At St. Mikes Catholic secondary school
By Pat Payton
STRATFORD – Mia Valcke and Joanna Van De Walle, two St. Marys residents, were recently named Senior female Athletes of the Year for 2017-18 here at St. Michael Catholic secondary school.
Valcke, 18, caps an outstanding sports career at St. Mikes with the award. She was also named Junior female Athlete of the Year following the 2015-16 season.
“It’s kind of bittersweet; it means I’m moving on,” Valcke said when contacted by the Independent. “But it’s definitely nice to finish with an award like this.”
This season, the talented athlete excelled at basketball, volleyball, badminton and slow pitch at the school.
Valcke was a member of the Warriors’ Senior girls basketball team since Grade 10, and also one of their top scorers.
Starting in the fall, Valcke will study kinesiology at the University of British Columbia and also play for the school’s softball team. Her older brother Jaxon is a UBC student as well, and plays for the men’s baseball squad.
Back-to-back winner
Van De Walle is a back-to-back winner after being named Junior Female Athlete of the Year the previous year.
In her first season as a Senior athlete in 2017-18, the Grade 11 student competed in basketball, volleyball, soccer and track and field.
“It’s quite an honour, and I wasn’t really expecting it to be honest with you,” Van De Walle said.
Van De Walle, 17, was a member of the strong Warriors basketball and volleyball teams that qualified for OFSAA, and she also advanced to the OFSAA West Regionals championships in track and field (triple jump and long jump).
In Grade 12, Van De Walle will again play basketball, volleyball, soccer and track and field.
Following high school, she hopes to study health sciences at university.
Notes:
–In other St. Mikes news, Kirkton area resident Helen Thomson has retired after a long and successful teaching-coaching career at the school.
–This past weekend, Mia Valcke competed in the Canadian Senior Women’s baseball nationals in Montreal. She played for the U-21 Prospects team, and was hoping to be one of 20 players named to Team Canada, which will compete in the 2018 World Cup in August in Florida.
In seven tournament games, Valcke hit .375 (9-for-24) as the Prospects team captured silver in the six-team event.
