WATERLOO REGION (December 1, 2022) – For the first time since 2019, District 8 and its member schools were able to enjoy a full season of interschool athletics, including extended play championships at the Central Western Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA) championships and the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships.
On Monday night, the Fall season was officially wrapped up with the Resurrection senior football team winning the OFSAA Metro Bowl 56-14 over Chaminade College from Toronto. After winning the District 8 Championship, the Phoenix advanced through CWOSSA defeating the champions from Guelph and Brantford before losing their only game of the season to Jacob Hespeler Secondary School.
In the District 8 junior football championship, the Resurrection squad narrowly defeated St. Benedict’s in overtime 41-35.
Plenty of hardware was collected by District 8 volleyball teams from the Fall season, mostly by the smallest of schools in the association. Père-René-de-Galinée cruised through the District 8 senior league going undefeated, beating Rockway in the final, and collecting their first ever senior gold medal in District 8 school history. With both Père-René-de-Galinée and Rockway advancing to the single-A CWOSSA Championships, Rockway would get their revenge, beating out les Chevaliers in the CWOSSA final to win gold. The Rockway Flames would go on to single-A OFSAA to collect the silver medal.
In the junior District 8 volleyball championship, it was St. Benedict’s who defeated Woodland in straight sets to win the gold medal, however Woodland would rebound in the single-A CWOSSA championship to win the event outright for their own championship title.
Earlier in the Fall, District 8 cross country championships were held with Resurrection capturing seven of the nine team titles, while St. Mary’s High School collected the remaining senior boys and junior boys plaques. However, the top runner from District 8 came from Woodland in the junior girls event. Anna Douma won the District 8 and CWOSSA gold medals, then went onto OFSAA winning the silver.
Resurrection qualified two runners to OFSAA as well. Naeb Tesfazghi qualified in the junior boys division with a bronze at CWOSSA and an eighth place finish at OFSAA, while Vernon Stuart-Dolmage won a CWOSSA silver medal and finished 50th at OFSAA.
St. David’s Landon Reuter won the District 8 gold medal, a CWOSSA silver medal, and was unable to complete his OFSAA run.
The St. Benedict’s senior girls team had a dominant District 8 campaign going undefeated through the season, winning the gold medal over St. Mary’s in a convincing 65-36 win in the final. The Saints would go on to collect the CWOSSA silver, falling just three points shy of an OFSAA berth.
After being eliminated in the District 8 semi-finals, the Woodland senior girls basketball team would go on to win the gold medal at the single-A CWOSSA championship, and finish with an antique-bronze, fourth place finish at OFSAA.
The St. Benedict’s junior basketball squad also had an undefeated District 8 season, capturing the District 8 championship, while the junior girls from Woodland also won the CWOSSA single-A championship.
In field hockey, Resurrection continued their undefeated streak from last year’s season into this year, winning the District 8 gold in convincing fashion. They would move onto the CWOSSA championships where they were unable to overcome the powerhouses from Waterloo-Oxford, and eventual OFSAA champions, Bluevale Collegiate.
Two singles players from Père-René-de-Galinée won District 8 tennis gold; Theodora Dragan won the girls singles title, while Christi Oana won the boys singles event. Hannah Van Hartingsveldt and Elise Reed from St. David’s won the girls doubles championship, and Resurrection’s Thomas Morgan and Liam Peters won boys doubles. The mixed doubles championship went to Sophia Vinatea and Jaul Paul Weiler from St .Mary’s.
For schedules and scores from the District 8 Winter season, please visit www.district8.ca.