Kinkora School ready for spring

John Reeves goes for a jumpshot at PRACTICE

S.RYAN QUIGLEY

JOURNAL PIONEER

Academics, participation, commitment and competitiveness, these are the ideas Kinkora Regional High wants to stress in the spring sports season to athletes, said Athletic Director Trent Ranahan.

Badminton both male and female, is beginning with Ranahan and Steve Dawson coaching. The team expects to have several of their team make it to the finals with Cody Dawson being a favourite on the male side and Briar Roberts on the female side with Provincial championship experience.

Ranahan said he has high hopes for the Seniors in Badminton.

“Like with the badminton, especially with the seniors, I can certainly predict there will be a few that will move on to provincials.”

The AA Rugby girls will be returning to defend last year’s provincial championship. The Rugby team is a joint effort with the Kensington Intermediate Senior High and is coached by Kevin Bustard and Todd Diamond. The home games have been split up between the schools too.

The AA Rugby boys are hoping to be competitive this year too, coached by Josh Griffin and Oliver Wells, the team is looking to bring home a medal. The team is also in conjunction with KISH.

The A Rugby girls are looking to compete with the best in their division this year lead by coach Darren Reeves, they hope to be a medal contender/

The split is a good thing and it helps the schools and kids form a bond, said Ranahan.

“There’s a good relationship with the athletes and they bond together and field a good team.”

The male softball team is looking to improve on last year’s one win season. The goal of the season is to be in the top three teams in the province and several players from last years team will be in the lineup come first pitch. Ranahan, Tyler Allen and John Gallant are going to be  the coaches.

This will be the last year for some of the returning players, but last year was a young team, said Ranahan.

“Last year it was a relatively young team and we were kind of building up. Hopefully this year we’ll improve.”

The female softball will be a younger team this year losing some key seniors from last year. The team is coached by Brendan Kelly and is led by a group of girls who have played for the last three years.

The leadership group on this team may make up for last year’s senior player losses, said Ranahan.

“So they do have a core group of leadership girls, that will certainly try their best to fill in the gaps of anything we lost from the Grade 12’s from last year.”

Like most years they expect to have a large turnout for track and field. The events the school expects to place well in is Javelin, running events, especially the relay and shotput are expected to be the stand out events. Coaching duties are with Stephanie Browne and Adam Lambe.

Ranahan said he thinks Cody Dawson’s chances in the javelin event are great.

“I’m expecting a great track event from Cody Dawson.”

Joel MacIsaac goes after a drop shot