The dust has finally settled, and the final verdict is in; Appleby College’s Winter Season was one of the most successful in recent memory for the Oakville high school’s athletic department.
The Senior Girls Hockey Team was keen to prove that the school's tradition of excellence didn’t end with Brianne Jenner. The Olympic Gold Medalist would have been proud of this group of young women to whom she has been a mentor for the last several seasons.
The CISSA Varsity Girls Hockey Final took place on March 8 and was a match-up of the two top teams following a five-team round-robin tournament. Appleby defeated Crestwood Preparatory College in the championship game 2-1. Ella Huntley and Reichen Kirchmair both scored in the final.
Head Coach Mike Valaincourt didn’t have it easy this year with the restrictions and injuries at what seemed like the worst possible time. Still, luckily for him, his leadership group of older players were fit and ready at just the right moment, "They got back and they kind of put things together for us, and for a couple of games played their best hockey I’ve seen."
Several of the young women who grabbed this team by the scruff of the neck will be making their way to top-quality university programs next year like Cornell, Holy Cross, Providence, and Maine.
There was immense talent on the ice at all times for Vaillancourt "From Reichen Kirchmair, who has been around for four years since she’s pretty much got there, Taylor Cantelon, and Grace Beer was around since grade 9, and then we’ve had a few newcomers the last couple of years, with Avi Adam, and Mya Headrick, and Sarah MacEachern, really pushing while the schedule was crazy."
Among the many players heading off to elite hockey programs in the NCAA next year was Grade 7 standout Adrianna Milani.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the OFSAA competition for Varsity Girls Hockey has been cancelled.
The Appleby College Girls Sr Hockey Team Roster
Avi Adam, Olivia Aquino, Tara Bach, Grace Beer, Vicky Borg, Taylor Cantelon, Leagh Cox, Lia Goh, Sami Harkness, Mya Headrick, Ella Huntley, Kerrin Kerr, Reichen Kirchmair, Sarah MacEachern, Adrianna Milani, Sydney Sammut, Stephanie Stainton, Taylor Stanford, Angie Tesser
The Girls' success on the ice was matched in the pool as swimmers from Appleby captured 12 individual Gold Medals and four more in relay events.
"It was so nice to see the joy of the young athletes competing again," exclaimed Swim Team head coach Cristy Meagher, who went on to say, "for many of our students, this is their passion, and obviously, they hadn’t been able to pursue it for two years, so it was really special not only to see them swim but take home the Overall Co-Ed, then the Senior Girls Division, the Senior Boys Division, and Overall Girls titles."
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the OFSAA competition for swimming has also been canceled.
Medalist from the CISAA Championship:
- Olivia Ou – U20 Girls 200m Freestyle
- Joe Taylor – U20 Boys 50m Backstroke
- Renee Xia – U16 Girls 50m Backstroke
- HB Jiang – U16 Boys 50m Breaststroke
- Grace Kittel – U20 Girls 100m IM
- Lauren Snyder – U16 Girls 100m IM
- HB Jiang – U16 Boys 100m IM
- Grace Kittel – U20 Girls 100m Freestyle
- Henry Shang – U16 Boys 100m Freestyle
- Lauren Snyder – U16 Girls 50 Butterfly
- David Sharpe – U16 Boys 50 Butterfly
- Sabrina Williams – U20 Girls 50 Breaststroke
- U16 Girls 200m Medley Relay
- U16 Boys 200m Medley Relay
- U20 Girls 200M Medley Relay
- U16 Boys 200m Freestyle Relay
The Junior Boys Squash team we’re not to be left out of the Championship celebrations as they also took home the CISAA title to round off an incredible week and an outstanding winter season for Appleby College.
Jr. Boys Squash Roster
Anas Yaseen, Shaan Jolly, Bremner Layfield, Alexander Hampton-Davies, Said Hijab (coach), Gabriel Vasilaros-Lewis, Liam Chau, Paulwyn Xiao, Ryan Cowan.