The region’s best badminton players put their skills to the test in a pair of competitions held locally last week.
On Thursday, April 28, both Boyle School and the Athabasca Regional Multiplex hosted badminton regional events. The ‘A’ (Grade 9) event was held in Boyle while the B and C (Grade 7 and 8) events were at the Multiplex.
In all, over 250 athletes competed in the three divisions, many of them from local schools.
In the ‘A’ event, winning gold in girls singles was Boyle’s own Keiran Lazowski. Carly Rosichuk of Smoky Lake took silver. In boys singles, Boyle’s Colton Nikipelo won the gold while Wes Thompson took silver.
In girls doubles, the Boyle pair of Shanise McAdam and Montana Getty came out on top, with Thorhild’s Tara Quaghebeur and Paige Zilinski finishing second. In boys doubles, Rick Ballard and Linden Gauthier of Grassland won gold while Boyle’s Mason Neigraff and Jesse Coulson earned silver. Finally, in mixed doubles, Edwin Parr Composite’s Robbie Mason and Danielle Osmond won the silver while Harley Konochuk and Mason Evancusky of Grassland came out on top.
At the Multiplex, 170 athletes competed on nine courts. In the B Division, boys singles was won by Dallan Bencharsky (gold) and James Langevin (silver) of Boyle School. In girls singles, Savannah Cherniwchan of H.A. Kostash won gold while EPC’s Shay-Lynn Beach won silver. Thorhild’s Kurt Peterson and Conner Vetch were tops in boys doubles with Boyle’s Jacob Keyes and Brydon Gunderson in second. In girls doubles, the team of MacKenzie and Veronica of Radway were tops while Grassland’s Payton Tymo and Shyan Hyrnyk were second.
In mixed doubles, Thorhild’s Bailey Williams and Brandon Blok won gold while Alex Antal and Tori Snyder of Boyle won silver.
Finally, in the C Division, Thorhild’s Josh Nochol was golden in boys singles with Mark Thompson of LTIS winning silver. In girls singles it was Radway’s Avery K. that led the way followed by Boyle’s Sierra Johnson. In boys doubles, Grassland’s Tyson Tymo and Mitch Evanchusky won gold, with silver going to Tyrell Parker and Evan Kaminski of LTIS. In girls doubles, Myrika Lapawchuk and Madison Graham of Boyle were first and Thorhild’s Brynn Bilski and Haley Theroux were second.
LTIS students dominated mixed doubles. Winning gold was the team of Justin Kwasney and Tyra Cooper while Chase Ings and Hayley Anderson won silver.
