It was quite the year for athletic achievement here in South Delta in 2023.
There were many significant individual performances in various sports, a number of team championships and other stories that shaped the local sports scene.
Below are just a few of the highlights that former Optimist sports editor Mark Booth and myself covered throughout the year.
October
The Winskill Dolphins shined bright on the provincial and national stage picking up medals at several competitions.
We featured Masters track and field athlete Mark Pinckard from Tsawwassen who topped a world record with athletes from across Canada to break the men’s 4x800m record at the Masters Track and Field Championships in Langley.
Ladner’s Logan Schuss was changing area codes – at least for his lacrosse playing career – leaving the Vancouver Warriors and signing a one-year contract with the Calgary Roughnecks.
November/December
Charlie Rogers from Tsawwassen was selected to the Whitecaps FC program.
The JV Sun Devils football team completed an 8-1 season with an impressive 34-13 win over Seaquam. The team would then go on a great playoff run winning three games and advancing to their first provincial final where they lost to Vancouver College at BC Place. Overall, the team had an 11-2 record.
The SDSS senior boys football team won the Delta championship beating Seaquam to finish 4-2 in conference play. The Sun Devils would beat Seaquam again in the first round of the playoffs only to lose a close one to Carson Graham in the quarterfinals to finish their season.
The SDSS girls field hockey team finished ninth at provincials in Chilliwack.
Tsawwassen’s Brendan Guraliuk helped Team Canada to the bronze medal in field hockey at the Pan Am Games. On the women’s side, Tsawwassen’s Sara McManus and Team Canada lost in the bronze medal game to Chile.
The DSS boys won the Fraser Valley volleyball championships and would go onto finish third at provincials bringing back the first provincial medal in 23 years.
The SDSS junior girls volleyball team won the provincial title after a 45-1 season.
The SDSS senior girls volleyball team won the South Fraser Championship and finished fourth at the provincials, which were co-hosted by SDSS and Seaquam.
The SDSS swim team dominated at provincials winning 17 gold medals, 39 total medals, four relay trophies and won the unofficial Top Scoring provincial title.
