Duchess takes overall title from huge tourney
There was a new overall champion at the biggest junior high badminton tournament of the season Saturday.
Duchess School, led by three division winners, took the aggregate title at the sixth annual Colts/Dawgs Mega Tournament in Medicine Hat.
In the juvenile division — typically Grade 9-aged athletes — Duchess’ Kelsey Voth won boys singles while Nate Hoffman and Eric Olivier teamed up for mixed doubles gold. Ryan Drake then took the bantam boys singles crown.
By comparison, Brooks was the only other school with multiple division winners in the two-day event. There were 15 divisions in all.Duchess breaks the three-year stranglehold Taber’s St. Mary’s had on the aggregate trophy entering this year’s competition. With 636 athletes from 34 schools entered, it was remarkable enough that any school had won mulitiple aggregate titles over the years.
In other juvenile divisions, Medicine Hat St. Mary’s got a girls singles win from Madison Schank, while Alexandra’s Cameron Hall and Kyle Spackman took the boys doubles. Kenny King and Jordyn Knight of Dr. Roy Wilson were girls doubles champs.
In midget, Seven Persons’ Kaden Rath took boys singles, Notre Dame’s Mackenzie Duchscherer was the best in girls singles, Taber St. Mary’s boys doubles players Ty Kiss and Max Nevil were top spot, Brooks’ Kyra Padilla and Mackenzie Beblow won girls doubles and DA Ferguson’s Michael Stronge and Ethan Chapple won mixed doubles.
As for the youngest age bracket, Taryn Smith of Senator Gershaw won bantam girls singles, Brooks’ Wyatt Davis and Ethan McClelland boys doubles, Burdett’s Anna Buechert and Nancy Loewen girls doubles and Irvine’s Kierra Zentner and Axton Ferguson mixed doubles.