Records can be misleading. Just ask the Richmond Roadrunners.
A 2-6-0-1 mark hardly reflects how competitive the Roadrunners have been so far in the fledgling B.C. Junior “B” Tier One Lacrosse League. They were rewarded for their season-long effort in Sunday’s 12-8 home floor win over the Nanaimo Timbermen.
The result came 24 hours later after a 14-13 loss in the provincial capital to the second place Victoria Shamrocks (7-2-0). It was a marked improvement on a 14-6 setback to the Island powerhouse three weeks earlier.
They also hung tough with the first place Coquitlam Adanacs (6-1-0) — a 12-8 defeat. Richmond will look to continue its momentum when the Langley Thunder (4-3-0) visit Minoru Arenas on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
The Roadrunners are part of a newly-formed league after B.C. Lacrosse decided to follow the rest of the country and drop the Intermediate age level (17-and-18-year-olds) altogether, making junior a five-year age division. Richmond’s entry essentially replaces the former intermediate “A” program.
Running the show is Greg Rennie and Neil Doddridge who enjoyed plenty of success a couple of seasons ago guiding the Delta Islanders to their first-ever B.C. Junior “A” Lacrosse League championship and Minto Cup berth. Rennie wanted to give up his GM duties in Delta to be behind the bench and is re-united with the Roadrunners after overseeing a powerhouse intermediate “A” squad a few years back.
They have assembled a team of outstanding multi-sport athletes who are eager to continue their lacrosse careers.
Captain Josh Bourne is also a member of the B.C. Hockey League’s Nanaimo Clippers. The 19-year-old leads Richmond in scoring with 30 points, including nine goals.
Ryan Jensen will be continuing his promising football career at the University of Regina next fall. He is the son of WLA Langley Thunder head coach Rod Jensen and nephew of longtime Richmond Lacrosse president Glenn Jensen. Ryan is second in team scoring with 22 points in just four games.
Ian Ryder is one of the country’s top up-and-coming judo athletes who has already represented Canada at the international level. He is only 17 and Rennie is impressed with his excellent two-way play.
Jordan Roberts and Jacob Lorenz were standout rugby players for top five ranked McMath last season. Roberts is also playing field lacrosse at Simon Fraser.
More intrigue to the Roadrunners line-up is Finnish import goalie Riku Jokela who is getting the bulk of the work in the crease with a solid .769 save percentage.
