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Whalers fail to secure perfect league record

The Ballenas Secondary Whalers senior girls rugby team ended their final league game with a disappointing 26-15 loss to Mark Isfeld of Courtenay.
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Ballenas Secondary Whalers’ Mercedes Virs forces her way through two Mark Isfeld players during their final league game. — Michael Briones photo Ballenas Secondary Whalers’ Mercedes Virs forces her way through two Mark Isfeld players during their final league game. — Michael Briones photo

The Ballenas Secondary Whalers senior girls rugby team ended their final league game with a disappointing 26-15 loss to Mark Isfeld of Courtenay.

It was the Whalers’s first loss of the season. Sporting new striking blue team jerseys which bear the school’s indigenous logo, designed by Nanaimo artist Noel Brown, and also playing at home, the stage was set for the Whalers to end league play with a perfect record. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.

“This is the only team the girls have lost to this season, and I will admit that the pressure to win on home turf may have caused them to come out flat,” said coach Olivia Hill. “It was not our best game.”

The visitors from the Comox Valley struck first, scoring two successive tries for a 12-0 lead. Libby Elliott got the Whalers on the scoreboard after working her way through the Isfeld defence and outsprinting everyone for an unconverted try to cut the lead 12-5. Mark Isfeld was able to punch through for another try to close the half with a 17-5 lead.

The Whalers bounced back in the second half and had more ball possession. They were able to score two tries by Caterina Ferrario and Mika Melnick but Mark Isfeld nullified them with two tries of their own halting the Whalers’ win streak.

The Whalers will get a chance of atoning the loss when they play in the end-of-season 15s rugby tournament in Nanaimo on Friday, May 5.

The Ballenas girls will take on Cowichan at 1:30 p.m. at the Nanaimo Rugby Club field located on Dover Rd. Then they face Mark Isfeld at 4 p.m.

“We look forward to having the chance to play Isfeld one more time,” said Hill. It will be the third meeting for both teams and the game will be for bragging rights as both sides are 1-1 against each other.

Last weekend, Hill took 11 Whalers to attend a rugby 7s skill camp conducted by Team Canada members. The Whalers are planning to enter the Nanaimo High School 7s league that runs through May.