Bantam, Junior & Senior Volleyball Update
A drop of sweat rolls down the side of your face. You are ready and warmed up. You feel some nervousness in your stomach, but you recognize it as the kind of energy that can help you be alert and a half-step quicker. You know you have put in the time after school and in the morning. Your coaches trust you. Your teammates have your back, and you know none of you are perfect. There is no such thing as a perfect game, but you are ready to give it your best. The other team is about to serve, and you want the ball to come to you. You are ready to show them what you have from all the practicing and playing that brought you to the playoffs. It is a ‘one and done’ situation: the winner of the best of three goes on to the GVISAA Championship at the Harry Jerome Centre. The loser has their season end abruptly. You KNOW and WILL your body to respond positively. It doesn’t matter the rankings you came in with, or what has happened up to this point, you know you are ready now.
Three of our volleyball teams played in the gym last night: our Bantam (Grade 8) Girls, Junior (Grade 9 and 10) Girls, and Senior (Grades 11 and 12) Girls. In two of the three matches, we were the lower seeded team but that did not matter to our player or coaches. We got to host due to some good luck that we made for ourselves.
ALL THREE of the high school Gryphon Girls teams advanced – a straight sweep! Now, all three teams are attending the Championships next Thursday in Burnaby. Very, very impressive! A big shout-out to all players and coaches.
Meadowridge Bantam Girls defeat St. John’s in 3 sets: 26-28, 25-12 & 15-7
Coaches: Ms. Kent & Mr. Clarke
Meadowridge Junior Girls defeat Lion’s Gate in 2 sets: 25-4 & 25-6
Coaches: Ms. West, Ms. Metz & Mr. Lester
Meadowridge Senior Girls defeat Lion’s Gate in 3 sets: 25-17, 19-25 & 15-9
Coaches: Ms. Oneil & Mr. Marriott
Grade 6 & 7 Volleyball Update
The Grade 6 and 7 Girls ISEA Volleyball team ended their regular season of play this past Monday with a trip to Vancouver. The Gryphon Girls are now headed into the ISEA Grade 7 Girls Volleyball Championship next week. There has been some amazing growth in these players, and they are truly a team that cares for each other… a family within the Meadowridge family. Good luck to all the players and thank you to our coaches Ms. Reis and Ms. Aharon. It is an exciting future for high school volleyball with well over 25 girls in Grades 6 and 7 playing in two leagues. We hosted two teams this year so all players could get valuable court time in real game situations.
The School District 42 team also wraps up their season with a home game on November 5.
Elementary (Grade 1 to 7) Cross Country Update
The Meadowridge Elementary (Grade 1 through 7) Cross Country runners had their season cut short due to some date conflicts with the many events happening in the Meadowridge community; however, there should be some additional opportunities in the spring for students to run in the School District 42 Spring XC season. Despite these conflicts, we did have a group of Grade 4 to 7 students that were able to get out to Alouette Lake for the School District 42 Cross Country race against other District schools. Students, keep up your training as it is fantastic cardio (and mental!) work for so many other activities and for your own personal health.
A special thanks to our coaches Ms. Pitzey, Ms. Lum and Ms. Maynes for training the students, organizing drivers and managing paperwork to make this opportunity possible for our Gryphon runners.
High School Cross Country Update: Team of One
There is one very small ‘team’ in the school that you might not be aware of. We have a High School Cross Country (XC) team with just one dedicated member this year, a student in her senior year: Serena B. Serena has done very well in getting to the required races that allowed her to compete in the Fraser Valley North Zone Championship last week in Burnaby. Not only is she running in these very large races, but she is one of the top competitors. Serena placed 7th at the Provincial qualifier and is feeling strong and fast going into Provincials next week in Abbotsford. Go, Serena! Thank you for representing the Gryphons near the front of the pack.
High School Swimming
Congratulations to the seven Meadowridge Gryphon High School Swimmers who attended the Fraser North Zone Championships last Thursday in Coquitlam. Our small group of swimmers represented us well, with five of the seven earning points in the standings. Especially impressive, since most of these races have multiple heats and most involve 40 races with over 30 swimmers – the most popular race had over 70 in a single event! Our seven swimmers earned 137 points. The boys came particularly close to taking home the overall boys banner with just three swimmers. The team who ultimately won have 16 swimmers, and earned just 20 more points than our boys’ 99.
A special mention goes to Tim T. for taking first in all four races he entered and earning the Gryphons 80 points on this alone. An extra big thank you to Morgan L. for his work in organizing the team this year and acting as the team captain. And, a special thanks to Hannah B. for volunteering to fulfill Meadowridge’s duties as an official at the meet.
Thank you to the swimmers who came out to represent the school and earn us points, proving once again that Gryphons can swim very well: Hannah B. (Grade 11), Gloria L. (Grade 9), Daphne L. (Grade 10), Karen Z. (Grade 8), Morgan L. (Grade 12), Ray L. (Grade 10) and Tim T. (Grade 12).
The Zone Championships are not broken down by size, so the larger schools have a significant advantage due to numbers; however, at provincials, they do award banners by school size (A, AA, and AAA). Meadowridge is the defending the Boys ‘A’ Provincial Champions with our win last year.
Good luck to Tim and Karen who will be representing us at Provincials on November 15 and 16.