There were a whole lot of wins in Nanaimo sports this year, and there were record-setters, goal-getters and champions.
It was a runner-up finish that gained much of the city’s sports attention this year, as the Nanaimo Clippers had their best season in years, making it through three rounds of the B.C. Hockey League playoffs before falling in six games to the Penticton Vees. The playoff run was thrilling, as both the first round against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and the second round against the Powell River Kings came down to a Game 7 at Frank Crane Arena. The final, too, was dramatic, as the Clips tied Game 6 twice in the third period before losing in overtime.
Many Nanaimo teams became champions in 2016, including two court-sport squads from Vancouver Island University.
The women’s volleyball team was able to capture the Pacific Western Athletic Association championship and did it in dramatic fashion, coming back to beat the rival Camosun Chargers in five sets in a gym in Victoria that was packed with fans of both teams.
Just one week later, the men’s basketball team won a PacWest title, too, edging the rival Langara Falcons in the final in Abbotsford. VIU’s men came close to a perfect finish, as they were runners-up at nationals a couple weeks later.
Another Nanaimo team to come through with a championship was the senior B Nanaimo Timbermen. The victory was sweet for the T-men, who captured the crown in the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association for the first time since 2003. They swept their final in three straight games against their rivals, the Ladner Pioneers.
Sometimes it doesn’t take a full season to become a champion. The Snuneymuxw Native Sons junior boys’ basketball team scored one of the year’s best victories as it won the Junior All-Native Tournament this past spring. It was an especially good story in that the tourney was played in Nanaimo, in front of a packed gym at VIU, and the Sons won a thrilling final against the team that eliminated them the year before, Syilx.
The News Bulletin’s final sports story of the year is the Nanaimo Pirates’ heavy hitters. The team didn’t win a championship – it lost to the North Shore Twins in the provincial final in Victoria – but it had a batting order that made the season special. The Pirates led the B.C. Premier Baseball League in runs scored (294), hits (383), extra-base hits (101), batting average (.308) and slugging percentage (.413).
Many other achievements are worth mentioning. The Nanaimo Track and Field Club had another outstanding season, led by runner Alyssa Mousseau and pole vaulter Jason Clare, both of whom represented Canada at the World Youth Championships in Colombia. Erin Burrett won the Victoria Marathon, her first-ever attempt at the distance. Wellington Secondary School’s cross-country team won a provincial championship.
Nanaimo athletes won many other titles, including on the football field, in the lacrosse box, on the lawn bowls greens, on the judo mats and elsewhere.
With the calendar turning over to 2016, it means many of these athletes and teams will get to start their season anew, and will have a chance to do it all again, or go one better, and be the sports story of next year.
sports@nanaimobulletin.com
