Standing on top of the province
G.P. Vanier repeats as B.C. girls Triple A rugby champions
The G.P. Vanier Towhees knew what was possible when they embarked on the journey to try and repeat as B.C. girls Triple A rugby champions.
“So we purposely set out to face a lot of challenges like our tour to California and playing as many difficult teams as we could,” said head coach Dwayne Mills. “It all added up to one thing, and that was we didn’t panic. Whenever things got difficult, we were calm and composed.” And dominant. On Saturday, the battle-tested Towhees completed their mission, topping the Carson Graham Eagles 39-14 in the provincial final staged at Klahanie Park, right in the Eagles’ own North Vancouver neighbourhood.
In a contest that was controlled by Vanier’s backs, it was the team’s two calming leaders — Madi Gold and Dawson German — who helped the Island squad dictate the flow of play.
Yet while German wound up scoring two tries, with single tries registered by Lauren Sargent, Ashley Heryet and Chloe Baird-Titcomb, the team got an added boost from senior Kelsey Barton, who played the game of her career.
In the B.C. Double A girls final, Brentwood College of Mill Bay capped a perfect season at 14-0 with a 27-10 win over the threetime defending champion Abbotsford Panthers.
“Our defence was a key factor,” said head coach Marius Felix as the Vancouver Island team hunkered down to deny the Panthers on their five-metre line on a number of occasions in the contest. “This is the best defensive team I’ve had in 32 years.”
Fullback Denise Roy led the winners with three tries, while Ciel Arbour-Boehme and Shannyn O’Callaghan added one apiece.
Abbotsford got tries from Kashish Arya and Paige Pedersen.