High school badminton is on its last legs for 2018 after the juniors wrapped up their season with the district championships, and the seniors climbed the final step on their way to provincials, with the regional championships.
Junior Districts
The junior district championships were split over the course of two days, with boys and girls singles and mixed doubles heading to Wynyard on May 2, and girls and boys doubles visiting Foam Lake on May 3.
The competition was extremely even throughout, with ten teams taking home a top two finish from eight different schools, as Humboldt Collegiate and Wadena each finished with a tournament high two medals.
Wadena enjoyed a solid championships picking up one gold, winning the boys singles event, and one silver, after losing in the boys doubles final.
The girls single competition saw Holdfast take home the top spot, while Lanigan High was forced to settle for silver.
Bruno picked up the mixed doubles title with their win over HCI, while Foam Lake grabbed top spot in boys doubles action with their final win over Wadena.
The final of the five badminton competitions saw LeRoy emerge the victors, as the girls doubles team captured the district title after beating silver medalist Annaheim in the final.
Senior Regionals
The regional championships saw teams from seven local rural schools travel to Foam Lake for the regional championships on May 5.
Boys Doubles Region C
The Middle Lake Avengers were the lone rural school competing in the boys doubles regional event, where they enjoyed a solid tournament.
The boys got off to an excellent start as they rolled through the round robin, knocking off Yorkton Sacred Heart, Canwood, and Melfort, two sets to none each time.
With the perfect 3-0 record in the round robin, the Avengers moved into the semi-final where they crossed over to take on the second place finishers in the other pool from Debden.
Unfortunately for the Avengers they ran into a tough test, and despite forcing a third set and keeping the match tight, the boys from Middle Lake could not quite pull out the win, as they fell two sets to one.
With the loss, the Avengers were relegated to the bronze medal contest where they were forced to take on Canwood.
After cruising by Canwood in the round robin, the Avengers made quick work of them once again in the third-place game, rolling to a two sets to none win.
Despite managing a third place finish, the Avengers saw their badminton season come to a close as each of the top two schools moved on to provincials.
Boys Singles Region C
The boys singles competition also saw just a single rural team in action, with Englefeld enjoying an excellent tournament.
The competition got off to a near flawless start for the Eagles as they cruised to a perfect 3-0 record in the round robin after two sets to none wins over Invermay and Melfort, and a two sets to one win over Canwood.
Thanks to the perfect record, the Eagles moved into the semi-final where they were matched up with Prince Albert St. Mary.
After rolling through the round robin, the Eagles kept it going in the playoffs, as they rolled to a two sets to none semi-final win.
That momentum carried over once again to the final, where the Eagles put the finishing touches on a perfect tournament as they knocked off Carrot River two sets to none to finish with a 5-0 record and the regional title.
The Eagle will now move on to the provincial championships where he will be placed in Pool A with Fox Valley, Evan Hardy, and Luther.
Girls Doubles Region C
One of the busiest competitions for rural local schools was the girls doubles event, which saw both Englefeld and Lake Lenore in action.
It was a solid trip to the regional championships for the Eagles particularly to start, as they opened their competition with two sets to none wins over Yorkton Sacred Heart and Debden.
With the wins, the Eagles were comfortably into the semi-final heading into their final contest against Carrot River.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they did have the semi-final spot locked up as they ran into a tough Carrot River squad and were handed a two sets to none loss.
Despite the loss, the Eagles moved into the semi-final where they took on the other Carrot River squad.
It was another tough test for the Eagles against another excellent Carrot River team, and much like in the round robin, Carrot River was too much to overcome as the Eagles fell two sets to none.
With the loss the Eagles were relegated to the third place game, where they took on Shellbrook.
After suffering back-to-back losses to a pair of Carrot River clubs, the Eagles were able to regroup in time for the third place final as they made quick work of Shellbrook, winning two sets to none to finish third.
Despite the third place finish, the Eagles saw their season come to a close after each of the top two seeds moved on to provincials.
Lake Lenore meanwhile, enjoyed a much less successful trip to the regional competition.
The Lancers got off to a slow start, losing their tournament opener 2-0 against Kamsack.
After beating Shellbrook two sets to one in their next match, the Lancers found themselves needing a win to guarantee a spot in the next round.
Unfortunately for the Lancers they ran into a tough Carrot River squad and were quickly dispatched two sets to none.
Despite the loss the Lancers still found themselves in a three-way tie for the second spot, but their three set win over Shellbrook proved costly as it gave Shellbrook the edge in the tiebreaker.
With the Lancers left to settle for a tie for third they were unable to qualify for the playoffs and saw their season come to a close.
Girls Singles Region C
The only other event to feature a pair of local rural schools was the girls singles competition, which saw both Wakaw and Naicam in action.
The competition got off to an up-and-down start for Wakaw as they picked up two sets to none wins over Canora and Naicam, with a two sets to one loss to Debden sandwiched in between.
Thanks to the 2-1 record, the Warriors moved into the semi-final where they took on Melville.
Unfortunately, it was not a very good semi-final for the Warriors as they were upended two sets to none, and were relegated to the third place final.
There they met Humboldt Collegiate.
After rotating wins and losses through the first four games of the tournament, the Warriors kept the streak alive in the third place final, as they knocked off HCI two sets to none to finish in third place with a record of 3-2.
Despite the win, the Warrior saw her season come to a close.
The Naicam Vikings meanwhile, enjoyed a much less successful regional competition.
The tournament got off to a tough start for the Vikings, who lost two sets to none against Debden in their opening match and could never recover, losing two sets to none against both Canora and Wakaw.
With the 0-3 record, the Vikings failed to reach the playoffs and saw their season come to a close.
Mixed Doubles Region C
The Englefeld Eagles were the lone local mixed doubles entrant, where they enjoyed excellent results.
The tournament got off to an ugly start for the Eagles, as they kicked off their tournament with a two sets to none loss at the hands of Melville.
The Eagles were able to get their tournament back on track, quickly, as they responded with two sets to none wins over Meath Park and Carrot River, to finish the round robin 2-1 and move into the playoffs.
In the semi-final, the Eagles made short work of Yorkton Sacred Heart, winning two sets to none to move into the final, setting up a rematch with Melville.
After dropping the tournament opener, the Eagles exacted revenge on their Melville rivals as they flipped the script, winning two sets to none in the final to capture the regional title.
With the win the Eagles move on to the provincial championships, where they will be drawn into Pool A with Fox Valley, North Battleford Comprehensive, and O’Neill 2.
The teams who qualified for provincials now have a week to prepare before heading to Wilkie on May 12.
