Kristen Vane came awfully close to achieving the perfect send-off to her OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) career.
That said, the next best thing was pretty darned good.
The veteran of the Collège Boréal Vipères program, set to graduate this spring, earned her first ever OCAA medal - in ladies singles play, no less - finishing third at the recent provincial championships in Kitchener-Waterloo.
In becoming only the third member of the team ever to rise to the podium in this particular classification, Vane narrowly missed out on a trip to nationals, dropping a 21-15, 10-21, 22-24 decision to Mandy Ni from Conestoga in the semi-finals before taking the battle for bronze.
Not only did Vane join the company of Boréal greats Valérie Breen (gold - 2009-2010; bronze - 2013/2014) and Jenna Dupuis (bronze - 2011/2012), she did so after finding a way to bounce back following a heart-breaking loss.
Trailing 16-9 in the third set of her SF, Vane fought all the way back to pull ahead 22-21 before surrendering the last three points. Thankfully, she set the disappointed aside long enough to sweep past Samantha Darby of Fanshawe, 21-18, 21-12 to finish third overall.
"There was no way that I was leaving provincials without having a medal to come home," stated Vane a day or so after her return to Sudbury following the playdowns. "Ever since I came to Boréal four years ago, it's been my goal to have a banner with my name."
Ironically, in facing Mandy Ni in the semis, Vane was pitted opposite a competitor with whom she partnered in doubles play at a recent tournament hosted at Conestoga.
"It was a great game, win or lose," noted Vane. "It just sucked that it was a semi-final and not a final."
Still, there are far worse ways to close out one's career as a varsity athlete, with Vane noting a couple of key factors that helped her to a top-three placement this year.
"The experience I've had from the last four years helped to calm my nerves down and let me focus on each match at a time," she said. "These were familiar situations. And all of the help and support of my coaches and teammates played a big part in my success."
Joining Kristen Vane in qualifying for the quarter-finals in women's singles play was Chelsea Kennedy from Cambrian. Vane swept all five of her matches in the West Division pool to earn top seed while Kennedy won three of five, beaten by Mandy Ni in the QF (21-16, 22-20).
Also advancing through to the playoff round of eight were the Cambrian ladies doubles team of Nicole Yaworsky and Henin Rose-George, splitting their four matches (5 games won / 5 games lost) but knocked out in the QF by the Seneca duo of Kiu Wing (Vanness) Lam and Xue (Amy) Xing (21-8, 21-7).
Other representatives of the Boréal Vipères included Arsene Mboutue, Maryssa Mercier, Emilie Ingram, Eric Leduc and Alyssa Gagné while new Cambrian coach Jofray Anto accompanied Jamie Hopkins, Jason St Amour, Daniel Collins, Andrew Sullivan, Evo Alphonse, Lam Bhui (Jade) and Aldrin Varghese.
