Buckeyes powerful in the pool

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This article was published 09/12/2015 (3646 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Buckeyes made a splash in the local water polo pool this year.

In their first competitive season, Miles Macdonell Collegiate’s water polo team placed second at the 2015 high school A division water polo provincials on Dec. 6.

“This result surpassed team goals,” said Nancy Smith, the team’s coach. “The finish, although not in our favour, felt like a huge win.”

After defeating Grant Park 7-5 in the semifinal, Miles Mac took on heavy favourites Kelvin in the final.

“We came in as the underdogs,” admitted Smith, who also coaches Dakota Collegiate of the B division, where she is a teacher. “The game was tight with both teams exchanging goals. At the end of the third quarter it was tied 5-5. Our team had a short slide early in the fourth, giving up three goals. The team came back with a beautiful goal but ran out of time to make up the difference.”

“We played a team with a lot more experience,” said Kieran Smith, 17, who was first introduced to the sport as a young kid by his mother, Nancy, herself a player with national experience. “I think we were more excited to get second than they were to get first.”

This year marked the first that Miles Mac competed in the high school water polo league. Last year, a group of students, led by team captains Kieran Smith and Logan Karasinski-Borgstrom petitioned the school administration to get a water polo team going. With support from the phys-ed department, the boys put out a call for prospective players at the end of last school year.

“We had a lot of people come out, which was surprising,” Kieran Smith said.

“It’s co-ed, so that’s a lot of fun for a school game,” coach Smith added.

Both Kieran and Karasinski-Borgstrom had grown up playing club water polo, and had competed at the national level. Most of the other members of the team were new to the sport.

“All but four have never played before,” coach Smith said. “The kids have worked hard and improved tremendously.”

“I didn’t know anything about water polo,” said Grade 11 player Shelly Lam. “We learned as we went. My swimming definitely improved.”

When the team made the A division after the first half of the season—which consisted of round robin play between the 13 schools in the league—Lam said they already felt a sense of accomplishment.

“We never knew we could even do that,” she said. “And having the chance to play for the gold medal was something I never expected.”

“This year could not have happened without Brad Borgstrom, assistant coach, and Darlyne Brajkovich, teacher extraordinaire,” Smith added.

While Kieran, Karasinski-Borgstrom and a number of other players are graduating this year, Smith and Lam are excited about the future of water polo at Miles Mac.

“We’ll start with a new crew aside from five returning players,” Smith explained.

“I’m definitely playing next year,” Lam said.

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