Tragedy strikes high school football player

Doctors fear a Winnipeg high school football player will be paralyzed from the neck down after sustaining a severe neck injury during a game last Friday.

The crushing prognosis was delivered to the family of Darius Hartshorne, who underwent an emergency surgery that required a spinal fusion and decompression of his vertebrae Friday evening.

In what has been described as a freak accident, the Grade 12 student, who plays on the offensive and defensive line for the Sisler Spartans, received a short opening kickoff before awkwardly colliding with a tackling player of the Tec Voc Hornets.

Paramedics were sent to the scene and rushed him to Health Sciences Centre for an emergency procedure that lasted more than six hours.

Royals host historic rumble against Pirates

In the days and hours leading up to kickoff, head coach Brett Delisle-Boughen harped on one message to his players: what they were doing was unprecedented at Windsor Park Collegiate.

Springfield Sabres continue tradition of midnight practice

The Springfield Collegiate Sabres are wasting no time kicking off their 2025 football season next week.

As soon as the clock strikes midnight on Monday, Aug. 18, the Sabres — a high school team from Oakbank competing in the Winnipeg High School Football League — will take to the field for their first practice of the year under the lights of the Oakbank Community Centre.

The unique tradition, known as midnight practice, was introduced to the team by head coach Tom Walls back in 2022.

“Football is a difficult sport,” said Walls. “Not everybody gets to touch the ball. There’s a whole lot of sacrifice that goes into it. So if you’re going to run a program that attracts kids to do things that are inherently uncomfortable, you have to do things that are different or keep it relevant every year, and every year we try to do something brand new and different. And this year was the year to bring back the midnight practice again.”

Annual high school alumni basketball tourney tips off Friday

Some high school rivalries never die, especially when it comes to sports.

And reigniting that fire are Calvin Diaz and Joseph Medrano, who are giving alumni from high schools across Winnipeg the chance to run it back on the court and see if their school still has what it takes.

The Run It Back Alumni Basketball Tournament, now in its third year, has already seen plenty of success, bringing together players from the graduating classes of 2022 all the way back to 1999 to face off against old rivals.

This year, 16 teams will make their way to the Duckworth Centre downtown from Aug. 8-10 to compete in the tournament.

Durand, Carlos named high school Athletes of the Year

It’s all about balance for Payton Durand, who went from sport to sport in her final year of high school at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé and found success in all of them.

From juggling volleyball to hockey, with track and field, badminton and softball mixed in, it’s been a busy but rewarding high school experience for Durand, who finished off senior year being awarded this year’s MHSAA Athlete of the Year Award, announced today at the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

“It’s so important,” said Durand on time management. “My last four years of high school, that’s basically all it’s been. Time management, scheduling in when I could do my assignments and when I could get an extra training or practice and all that for sports and also balancing my friendships.”

During hockey season, Durand left her mark, being named league all-star, playoff top scorer and Division 1 Most Valuable Player, on top of leading the Olympiens girls hockey team to a Division 1 MWHSHL championship.

High school scholar athletes honoured

FOUR graduating student-athletes were named recipients of the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association’s Scholar Athlete of the Year on Thursday.

Heleyna Moniz, Nico Nadeau, Ryleigh Schellenberg and Taylor Schepp stood out among a group of 51 nominees province-wide for being exceptional in the classroom, the community and sports throughout the 2024-25 school year.

Each winner was awarded a $2,000 scholarship for maintaining a minimum 85 per cent average in their academics while playing in at least two interscholastic sports.

Moniz, a student of St. Boniface Diocesan High School, finished the year with a near-perfect 99.6 per cent average in the classroom while playing five sports and being a consistent volunteer at her church.

Air quality warnings impacting Manitoba amateur, professional athletes alike

This year’s Manitoba High School Athletic Association Provincial Track and Field Championships have been cancelled due to ongoing air quality concerns caused by wildfires in the province, making conditions unsafe.

More than 1,500 athletes from grades 9 through 12 were set to compete in the three-day competition planned for June 5–7 at University Stadium on the University of Manitoba campus.

The MHSAA had originally postponed all scheduled events on Thursday to Friday, hoping air quality would improve, but updated at 6:15 a.m. today that the event would be cancelled entirely.

The MHSAA air quality protocol states, “Poor air quality can impact the health and performance of outdoor sport participants, including athletes, coaches and sports officials. The MHSAA recognizes the potential short and long-term health effects of engaging in physical activity outdoors when the air quality is poor, and is fully committed to reducing the risk posed to outdoor sport participants to help contribute to safer outdoor activities and events.”

Léo-Rémillard takes title after last year’s heartbreaker final

The Léo-Rémillard varsity girls’ soccer team came close to missing out on the Manitoba High School Athletic Association provincials altogether this year. They had one shot to prove themselves, and with a 1-0 win over Lord Selkirk, they clinched a wildcard spot.

Once they had punched their ticket, there was no stopping the future provincial champions, who claimed the title after defeating the Kelvin Clippers 3-2.

After falling just short in last year’s final in a close 2-1 match against Balmoral Hall, the group was eager for a shot at redemption.

The path to victory was not easy, according to head coach Hafeez Khan, whose team defeated the top schools in the tournament last weekend, including eventual consolation champions Vincent Massey, third-place Miles Macdonell, and a strong Clippers team in the final to claim gold on May 31.

Garden City takes back high school provincial title

Four years and three championships for Jackson Thiessen and the Garden City Gophers, who won yet another MHSAA Baseball Provincial Championship this past weekend.

For the Grade 12 student, Thiessen has seen his team make it to at least the semifinals four years in a row, their only provincials loss coming last year against the Garden Valley Zodiacs in a tight 3-2 game.

But the Gophers can’t seem to stay away from gold for long, defeating the Steinbach Regional Sabres 13-1 at Stonewall Quarry Park on Saturday.

“I wanted to end it on a good note,” said Thiessen. “Winning it all and to actually come out on top meant a lot more to me because it’s my last year there, and it just makes the win so much more memorable.”

Co-op team claims top prize at softball provincials

STONEWALL — La Broquerie’s École Saint-Joachim and St Pierre-Jolys’ École communautaire Réal-Bérard are a pair of small French schools from Manitoba’s southeast, but they certainly pack a punch when it comes to fastpitch.

The two schools’ co-op team blasted through the rest of the competition at the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association softball championships, hosted at Stonewall Quarry Park on Friday and Saturday. An 11-3 mercy rule victory over AAAA school Vincent Massey (Brandon) Vikings capped off an undefeated season for the Braves.

“We’re talking about maybe 250 students,” head coach Pat Tetrault said after the game. “We don’t make for quantity we make for quality… There’s some tough schools, some good teams out here.”

École Saint-Joachim and Réal- Bérard took control of the final early, plating eight runs in the first inning after a Massey home run scored two in the top half of the inning. Brynn Maynard’s double scored three, turning a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 advantage which never looked in danger of evaporating.

Vincent Massey, Kildonan-East claim provincial hoops crowns with victories over Lancers

There wasn’t a program in the province that could say it had the Dakota Lancers’ number in the last four years.

The Vincent Massey Trojans earned the right to make that claim Monday.

A sensational defensive effort spurred the Trojans’ to the dethroning of the three-time reigning champion Lancers in convincing fashion 76-44 in the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association provincial women’s varsity basketball final at Investors Group Athletic Centre.

The Lancers were on the losing end of three contests to Manitoba-based schools this season. All three were to Vincent Massey.

Collège Jeanne-Sauvé captures women’s high school hockey crown

The way Payton Durand was rolling, it should have come as no surprise to see her celebrating yet again.

The outstanding Collège Jeanne-Sauvé forward recently checked in at No. 4 on the Free Press’ coaches poll of the top 10 women’s high school hockey players in the province, She played like a No. 1 talent in the biggest series of the season.

“I just went into (the series) with a no-quit mentality,” said Durand, who was credited with the game-winning goal in a decisive Game 3 of the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League final on Friday.

“I wasn’t giving up on that puck and I knew that I had to help my team to win this, and I didn’t want to go down,” she added. “This is my Grade 12 year and I needed to win it. I gave it all I had.”

Martin leads Kildonan-East to provincial hoops championship showdown with Dakota

The Kildonan-East Collegiate Reivers will chase perfection on the court next week.

A 21-point performance from Grade 12 guard Rushawn Martin spurred the Reivers to an 87-72 triumph over the Sisler Spartans in the AAAA men’s basketball provincial semifinal at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Thursday.

Kildonan-East improved to 22-0 against Manitoban competition this season — their only loss came against Saskatoon’s Walter Murray Collegiate in an out-of-town tournament — and will look to finish with an unblemished record when they face the Dakota Lancers in the provincial final on Monday, March 24, at IGAC (8 p.m.).

The Reivers aren’t thinking that far ahead yet, though.

Lancers, Trojans in final showdown

The Dakota Lancers are one win away from Manitoba high school hoops history.

Sparked by a sensational 24-point triple-double from Grade 11 forward Emilie McLean, the Lancers played to a convincing 88-61 victory over the Garden City Gophers in the AAAA women’s varsity basketball semifinals at Investors Group Athletic Centre on Wednesday.

Dakota will look for an unprecedented fourth-consecutive championship when they face the Vincent Massey (Winnipeg) Trojans in the provincial final Monday, March 24, at IGAC at 6 p.m.

McLean’s triple-double came on the strength of 18 rebounds and 10 blocks on a night the Lancers had their way in the paint.

Dakota point guard’s dedication to training shows in her dynamic play

It doesn’t take long to understand why Taylor Schepp’s career trajectory has only pointed up.

The Dakota Lancers’ point guard is all business when it comes to basketball, and it shines when she’s on the floor.

“She’s as true as it gets as a point guard. Plays with a high motor, great shooter, great passer, and probably one of the best kids I’ve ever coached with her IQ for the game,” said Lancers head coach Eric Sung, who has headed the women’s varsity program for the last decade.

Schepp, the daughter of University of Manitoba Bisons men’s basketball head coach Kirby Schepp, was named the top women’s hoopster in the Free Press’ annual coaches poll of the top 10 high school players in the province due to her dynamic ability on the floor, but it’s the Grade 12’s dedication off the court that is rare for someone her age and has drawn rave reviews.