Girls Soccer: Unfinished Business
How do you top perfection?
Last year, the St. Gabriel Varsity Girls soccer team, coached by Roni Walz, announced their arrival on the sporting scene in a big way. In their first year, the girls went undefeated through the regular season, with a perfect record of 6-0. Unfortunately, they didn’t quite receive their fairytale ending. They were upset in the semi-finals of the playoffs, leaving a bitter taste to linger over an otherwise successful season. This year they attempt to learn from the past and finish what they started. While several key members have moved on, the team has 11 players returning to the squad and a bright group of new players joining the ranks. Reclaiming their magic from last season won’t be an easy task, though. Any such thoughts were quickly erased by their 3-3 draw with Bishop McNally last week. Kevyn Timmons scored all three goals in the match, and while a number of players played well, the result was ultimately disappointing. Still, perhaps the girls will have learned an important lesson from last season: it’s not how you start, but how you finish that counts.
Volleyball Season Ready To Get Underway
2012 could be a very good year for volleyball at SGA. For the first time, the school will run 4 high school teams, fielding Senior and Junior Varsity squads for both the girls and the boys. Add to that the Jr. High teams that had very strong showings in their first games of the season last week, and the prospect of success in the sport looks very bright indeed. The highest expectations might fall on the two high school girls teams. Last year, the JV team brought a high school banner back to SGA. There are now girls from that championship team on both Varsity squads and they look to bring their winning experience with them. While the girls may come into the season with the greater expectations, the boys should not be overlooked. They may not have had the same level of success last season, but there is every reason to believe that we could see a boy’s championship banner hanging in the gym next fall. No matter what, it should be a fun year.
Cross Country
The high school Cross Country team at St. Gabriel the Archangel had something of a break through last year. Competing directly against the biggest schools in Calgary, they placed more top 10 runners than any other school at the final meet of the season. In the City Finals, two of the top three spots went to runners from St. Gabriel. Jordan Maisonneuve (pictured below), who was one of those runners, has returned to the school this year and will be competing once again. Justin Helfer has taken over the coaching duties for the team and will attempt to build on the successes of last season. The first high school meet takes place on Wednesday, Sept 19 at Canmore Park.
