BLUES NEWS
Provincial prestige
Blues volleyball player Caleigh Cruickshank received the Ontario Volleyball Association’s first-ever beach player of the year award in July. Fresh out of her first season with the Blues, Cruickshank accumulated the most OVA Beach Tour points in both the men’s and women’s categories, blazing a trail at her first OVA Beach Tour competition. On a court of another kind, men’s tennis player Ivan Markovic topped 64 other players in his first adult tournament, earning his first provincial title at the Ontario Tennis Association’s Class A provincial championships in August. Markovic defeated five seeded players to claim top honours at the event. –AH
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National pride Badminton
Swimming
After helping the Blues to a provincial banner this past season, badminton player Jackie Yeung, along with partner Josh Hurlburt-Yu, earned the boys’ doubles title in May at the 2013 under-19 Canadian championships in Saskatoon. The pair defeated the number two ranked team in the finals to earn the title. Yeung was named 2012-13 OUA badminton and U of T male rookie of the year for his efforts.
In another first, Blues swimmer Matt Myers won his first Swim Canada title in the 200m backstroke at the national championships in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, in July. The 2011-12 rookie of the year finished the race in an impressive 2.00:30, a time that head coach Byron MacDonald says will make Myers a strong candidate for international teams in the future.
Track and Field Sprinter Alicia Brown took top honours – and her first national title – in the women’s 400-metre sprint at the Canadian track and field championships in June. The 2012-13 Blues athlete of the year finished the race in a personal best time of 52.92.
Rowing Blues rowers Kate Sauks, Kate Nay, Jennifer Seidel and Meg Lewicki earned a first-place finish at the 131st Royal Canadian Henley Regatta in August. Held in St. Catharines, Ontario, the Henley Regatta has grown to become one of the largest professional rowing tournaments in North America.
PHOTOs/ Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve (Left) Jill Clark (Right)