Sabers snap Raiders Young Canada Day streak

1696436111 Sabers snap Raiders Young Canada Day streak

There’s a new sheriff in town.

Advertisement 2

Article content

Delhi District Secondary School’s streak of 11 consecutive Young Canada Day overall points championships at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show ended Tuesday. Delhi’s streak lasted 13 years due to the pandemic.

Article content

Simcoe Composite School edged the Raiders in overall points, finishing second in home craft, road racing, and tug of war, and first in special effects, to take the 2023 crown.

simcoe composite school
Simcoe Composite School won the 2023 Young Canada Day overall grand championship on Tuesday at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

“It’s exciting – we finally beat Delhi,” said SCS cheerleader Jacey Donkers. “It’s very unexpected because Delhi wins every year. I’m really happy that we won.”

“It’s our first fair, too,” said Simcoe teammate Rhya Anderson. “We’re in Grade 9, so first time winning, and I think we’re all pretty hyped as you can tell. It was really cool.”

Advertisement 3

Article content

“I thought it was more than cool,” smiled cheerleading teammate Hanna Mejia, noting only two of the Sabers cheerleaders were not in Grade 9.

holy trinity school
Holy Trinity won the Young Canada Day cheerleading competition Tuesday morning at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

“I thought HT (Holy Trinity) was going to win,” Mejia admitted.

“I felt like we were pretty well tied with HT,” Donkers nodded.

Simcoe Composite and Delhi filled the largest sections of the grandstand, however, and the two schools seemed to be making the most noise.

“We cheered our hearts out – we’re going to have our voices gone by the end of the night,” said Donkers.

waterford
A Waterford student having fun in the tug-of-war Tuesday at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show Young Canada Day competition. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

Delhi finished third in cheerleading behind runner-up Waterford and the cheerleading fields, Holy Trinity.

“I have to give (credit) to everyone at the high schools, they all did really well,” said Donkers.

holy trinity school
Holy Trinity gives it their all contributing to a combined male-female third overall score at Young Canada Day Tuesday at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc
tug of war
Delhi District Secondary School’s Ethan Binkley, left, and Carson Mickie pull with all their might during the Young Canada Day tug-of-war contest held Tuesday at the Norfolk County Fair and Horse Show. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

Now that they are Young Canada Day ‘champs,’ the question is… can they repeat? Can they improve their cheerleading routine?

Advertisement 4

Article content

The answer was ‘yes’ and ‘yes.’

“Maybe add a few more dance moves,” said Donkers.

“And we could get more people on our team,” said Mejia, “because it was only 11 people and mainly Grade 9s this year.”

The team had limited cheerleading experience, said Donkers.

“But it’s fun to try new stuff when you get into high school – try everything new in high school, embrace your surroundings, see what you like.”

valley heights secondary school
Valley Heights’ Amilya King won the female road-race Tuesday morning during Norfolk County Fair’s Young Canada Day. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

Two new road-racing champs were crowned Tuesday, both from Valley Heights, which VHSS coach Geordie Thompson said was “unprecedented.”

First at CWOSSA cross-country and fifth at OFSAA last year, Amilya King was the runner-up to Waterford’s Kennason Boudreault in the 2022 Young Canada Day race.

This year, King, now in Grade 10, was a clear leader in the female race for both laps of the 800m track, raising her fist to salute the grandstand and vocal VHSS supporters on her first lap.

Advertisement 5

Article content

“I tried to go faster than a normal pace,” said King, who still had enough left in the tank to sprint to the finish line, “because I didn’t know if they were close behind me or not. And everyone was cheering, so… it was nice.”

delhi district secondary school
Delhi District Secondary School students cheer in the grandstand Tuesday morning during the Young Canada Day competitions. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

King, a graduate of Langton Public School, said she was looking forward to the next race which included teammate Eytan Mirie, who went on to win Tuesday’s male road-race, completing the running sweep for VHSS.

“Eytan is amazing,” King smiled.

valley heights secondary school
Valley Heights’ Eytan Mirie encourages the grandstand crowd as he wins the Young Canada Day male road-race Tuesday morning. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

Mirie, a Grade 12 VHSS student, ran her first Young Canada Day race last year, while under the weather, finishing fourth or fifth. This year the cross-country and track runner (3,000m and 2,000m steeplechase), who competed at OFSAA West last year, stuck to an easy 65-70 per hundred pace.

“I just wanted to win today and have fun,” said Mirie, who took the lead on the first back corner. “I expected some of them to be sprinting the first lap, but they didn’t… so I just went for it.”

waterford
Waterford cheerleaders finished second at the Norfolk County Fair Young Canada Day cheerleading competition. CHRIS ABBOTT jpg, TN, apsmc

[email protected]

Article content

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to one hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

    pso1