Island U Sports stars are turning heads in Gold Coast
Two former U Sports stars — basketball’s Conor Morgan of Victoria and former University of Victoria Vikes field hockey goalkeeper Kaitlyn Williams — are having stellar runs for Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
The six-foot-nine Morgan came out of Mount Douglas Secondary to excel for the UBC Thunderbirds as a fluidly-moving threat both inside the paint and from the perimetre.
The two-time Canada West MVP scored a game-high 24 points Tuesday at the Games to lead Canada, which is basically a U Sports all-star team, to a 97-79 victory over England in the quarter-finals to advance to the men’s hoops semifinals Friday against the New Zealand Tall Blacks.
As with most Summer Games, from Olympics to Pan Ams, team sports are often spread around and not played directly in the host city. The Commonwealth Games basketball preliminary round was held in Cairns, Queensland, and will only now move down to Gold Coast for the semifinals and gold- and bronzemedal finals.
Morgan and his teammates are happy to be shifting to the heart of the Games action.
“It’s great for our team to move on,” said Morgan, who wasn’t even born when the Commonwealth Games were held in his hometown of Victoria in 1994.
“We clicked at the right time. We’re looking forward to heading to the Gold Coast and competing for a medal.”
Unlike cricket, netball, field hockey and rugby, basketball is not considered a strong sport within the Commonwealth. That’s why it has only been staged twice in the Games. Yet, both Australia and New Zealand can hold their own in hoops against any of the world powers. Morgan will be in tough in the semifinals against a talented Tall Blacks team that dispatched Canada 82-60 in the preliminary round. Not only that, Morgan and his Canuck mates must stare down the Kiwis’ fearsome Haka ritual before the semifinal.
Meanwhile, Canada will not win a medal in the top-drawer women’s field hockey competition of the Gold Coast Games after a 1-0 loss to Australia and scoreless draws against Scotland and the New Zealand Black Sticks. But Williams’ goalkeeping for Canada has become one of the talking points of the Games tournament as the former UVic Vikes star has allowed just one goal in three games. It’s hard to believe her confidence was shaky heading into the Games.
Recently helping her parents move, Williams came across some of her Vikes memorabilia from UVic, where she was 2007 CIS (now U Sports) rookie of the year in a standout five-year career in which she won a national title with the Vikes in 2008 and was Canada West goalkeeper of the year in 2011.
Williams consulted with her UVic coach, Olympian Lynne Beecroft, before heading to Gold Coast.
“I said: ‘Be the best Kaitlyn Williams you can be,’ ” said Beecroft.
That is exactly what she is being in Gold Coast, and then some.
“They called her The Ninja after the New Zealand shutout because she made save after save,” said Beecroft.
Also on the Canadian women’s field hockey team in Gold Coast are Oak Bay High products Kathleen Leahy, who starred for Beecroft at UVic, and Maddie Secco, who played Pac-12 in the NCAA at Stanford.
Leahy overcame two ACL tears to make the national team for the Games.
“It was Kathleen’s perseverance and guttiness that got her there. I am so proud of her,” said Beecroft.
Canada closes pool play today against Ghana before going to the consolation side. The semifinals are set with Australia and India on one side of the draw and England and New Zealand on the other.
Canada is 1-2 in a killer field in the men’s field hockey tournament and will finish pool play today against South Africa before being relegated to the consolation round. James Kirkpatrick of Victoria and Olympians and UVic Vikes products Keegan Pereira and Matthew Sarmento are on the Canadian team. Sarmento and striker-midfielder Kirkpatrick, out of Oak Bay High and a former pro with Racing Club of Paris, have scored for Canada in the Games tournament.
Meanwhile, much as in field hockey, the Langford-based Canadian men’s rugby sevens team is also in a very difficult world-class field when its Commonwealth Games tournament opens Friday in Gold Coast. The Canadian team includes Island players Connor Braid, Mike Fuailefau, Luke McCloskey of Victoria, Patrick Kay of Duncan, Isaac Kaay of the UVic Vikes and UVic alumni Nathan Hirayama and Lucas Hammond.
Canada’s best chance for a medal in a Commonwealth Games team sport rests with Oak Bay High-grad Caroline Crossley and the Langford-based 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist women’s sevens rugby squad.
Meanwhile, Jay Lamoureux of Victoria hit the road Tuesday in Gold Coast after winning teampursuit bronze last week in the Games with the rising Canadian track-cycling program. The Oak Bay High grad was top Canadian and 14th in the men’s road race among the 56 riders.
“I had better legs than I thought I would after the four days of track racing,” said Lamoureux.
“I had no expectations on a placing, so I’m overjoyed with 14th. The crowds were great, yelling ‘Go Canada,’ and a lot of people were even yelling ‘Go Jay,’ which was really cool.”