Leader duo wins provincial bronze
The girls’ doubles duo from Leader, Payton Stimson and Kyla Tumbach, captured the bronze medal at SHSAA Badminton Provincials.
The provincial competition took place at Weyburn on May 13. The format at provincials was eight teams divided into two pools of four. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the playoff round.
Stimson and Tumbach had a record of 2-1 in Pool A with wins over Melville (2-0) and Loon Lake (2-0) and a loss to Carrot River (2-1). In the cross over semi, the girls lost to the eventual gold medalists from Leoville 2-0 (7-21, 19-21).
In the bronze medal match, the girls faced Carrot River once again and this time came through with a 2-0 win (22-20, 21-9). Congrats to Payton and Kyla and their coach Houston Doig!
The mixed duo from Fox Valley, Rebecca Chou and Nicholas Ehnisz, also had a successful showing. They had a record of 2-1 in Pool B with wins over Melville (2-0) and Perdue (2-0), but lost to Wilkie (2-0). In the cross over semi, Chou and Ehnisz then faced Annaheim and lost 2-0 (21-23, 9-21). In the bronze match, they lost a close one to Medstead 2-0 (19-21, 15-21).
The third Southwest team in the competition was Jordan Mastel and Carson Leach who competed in boys’ doubles. They had a record of 1-2 in the round robin. They lost to Weyburn 2-0, beat Nipawin 2-0, and lost to Saskatoon Bethlehem 2-1. They finished third in their pool and did not advance to the playoff round.
All three of these badminton teams consist of grade 11 players so next year is looking very promising!
With the completion of badminton, the last sport on the school calendar is track and field. There are three upcoming section meets being held this week:
Whitemud Section will be held at Consul on Tuesday, May 16. Schools participating will be Consul, Eastend, Frontier, Shaunavon and Val Marie. Start time is 10:45 a.m.
Rolling Hills Section will be held at Swift Current on Wednesday, May 17. Schools participating will be Swift Current Comp., Ecole Centennial, All Saints, Central, Irwin, Gull Lake, Stewart Valley, Herbert, Hodgeville, Wymark, Waldeck, Vanguard and Ponteix. Start time is 9:30 a.m.
Cypress Hills Section will be at Swift Current on Thursday, May 18. Schools participating will be Maple Creek, Fox Valley, Burstall, Leader, Cabri, Hazlet and Success. Start time is 10 a.m.
Participants from grades 6-12 are eligible to take part in four age categories – bantams, midgets, junior and seniors. The top four in the midget, junior and senior categories will advance to the SWAC District meet while the top two will advance in the bantam category. Districts will be held in Swift Current on Wednesday, May 24. The start time for the district meet will be 9:30 a.m. The SHSAA provincial track meet will be held in Saskatoon on June 2-3. Students in midget, junior and senior are eligible to participate (grades 9-12).
Congratulations go out to the Swift Current Comp. wrestling team. They have been awarded the SHSAA Sportsmanship Award for the provincial tournament. This prestigious award is given to one team that participates at the SHSAA event, which was held March 17-18, and demonstrates great sportsmanship. Congrats to the Comp. wrestling team and their coaches Allen Blanke and Daniel Marchand and manager Tracey Martin!