The Oak Park and River Forest High School badminton team finished second at the Stevenson Sectional on May 2, qualifying five players for the state tournament at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston this weekend (May 10-11).
OPRF finished with a score of 10.5, trailing only the sectional host/champion Patriots. The Huskies’ teams of Halley Bergen/Emma Proctor and Maya Jamroz/Nelida Schalich finished third and fourth, respectively, in doubles. When the OPRF teams faced other, Bergen and Proctor won a hard-fought 21-13, 13-21, 21-19 decision.
OPRF junior Olivia Remington placed fourth in singles. Remington won four of five matches, her only loss against sectional champion Shibani Ram from Stevenson.
Fenwick boys water polo
The Friars defeated Loyola Academy 13-11 in the championship game of the Metro Catholic Aquatic Conference tourney in Oak Park.
Payton Comstock, who will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in the fall, scored six goals and Nate Fisher added four to power the Friars’ offense. Dan Badja, Alex Figus and Ramses Flores scored a goal each.
In the semifinals, Fenwick cruised to a 10-4 win over St. Patrick. The Friars established a 6-0 lead at halftime and never looked back as Comstock scored a team-high four goals. Dan Lynch and Jack Nettleton scored twice and Diego Sahagun dished out two assists.
OPRF girls water polo
The Huskies split a pair of West Suburban Conference Silver Division games at Lyons Township. OPRF edged York in the opener, 11-9, as Mary Vanek led the victors with five goals and four steals. Bennett Gloor contributed four goals with Addie Kosterman and Natalia Nikolic adding a goal apiece. Goalie Sydney Mosher had 10 saves.
In the second game, host LTHS defeated the Huskies, 11-5. Vanek (2 goals) and Gloor (goal, 6 steals) led OPRF offensively, while Mosher finished with seven saves.
OPRF boys track & field
The Huskies scored 138 points to claim the McCarthy Memorial Invitational, hosted by Hinsdale Central on May 3.
OPRF accrued points with strong performances in both track and field events. Junior Tyrone Clarke and senior JT Lowder both won a pair of races. Clarke placed first in the 200-meter and 400-meter events with respective times of 22.15 seconds and 50.38 seconds. Lowder dominated the hurdles by winning the 110 (14.13) and 300 (38.79) races.
In the relay races, the Huskies’ quartet of Rapharoah Dallas, Clarke, Amir Blanchard and Lowder finished first in the 400 (42.23), while Amari Sanders, Dallas, Naz Bryant and Blanchard placed second in the 800 (1:30.84).
Senior Keon Gilbert fared well in the field events by winning the discus at 139 feet, 10 inches and taking second in the shot put, 51-3. Teammate Mykolas Saloninas won the shot put with a throw of 53-7. Kwesi Yeboah notched second in the triple jump at 43-5.50 and Josh Cotter was third in the pole vault at 12-8.
Fenwick boys track & field
The Friars finished 12th at the McCarthy Memorial Invitational. Senior Joseph Wermes led Fenwick with a fourth-place showing in the 800 at 2:01.55 Wermes also joined Jared Williams, Chris Brady and Owen Filbin to post a time of 8:33.56, which yielded a fifth-place result in the 3,200 relay. Promising freshman Stephen Brown ran well, taking sixth in the 200 (23.25) and 11th in the 100 (11.62).
OPRF softball
Taylor Divello went the distance in the Huskies’ 5-3 victory against Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn. Divello (6-2) allowed three runs and seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks against the Hilltoppers.
Ali Burns and Maeve Ryan sparked OPRF (16-6) with two hits apiece. Fiona Girardot knocked in two runs, while Maddi Grant and Jacky Neumann each chipped in an RBI.
In other games last week, the Huskies crushed Proviso West 17-1 but were swept by Penn from Mishawaka, Indiana 12-6, 9-3 in a doubleheader. Despite a tough day against Penn, several Huskies played well in the twinbill, including Nellie Kamenitsa Hale (7-for-8, 3 doubles), Girardot (4-for-7, 3 runs scored) and Grant (3-for-7, 2 RBIs).
OPRF boys tennis
The No. 1 doubles team of Aiden Klass and Ben Pickering took first at the NaperValley Invite over the weekend. In the championship match, the pair rallied for a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Singh and Garcia from Downers Grove North. Hugh Lipic placed fourth in second singles for the Huskies.
OPRF finished with a score of 38, placing eighth in the 16-team field. Wheaton Academy (56), St. Charles North (54) and Edwardsville (48) took the top three spots
