The Oak Park and River Forest High School varsity badminton team placed third in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division tournament at Hinsdale Central, May 1, with 23 points.
“Everyone seems to be peaking at the right time,” said OPRF coach Paul Wright. “This is the greatest number of medals we’ve brought home in the last seven years. We’ve (usually) walked away with three or four medals, (but) a lot of girls made the medal rounds, and we could’ve had four or five more.”
The Huskies had three individuals and three doubles teams earn medals. Senior Grace Iverson placed third in seventh singles; senior Sophia Goodwin third in eighth singles; and senior Arabella Winsett third in ninth singles.
Seniors Stella Ludwig and Olive Tepher, OPRF’s top doubles unit voted the team’s Most Valuable Players, took third in first doubles. They’re looking to make a second consecutive trip to the state finals.
At fourth doubles, the duo of seniors Emily Smyth and Korina White took third, as did seniors Leila Ellis and Lucy Wagemann at fifth doubles.
Wright believes the increased numbers in the badminton program is starting to pay dividends. He credits his 15 seniors for helping to establish a strong foundation.
“It’s a huge commitment to badminton from the girls and the school,” Wright said. “Out of our senior class, we have six girls who started in our program as freshmen and made it all the way through. Then we have a bunch of girls who came out their sophomore and junior years; they attended our camps and made a commitment to get better. Sophia is one of those girls who came out last year, and she’s walking away with a medal this year. That speaks volumes to the commitment. Our door’s always open; if a kid wants to play badminton, we’ll do our best to keep her a part of the program.”
While Wright feels the future is bright, he’s focused on the sectionals this week.
“The big thing for us is getting Stella and Olive back to state,” he said. “We’d also like to qualify at least a singles (player) and another doubles (unit), just so they can get the experience. That’s our goal.”
OPRF competes in the Lake Forest Sectional, May 7.
OPRF boys volleyball
Against stout competition at the Lincoln-Way East Invitational, May 1-2, the Huskies, who are the top-ranked team in Illinois according to MaxPreps, went 4-1 to finish third in a 32-team field.
“It was our first showing without Trayce (Chrusfield III) and I thought the boys handled it well,” said OPRF coach Justin Cousin. “We were able to take out some big teams without him.”
On Friday, OPRF (19-4-1) rolled to a pair of victories: 25-18, 25-10 versus Illiana Christian, and 25-18, 25-20 over Lyons Township.
On Saturday, the Huskies won their pool with a 25-23, 25-17 victory over Brother Rice, and advanced to the semifinals. The Huskies lost to Glenbard West 27-25, 18-25, and 8-15, but bounced back to defeat Lincoln-Way East in the third-place match 22-25, 25-23, and 15-4.
Senior libero/defensive specialist Gus Leman was named to the All-Tournament Team. In five matches, he amassed 39 digs and 16 assists.
Other OPRF standouts were senior setter Matthew Proskey (113 total assists), senior middle Wesley Kochendorfer (42 kills, 18 blocks), and senior outside Henry Hullinger (24 kills).
Chrusfield, a junior outside who has 182 kills, 13 aces, 27 blocks, 70 digs, and 14 assists this season, missed Saturday’s action as he flew to Anaheim, California to try out for the United States U19 National Team, which will compete in the 2026 U19 Men’s Continental Championship in Canada, May 10-19.
“We’re super-proud of Trayce,” Cousin said. “Peter (Zurawski) did the same thing. To have multiple people coming out of Oak Park and getting this recognition really shows what we’re trying to build here.”
OPRF is undefeated in the WSC Silver with matches remaining against Downers Grove North, Proviso West, and York.
“We feel confident trying to repeat as conference champions, and we’re really excited about the playoffs and finally pushing past the sectional finals,” Cousin said.