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VICTORIA VICTORIA NEWS NEWS -Friday, -Friday, January January 15, 15, 2016 2016
Victoria teams advance to B.C. curling champs Two Victoria teams have earned the final berths for the 2016 Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. Men’s Curling Championship in Nelson next month. The event, which takes place from Feb. 10 to 14, will feature 16 men’s teams vying for the chance to represent B.C. at the Tim Hortons Brier in Ottawa. Two Vancouver Island teams, Team Montgomery and Team Jackson qualified. They were joined by Team House from Richmond to complete the field. Team Montgomery were the first to qualify by capturing the A event with three straight wins. The team, of skip Jason Montgomery, third Miles Craig, second Cameron De Jong, and lead Dave McGarry, represent Victoria Curling Centre. Two of the team members (Montgomery and Craig) hail from Shawnigan Lake and also curl at Duncan Curling Club. Team Jackson, also from Victoria Curling Centre, grabbed the second spot with their only loss against Team Montgomery. Skipped by Glen Jackson, the team also features third Andrew Komlodi, second Corey Chester and lead Joel Cave. The teams were among seven teams that travelled to Salmon Arm Jan. 8 to 10 to take part in the final open playdown to lock up their trip to the B.C. championship. Ten teams had previously qualified at regional playdowns in December. In addition, Team Cotter, from Kelowna/Vernon, earned a trip back to provincials as the defending champions, along with the top two CTRS (Canadian Team Ranking System) points winners, Team Joanisse and Team Geall (both from Royal City Curling Club). editor@vicnews.com
German high school student excels on basketball court Kendra Wong Victoria News
Don Denton/Victoria News
Esquimalt High’s Xenia Koop, right, holds back Vic High’s Gabriella Erskine and watches as teammate Mackenzie Wavryk goes up for a shot during senior girls basketball team action.
At six-foot-four-inches tall, 16-year-old Xenia Knoop towers over most people in her grade. Now, the Grade 11 student is soaring to new heights, finding success as post with Esquimalt High School's senior girls' basketball team — a sport she didn't know how to play eight months ago. Knoop, originally from Germany, came to Victoria to study English as part of Esquimalt High's international program in August. Though she played handball in Germany for the last 10 years, Knoop had never picked up a basketball prior to coming to Canada. Now, she's finding her groove on the court, alongside her 12 teammates, and is able to pick up skills and move around the court with the utmost of ease, despite her height. “In my (physical education) classes my teacher always said I should play basketball because I'm so tall,” Knoop said, adding her mother stands five-feet-11-inches tall and her father at six-foot-six. “I like everything, the whole game.” She has become dedicated to
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the sport, not missing any practices or games since the season started. She comes in early for practice to run through the drills as well. Knoop has averaged roughly 20 points a game for the senior team, lifting them to a record of 4-1 on the season. Senior girls' basketball head coach Angela Coutts said Knoop has the potential to play at a “very high level.” “She's very lovely and takes instruction very well. She's great to coach. She's quick to pick up the skills and drills and a lot of that has to do with her European handball,” Coutts said. “Normally 6'4 players can't move as well as she can on the court and so that's been a real asset.” Other schools are taking notice of Knoop's height as well. Most recently, a scout from a B.C. university was on hand to watch the team practice. While she is set to return to Germany at the end of the school year, Knoop said she would consider taking her skills to the next level if the right opportunity came along. “If I had the opportunity to stay here, then I would,” she said. kendra.wong@vicnews.com