Game on in North York as 2010-11 season begins

[attach]2217[/attach]It’s that time of year again.

Back to school and the Town Crier is going to give you the top teams that have a chance to bring home gold for our North York edition’s nine 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.
It all starts in the fall with girls basketball, boys football, girls field hockey, rugby sevens, golf, tennis and boys volleyball.

Once the games continue into winter the seasonal change brings with it boys basketball, girls volleyball, curling, hockey, alpine skiing, snowboarding and swimming.

Moving into the spring, baseball, cricket, lacrosse, rugby, girls slo-pitch, soccer, girls softball, co-ed volleyball and ultimate Frisbee get under way.

So, here are your local schools and the teams that had phenomenal 2009-10 campaigns.

A.Y. Jackson SS
TDSSAA

Golden boy Chris Puskas had a lot to be happy about last season. The Jaguar scored gold in boys 200-metre freestyle and a silver in boys 100-metre freestyle.

Lily Kao also took home some hardware last season as the North Region’s silver medalist in mixed doubles badminton. The co-ed badminton team finished the regular season with a 4-1 record.

As for the boys senior basketball team, Jason Appiah-Ampofo led his crew to a four-way tie for first in the North Region. They lost in the quarter-finals to Sir Sanford Fleming Academy, 50-35.

Brebeuf College School
TDCAA

TDCAA saw Brebeuf take second in junior boys volleyball’s North Division.

On a table tennis note, Simon Urbanc grabbed first place in boys singles in the junior TDCAA tournament and Julian Kremizis, with Melroy Menezes, took bronze in boys doubles. Calvin Tsang won third in senior boys singles.

Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts
TDCAA

The school is surely proud of their students Angelika and Victoria Reznik, who won rhythmic gymnastics bronze at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.

Also look for the swimming, tennis and badminton crews to perform well at TDCAA in 2010-11 following the strong performances of 2010 athletes of the year Michael Foe and Katie Ross.

Earl Haig SS
TDSSAA

Controller of the wee white ball on the fairway, Kyle Docherty led Earl Haig’s golf team with a second-place finish at the regionals and seventh place final at OFSAA.

The badminton team went undefeated in regular season action at 5-0 and dominated the North Region all season.

The citys for swimming proved bountiful as Haigman Terrance Lau snared a gold in the senior boys 200-metre freestyle and fellow Haig Stater Degas Yin won silver for the junior girls 100-metre breaststroke.

Newtonbrook SS
TDSSAA

The North Stars wrestled with the rest of Toronto this year and delivered a smackdown. Bobby Thompson finished fifth at OFSAA and Rebecca Mayers won the belt at the citys, qualifying for OFSAA. Unfortunately, she dislocated her elbow in the quarter-finals.

Both Newtonbrook’s junior and senior boys basketball teams rose to the top of the North with 8-1 and 6-3 records respectively. All-star forward Valentin Crainic led the senior team.

Rugby was the other sport the North Stars were tops in, as the junior boys were undefeated at 5-0 and the girls were 4-2.

Northview Heights SS
TDSSAA

[attach]2216[/attach]It was a fiery year in Northview as the Phoenix had success in multiple sports this past year, including on the links. In the fall, Northview Heights scored a silver in boys senior team golf.

The ladies faired well in the rink, making it to the North/East Region championships against R.H. King Lions for the first time in the school’s history. Although they lost the tier 2 title 4-3, head coach Jennifer Kennedy lauded her charges.

In the pool, the Phoenix were aglow, swimming to the podium five times. Leading the laneway armada were Pavel Tselichtchev, Mackenzie Smith and Ron Vainstein.

People’s Christian Academy
ACSI/TDCAA/SSAF

Competitors in three leagues, including the Association of Christian Schools International and Small Schools Athletic Federation, PCA competed in juniors boys volleyball at the TDCAA level, finishing in fourth overall in the south division.

Phys. ed director Alain Koo said the Eagles’ top teams for the upcoming 2010-11 season are senior girls volleyball and senior co-ed badminton.

St. Joseph’s Morrow Park
TDCAA

In a season shrouded in doubt of where the ladies of St. Joseph’s Morrow Park would attend school, the teams still faired well. The girls softball crew finished with a 4-2 record in the TDCAA’s east division thanks to Michelle Uniana.

The soccer team will look to improve on their 2009-10 season, but may have to look to their rising stars as both Jacqueline Ross and Melissa Viado have graduated.

Ross, Viado and Uniana were also a part of the volleyball team this past season.

William Lyon Mackenzie CI
TDSSAA

The Lyons badminton team kept neck-and-neck with Earl Haig thanks to the strong racket talent of Cressan Genus. The co-ed crew finished atop the North Region’s West Division.

Tier 2 baseball saw Mac as its division leader, undefeated at 9-0. Look for them to come out swinging in 2011.

Finally, the seniors girls volleyball team went undefeated with the help of Telise Carmichael last year.