Crocus names Horwood, Blyth top athletes

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This article was published 25/06/2022 (1186 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You name it, James Blyth and Jasmine Horwood probably played it.

The Crocus Plains seniors suited up for their hockey and baseball teams together while Blyth played football and Horwood starred on the basketball and softball teams.

They leave their high school careers as the Plainsmen athletes of the year.

“It felt pretty good,” Blyth said of hearing his name called. “I felt like I had a really fun year with all my sports, even though we didn’t have the best (record) we wanted, I feel like it was really fun throughout the teams.”

Horwood was a clear choice after leading the Plainsmen to a city basketball title and not only playing but fitting right into the hockey and baseball lineups with the boys.

“I played with a lot of good athletes here at Crocus, played the sports I loved and didn’t think about this award until last week,” Horwood said. “I”m obviously grateful and humbled that I got it.”

Horwood caught for the baseball team and hit near the top of the order. She had a goal, five assists and four penalty minutes in 29 Westman High School Hockey League games while Blyth posted nine goals, eight assists and 78 penalty minutes in 34 contests.

Horwood said the guys were approachable and supportive of her.

“I needed to have confidence and I had to believe in myself,” Horwood said. “I had to push myself every practice and every game a lot harder than they did because as high school boys they grow a lot stronger and a lot taller than myself, I’m 5-5, so I had to compete a lot harder.”

“We’ve got simple humour and she was able to fit in with that,” Blyth added. “Always kept the hype up, … she was able to stay with us on that level.”

The five-foot-five guard is continuing her basketball career with the Providence Pilots this fall.

Blyth played more than 13 positions in the three sports. In football, he was a kicker, punter, fullback, defensive end and middle linebacker during Crocus’s 1-5 season, which included home-and-homes against Portage, Steinbach and Vincent Massey.

The Plainsmen staged an incredible comeback on Oct. 28, 2021, rallying from 24 points down to beat Portage 30-27. Cody Gibbs set Blyth up for the winning kick with a clutch interception at midfield, running it back to the Trojans’ red zone. Blyth drilled a 20-yard field goal for the win.

“That was definitely a very memorable game in our season,” Blyth said. “The biggest message was we needed a win that season. We needed to come together as a team and play as a team.”

Blyth played everything besides goaltender on the hockey team, soldiering on through uncertainty as the omicron variant of COVID-19 led to a few cancellations.

“That sent a message that every game we got to play was worth playing our best, just because we got to be there on the ice doing what we love,” Blyth said.

He returned to baseball after three years away to get the most out of his Grade 12 year. He pitched, caught, played third base and spent time in the outfield during another shortened season due to a late melt and a few rain days.

Blyth enjoyed being the Swiss army knife wherever he went.

“I loved to jump into those different positions,” he said. “I feel like it helps get a better understanding of the game being able to play all the different positions and helps your main position, understanding what you go through in the other ones.”

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