For the second consecutive year, Oak Park and River Forest High School seniors Stella Ludwig and Olive Tepfer have reached the state finals of the IHSA badminton tournament. The duo punched their ticket with their runner-up finish at the Lake Forest Sectional Complex, May 7.
“Stella and Olive played extremely well,” said OPRF coach Paul Wright. “They knew what to expect, and having that experience as juniors, there’s a lot more maturity.”
With 23 schools participating, the Lake Forest Sectional was divided into sub-sectionals, and OPRF was assigned to the sub-sectional at Deerfield. The Huskies placed third in the team standings with eight points.
Following a first-round bye into the doubles’ quarterfinals, Ludwig and Tepfer, seeded second, defeated Hersey’s Irene Lee and Victoria Shemanayev 21-16, 21-13, then knocked off Kata Gyorgy and Sahana Shah of Deerfield 21-17, 16-21, 21-16 to reach the final, where they lost to Eva Rajshekhar and Mila Gleyzer of Deerfield 16-21, 16-21.
“I know they were disappointed with not getting first place,” Wright said. “We had some unforced errors, hitting birds into the net or just out of bounds. They were honest with their performance; any other day, they could’ve been sectional champions, but things just weren’t going their way.”
Seniors Evelyn Cultra and Famke Bussiere were OPRF’s other doubles entry, and following a first-round bye, the pair narrowly missed reaching the semifinals and a guaranteed state berth, losing in three sets – 21-17, 19-21, 22-24 – to Ranelila Dzholdoshbekova and Angelique Mansalapuz of Hersey.
“I’m sure Evelyn and Famke wish they could get that match back,” Wright said. “But they really battled and understood the mistakes they made.”
In singles, the Huskies had two entries at Deerfield, and each player won a match. Junior Geneva Volk defeated Amelia Bratko of Fenton 14-21, 21-17, 21-7, then lost to top seed and eventual champion Cora Peng of Deerfield 9-21, 10-21.
Senior Korina White rolled past Carolina Diaz of Leyden 21-9, 21-10, then lost to Deerfield’s Maya Krasny in the quarterfinals 16-21, 3-21.
“Phenomenal efforts,” Wright said. “If you look at where Geneva was at the start of the season to where she is now, there’s been tremendous growth. Seeing top players lets her know where she needs to improve in the offseason.
“It was great having Korina this year, she battled really hard. She helped push other kids at practice as well.”
OPRF now turns its attention to the state finals at DeKalb, May 15-16. Wright feels confident about Ludwig and Tepfer making a strong run.
“I think they can beat anyone on any given day if things fall the right way,” he said.
Track and Field
At the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference outdoor track and field championships held at Loyola Academy, May 9, Fenwick High School finished seventh with 48 points, and Trinity High School 14th with eight points.
Junior Maeve Bonakdar won both throwing events for the Friars: the shot put with a distance of 11.85 meters, and the discus with 28.95 meters. Also in the discus, sophomore Molly Madden was third with 27.12 meters.
Fenwick scored points in three other individual events as well as all four relays. Junior Mia Bagato was fifth in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2:15.88. In the 1600, sophomore Bridget Brunick was eighth with a personal-best 5:27, and Brunick (11:35.90) and junior Juliana Gamboa (11:35.92) were fourth and fifth respectively in the 3200.
The 4 x 100 unit of juniors De’Ondrea Almond and Teresa Urso, sophomore Avani Williams, and Bagato finished sixth in 54.12. Williams, Urso, freshman Talia Hill, and sophomore Eleanor Gibson placed eighth in the 4 x 200 (1:56.08).
The Friars’ 4 x 400 unit of Bagato, sophomore Elsa Pettigrew, freshman Claire Twohy, and Urso placed seventh in 4:29.03, while the 4 x 800 unit of sophomore Alana Jezierski, juniors Carolina Vasquez and Maya Trouillhet, and senior Kimberly Robles placed seventh in 11:31.63.
Trinity sophomore Karis Young finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in a personal-best 15.75. The Blazers’ 4 x 100 unit of senior Aaliyah Porter and sophomores Zoe Grant, Molly Pawlowski, and Amira Straw placed eighth in 54.88, and the 4 x 200 unit of Grant, junior Janelle Hernandez, Straw, and Young was seventh in 1:53.90.
Fenwick and Trinity will compete in the IHSA Class 2A Clark Sectional at Rockne Stadium in Chicago, May 15. Field events begin at 5 p.m. with running events at 5:30.