Gianni Buono doesn’t pull any punches – seeing Sara Brinkac and Ansel Haight graduate is going to be tough.
The Burnaby Central Secondary teacher and coach effuses praise regarding the seniors who were major pieces to the Wildcats wrestling program, both on and off the mats.
“They are both great kids, both fantastic students and really hard workers,” said Buono on Burnaby Central’s Male and Female Senior Athletes of the Year. “They are so well-rounded and brought so much every day, whether in the gym or the classroom. They were great role models.”
Although both endured some trials and tribulation the past year on the mats, both emerged stronger for it, Buono said.
Brinkac was the B.C. High School champion for girls 60-kilograms as a Grade 11, and was favoured entering the 2017 championships. But a knee injury which hobbled her training did her no favours, and in a rematch of the 2016 final the teen grappler was stopped by her Elphinstone rival.
It ended up providing ample motivation for Brinkac a month later at the Canadian Cadet and Juvenile championships, which saw the Burnaby wrestler capture the national title with a last-minute takedown.
“(Brinkac) has just been unbelievable in every respect,” said Buono. “She’s just a tremendous worker who comes to practice and excels.”
She has accepted an athletic scholarship to attend and compete at Simon Fraser University.
Hait also faced some obstacles this past season, but was peaking at the right time prior to the wrestling championships when he suffered an ankle injury. It put the end to his high school wrestling career as well as cost him the final rugby season.
“In Grade 10 (Hait) started to really emerge. He was fourth at last year’s provincials and building towards something big at this year’s when he turned his ankle and was unable to compete,” said Buono. “He’s been a great kid all the way through, with a great attitude.”
The Grade 11s who were honoured at the school’s annual athletic banquet were Charles Yu, who excelled in track and field, Sylvia Ly, in track, netball and wrestling, and Krystal Mendoza, in basketball.
Also honoured were Grade 10s Aidan Labreche and Bethany Lim, Grade 9s Sean Coloma, Cassie Chan, Maneesha Dhaliwal and Christina Heslop, and Grade 8s Ryan Goudron, Arjun Uppal and Priya Dhaliwal.
