Badminton season ends at zones

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

The already abbreviated badminton season ended sooner than expected for both local high school programs last weekend.
The Holy Cross Collegiate Hawks only sent six competitors to the 2A South Central Zone meet last weekend in Brooks. With numbers that low, individual success was attainable, but totaling up a team score high enough to grab a banner would have been difficult.
Competing in his final zone meet, senior Kyle Chavante turned out a 3-2 record over the weekend.
Kadin Wilson was the only other senior in the group. He, along with his partner Ryan Orford, also went 3-2 in the boys intermediate doubles division.
The mixed team of Bree Cockx and Colby Tanton went 1-4 in the mixed intermediate division and Ben Kruse was held without a victory in five games.
“There was a lot of stiff competition out there this weekend and I thought our team did pretty well overall,” said Hawks Head Coach Dan Patterson. “We will have many of our players coming back next year, so I hope this was a great experience for them and they can build off of it next year.”
The Strathmore High School Spartans rolled out 31 athletes during their 3A South Central Zone tournament in Brooks, but still couldn’t land a spot at provincials.
Spartans Head Coach Kenton Zandee stated earlier that this was a rebuilding year for the typically strong badminton program, so simply seeing some positive results at zones should bode well for the program’s growth next season.
The mixed intermediate team of Maria Kooistra and Ty Grimsdale had a shot at a gold medal game but lost in the semis to the Brooks Composite High School squad that captured bronze at last year’s provincials.
Kooistra and Grimsdale bounced back to take the bronze in the end.
The Spartans also grabbed the bronze in the junior boy’s doubles category, when Travis Edwards and Luke Schramm knocked off the George McDougall High School Mustangs 2-0 (21-12, 24-22).