Collingwood Grade 12 student Brendan Artley may need to procure some extra space for his grad book write up following the high school sports season he just completed.
Artley claimed three provincial gold medals this season, first helping the Cavaliers win the first senior boys AA basketball title in school history before claiming a tennis team title and track and field javelin win on back-to-back weekends.
“I’ve always loved sports, since I was young,” Artley told the North Shore News in trying to explain his hat trick season. “I’ve been taught by various coaches to try hard. That’s the main thing that I focus on, putting in my best effort. That’s helped me get better.”
On top of being an elite athlete, Artley is also a coach’s dream, said Collingwood athletic director Dave Speirs.
“The most impressive thing about Brendan is his humility,” said Speirs. “What a great kid. Every coach raves about him here at Collingwood.”
Artley was born in England and moved to Canada with his family in Grade 2 and has been at Collingwood ever since. He actually starred in a fourth sport this year as well, his English roots showing as he was co-captain and co-MVP of the Collingwood soccer team.
The Cavs fell short of provincials on the soccer pitch but claimed a historic win on the basketball court, with Artley on board as a starting forward.
“I didn’t have much talent, I just kind of tried really hard which was why they put me on, I guess,” he said. A high school growth spurt pushed Artley to his current height of six-foot-three, which combined with his athleticism made him an intimidating presence for the Cavaliers on defence. He also had another roll on the team: hype man. During warmups Artley could be counted on to throw down some ferocious dunks – his repertoire included a full 360 spin – to fire up his teammates and the crowd.
The Cavaliers claimed the title with a dominant 68-40 win over St. Michaels University School. “It was kind of like surreal,” Artley said about winning the championship game. “It hadn’t really hit me until like a week later when we were organizing with the team – we were going to get rings. That’s when it hit me. It was crazy. It’s still surreal in my mind.”
Out of the three provincial titles he claimed this season, the basketball championship is the one that stands out the most for him, Artley said.
“It was the most difficult, and it was a team thing. All the guys are like insanely good friends – we’ll probably be friends for life.”
The last two titles were tricky as tennis and track and field ran concurrently during the spring season. Twice a week Artley would play tennis matches at around 2:30 p.m. before heading off to track and field at 5 p.m. The results never suffered though – Artley and partner Liam Huebner went undefeated all season in boys doubles.
Talking about tennis, Artley again was quick to give praise to his teammates over himself.
“Creds to Liam – he’s the talent on the team,” he said. “He was consistent, all game, every game. He was the backbone of the team.”
The game plan was always to get the springy Artley to the net as quickly as possible to put up a wall in front with Huebner behind to run the show from the baseline.
“When I’m at the net, even if it’s going out I’ll just hit it back,” said Artley with a laugh.
“When I was serving I would just serve, then run to the net and just smack it. That was basically the game plan.”
Track and field season finally let Artley shine in his main game: javelin. At the North Shore championships he set a personal best and smashed a 35-year-old North Shore record with a throw of 64.66 metres.
“I knew it was a big throw as soon as it left my hand,” said Artley. “I was pretty pumped about that. It kept going further and further.”
Conditions weren’t great at the provincial championships held June 2-4 in Nanaimo but Artley still launched a throw that beat his nearest competitor by more than 10 metres. His throwing has rocketed to new levels since he started working with fellow North Shore javelin ace Andy White, an Argyle and UBC grad who competed in the 2015 Summer Universiade.
“It’s such a technical event,” Artley said about the javelin coaching he’s received from White. “It’s so much different than a baseball throw – he’s trying to hammer that into me. He’s got so many small things which you don’t think would matter, but it really helps out.”
Artley’s javelin prowess has landed him a scholarship to NCAA Div. 1 school North Dakota State. He’ll start there in the fall, with hopes of growing into a world-class thrower.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics,” he said. “I hope that’s an option for me in the future. I just want to keep throwing as far as I can.”
He’ll get an early chance to test himself against some of the world’s best at the Harry Jerome Track Classic taking place June 17 at Swangard Stadium. After he’s done throwing Artley said he’ll stick around and watch some of the sport’s greatest athletes compete, including Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse who burst onto the scene last year with double gold in the 100- and 200-m sprints at the Pan Am Games and 100 m bronze at the world championship.
“I might just like, walk by him and be in the presence,” said Artley with a laugh. “I might not say anything, but it’s going to be cool to be there.”
• • •
Here are the other North Shore medallists at the track and field championships:
Senior
Silver
Michelle Cheung, Sentinel, girls 1,500-m race walk
Bronze
Spencer Pratt, Sentinel, boys 400-m hurdles
Ges Bushe, West Van, 100 m para-athlete
Junior
Silver
Rhian Paterson, Sentinel, girls 1,500 m
Rhian Paterson, Sentinel, girls 3,000 m
Aiden Doherty, West Van, boys 3,000 m
Kristen Schulz, Argyle, girls triple jump
Kristen Schulz, Argyle, girls long jump
Bronze
Aiden Doherty, West Van, boys 1,500 m
Kristen Schulz, Argyle, girls 80-m hurdles
Grade 8
Gold
Michael O’Flynn, STA, boys high jump
Caleb Hoey, STA, boys 100 m
Ehren Paterson, Sentinel, girls triple jump
Silver
Sascha Sweatman, Handsworth, boys 400 m
Daniel Cruz, STA, boys 100 m
STA, boys 4x400-m relay
Sascha Sweatman, Handsworth, boys 200 m
Bronze
Caleigh O’Flahery, STA, girls 400 m
Kate Lytle, West Van, girls triple jump
Jessica Clarke, STA, girls shot put
STA, boys 4x100-m relay
