior soccer teams did well with both winning silver at ISAs. Our seniors lose some important players to graduation. Thank you to Meg, Alexi, Aley, Camryn, Sophia, Sarah, Alaina, and Justine.

Ultimate: This sport is as popular as ever at YHS as we field five teams. All teams did well with our Senior Varsity Team placing 6th at the AAA BCs while our Junior A Team and Senior B both placed well at Tier II BCs. We lose several players to graduation this year. Thank you to Maggie, Chantal, Justine, Kristine, Lindsay, Kyra, Camryn, Doris, Samantha, and Alexi.

Track & Field: Our small but talented and committed group of track athletes had a great season and performed well at zones and provincial championships. Made of up of students in our junior grades,  we can look forward to future successes for our Track Team.

Coaches: Thank you to our strong and committed staff of coaches this year who make all these experiences possible. Success, failure, hard work, commitment, fun, and frustration are all valuable experiences in athletics that prepare our students for their lives beyond the walls at YHS.

Student Athletes: Thank you to all YHS students who participated in athletics this season. All victories, big and small, are valued. All efforts and positive choices helped make the year special. One result this season, that may not seem important, was the strength of character and the values demonstrated by our YHS athletes. Our Junior Basketball Team’s 4th quarter comeback and overtime win over King George in the VGBA tournament, spearheaded by Grade 10s Jacqueline and Maddie, was one of the greatest victories of our athletic season. You can not underestimate the value of the quiet successes in sport. Many of the most significant accomplishments are not those recognized with trophies and banners but they play an enormous role in building strong character and teaching the most important lessons in life. Congratulations to all award winners who had very special years.

Athletic Heads: Final thank you to our ‘Athletic Squad’ (Mira, Hanna, and Jadyn) who did an amazing job and established the YHS Tigers presence on Instagram (@athleticsYHS).

Special THANK YOU to all photographers and especially, Mr. Jon Hayduk (on Instagram  as @jonhaydukphotography)

Senior Tigers Update: November 24, 2017

Best Ever Finish for YHS Field Hockey: Varsity Field Hockey Places 3rd at AA Provincial Championships, Defeating LFA for Bronze
YHS lost to Collingwood in the championship semi-final game (who went on to defeat Crofton in the Championship Final). The Tigers then went on to play Little Flower Academy (LFA) for a third place finish in BC. YHS jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Gr. 12s Meg and Alexi. LFA made it 2-1 at the half. YHS dominated the second half with contributions from everyone. Alex, Gr. 12, scored two goals making it 4-1, followed by another goal from Lauren. Gr. 9, and yet another by Alyssa, Gr. 10. There were so many strong performances and contributions — everyone deserves so much credit. This is a great team who played excellent hockey and were a pleasure to watch. Congratulations on a terrific season. Be sure to congratulate the players and coaches, Mr.  Bissett, Ms. Atkinson, and Mr. Cropley.

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Senior Volleyball AA Lower Mainland Champions!
On Friday, November 17, the Tigers defeated St. Thomas Aquinas to reach the final four. They then defeated West Point Grey in the semi-final to earn the right to play St. Thomas More (STM) in the championship final. STM is ranked #3 in BC and have beaten us a few times this year. The Tigers lost game one 25-23, came back to win game two 25-29 and the third set was close throughout. Tied 9-9, 11-11, 13-13, YHS came out with a 16-14 win. YHS Tigers are the 2017 AA Lower Mainland Champions and will compete at the AA BC Championships from Nov 30 to Dec 1-2 in Vanderhoof, BC.

I can honestly say that, in 20 years of watching, this is the highest quality of high school volleyball I have ever seen and the best I have ever seen a YHS Team play. Defense was amazing by both teams. Our Tigers defense was unbelievable — almost every point had amazing plays and countless long rallies that had the crowd in awe. Congrats to the girls and their coaches, Mr. Lodewyks, and Mr. Kelly.

Tigers Swim Team 2nd AA BC Championships
Swim BCs wrapped up at Watermania and our small but awesome Tigers Swim Team had terrific results. York House placed second overall in the girls division among all schools, losing out on the provincial championship to West Point Grey who simply has a larger team. The top teams in BC were St. George’s, WPGA, Penticton High, and York House. Congratulations to the girls and to our coaches, Emily Matthews, Christine Lee, Laura Sze, and Danielle Tognetti on a great season. Thank you to everyone for their support and to Ms. Gionet for coming to cheer on the team today.

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CONGRATULATIONS TIGERS!

  • 11 swimmers
  • 14 events qualified from zones and all 14 qualified for the finals on Saturday at BCs
  • 13 top 8 finishes ( 9 of those top 5 finishes)
  • 6 medals (1 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze)
  • Excellent individual swims by Alex, Gr. 10 (50 free, Silver; 100 free, 4th), and Jacqueline, Gr. 12 (50 breast, 6th)
  • Gold medal for Janice, Gr. 8, Alex, Gr. 10, and St. George’s boys Joe and Mike (not only did they win gold but they broke a Provincial Record – 1:43.75, breaking the old record of 1:45)
  • Silver: 4×50 IM B (Emily, Gr. 11; Jacqueline, Gr. 12; Sophia, Gr. 10; Amanda, Gr. 11)
  • Silver: 50 Free Open (Alex, Gr. 10)
  • Silver: 4×50 Free B (Jacqueline, Gr. 12; Emily, Gr. 11; Sophia, Gr. 10; Amanda, Gr. 11)
  • Silver: 4×100 Free B (Jacqueline, Gr. 12, Emily, Gr. 11; Kaitlin Yung, Amanda, Gr. 11)
  • Bronze: 4×100 Free Open (Alex, Gr. 10; Devon Smith, Vickie Zhao, Janice, Gr. 8)

Grade 8 Volleyball Team Places 2nd
Congratulations to our Grade 8 Volleyball Team and their coaches, Mr. Bester and Ms. Baldissera who won their quarter-final and semi-final matches in our league playoffs but lost a tough match to Notre Dame in the league final placing second. A second place finish in our highly competitive Lower Mainland Independent League is a terrific accomplishment.

David Prissinotti
Senior Athletics Director