REYNOLDS 1
GLENLYON NORFOLK 0
These are heady times for Reynolds Secondary, a school that is proving it sure knows how to celebrate a 50th anniversary.
The Roadrunners girls鈥� soccer team won the Ryan Cup for Lower Island high school supremacy with a 1-0 victory over the Glenlyon Norfolk Gryphons on Tuesday afternoon at the University of Victoria.
That follows the Roadrunners boys鈥� soccer team winning its first sa国际传媒 triple-A championship last fall and also its first Colonist Cup Lower Island title since 1983.
On Thursday, to commemorate Reynolds鈥� half-century anniversary, the school inducts its charter class of athletes into the new Reynolds Hall of Fame 鈥� Olympians Tracie McAara, Janice Mason, Mike Lewis, Christen Petelski, world-medallist wrestler Stacie Anaka, CFLer Brian Ramsay and former triple-A pitcher Mike Finlayson.
All in all, it鈥檚 a memorable year to be a Roadrunner, capped by alumnus John Horgan鈥檚 run for the sa国际传媒 premiership.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an unbelievable year for our school,鈥� said J.J. Atterbury, the Reynolds boys鈥� and girls鈥� soccer coach, who is in his 14th year at the school.
鈥淭his has been a nice way to celebrate our 50th anniversary on so many fronts.鈥�
It continued Tuesday with Sophia Anderson tapping in an Annie Kind rebound for the winning goal in the second half for the Ryan Cup championship.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be shown up by the boys,鈥� quipped Anderson, referring to the Roadrunners鈥� sa国际传媒 championship and Colonist Cup title in the fall.
鈥淭his is my Grade 12 year and it feels great to win the Ryan Cup city championship. Hopefully, we can carry this forward.鈥�
The next step is the Island triple-A championship taking place next Monday and Tuesday at Braefoot Park and Oak Bay High. The sa国际传媒 triple-A championship is at the end of the month in Burnaby.
鈥淲e have been together a long time and know each other well,鈥� said Anderson, of what makes the Roadrunners such a cohesive unit.
But the double-A school GNS didn鈥檛 make it easy for the 鈥橰unners.
鈥淭hat was a battle GNS gave us,鈥� said Atterbury, whose Reynolds squad edged the St. Michaels University School Blue Jags 1-0 in the Ryan Cup semifinals last week.
鈥淲e gutted it out with a lot of heart,鈥� added Atterbury, who was a national champion player for Bruce Wilson鈥檚 UVic Vikes and a sa国际传媒 Province Cup champion with Gorge FC.
The Gryphons just couldn鈥檛 find a way, as Reynolds goalkeeper Jessica Gardiner recorded the clean sheet.
鈥淭hat was a great game by both teams and really entertaining. It could have gone either way. The ball just didn鈥檛 find a way to go in for us,鈥� said GNS coach Sonny Pawar, a former player for the University of Alberta Golden Bears and University of Calgary Dinos.
鈥淚鈥檓 extremely proud of our girls. They battled right to the end against a bigger and deeper school,鈥� added Pawar, whose Gryphons upended the triple-A Oak Bay Breakers 2-0 in the Ryan Cup semifinals.
GNS now prepares for the Island double-A championships next Monday and Tuesday at Shawnigan Lake.
HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL: The Ryan Cup kicked off a big week of championships . . . The Lower Island high school track and field championships are all day today at Centennial Stadium ahead of the Islands next week. . . . The Howard Russell Cup Lower Island rugby championship game between sa国际传媒 double-A No. 1 SMUS and sa国际传媒 triple-A No. 3 Oak Bay is Thursday at 6 p.m. at SMUS. It will be preceded, also at SMUS, by the Community Shield final between Reynolds and Ladysmith at noon; the Community Bowl between Claremont and Edward Milne at 1:30 p.m.; the junior high final between Oak Bay and Claremont at 3:30 p.m.; and the Col. Hodgkins Cup bronze-medal game between GNS and Belmont at 4:30 p.m.
