JPII Junior Boys Basketball standouts (Pictured left to right): Coach Brent Puff, Jared Majoram, Declan Mercer, Cole Fransoo, Josh Fransoo, coach Nate Jurgens. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Athletic Achievement

Sports excellence celebrated at JPII Awards Night

Jun 18, 2019 | 1:55 PM

From basketball to volleyball, badminton to track; the top athletes from John Paul II Collegiate (JPII) gathered together Monday evening for the annual Athletic Awards Banquet.

Over 40 students received awards on the evening, for outstanding athletic achievement.

Junior Badminton standouts (Pictured left to right): Josh Fransoo, Caden Fullerton, Ameris Wasmuth, Mike Cruz, coach Sadlowski)

Athletic director with the high school, Vic Stynsky, organized the banquet. He said he was pleased with how the night went.

“I think it was a great evening,” he said. “We had an excellent turnout. Over 180 people showed up to celebrate Crusader athletics, so it was very good.”

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Despite often facing off against bigger schools from larger city centres, JPII left its mark in athletics within the district, with several athletes representing their school and community at the provincial level.

JPII Senior Girls basketball standouts (Pictured left to right): coach Amanda Cave, Kate Fransoo, Caybre Stynsky, Kaitlyn Yockey, Kaitlin Tarasoff, Victoria Mahood, coach Shallen McNabb, coach Bruce Yockey (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Stynsky said he believes a large reason for the school’s athletic prowess can be attributed to the dedication of both the athletes and their coaches.

“We put a lot of time in here at our school as teams, building that skill level and building that comradery that we need to carry on and be successful,” Stynsky said.

“A lot of people may not know [this], but all of our coaches are volunteers,” he continued. “We’re not paid to coach as teachers, so we put in an immense amount of time right from the first day of school, coaching, organizing, and planning tournaments. We try to help our teams be as successful as possible.”

JPII Senior Boys Volleyball standouts (Pictured left to right): coach Heather Berezowski, Luke Kowerchuk, Blaise Sieben, Daniel Plett, Adam Revet, coach Steven Berezowski (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

On the importance of athletics, Stynsky said sport has a unique ability to bring people together and offers an outlet for students to develop their athletic skills.

“It definitely shows that they have a sense of belonging and community in our school,” he said. “We are a tight-knit group here at John Paul II, and we all strive to do our best. Being involved in athletics really allows them to show their talents, and to work together as a team and build on that.”

Following the banquet, all of the night’s celebrated athletes gathered together for a group picture to cap off the evening. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1