Are the Dade badminton Players of the Year

Although there was some suspense as usual as to who might win certain divisions of the GMAC badminton championships, there was no doubt who the favorite was in girls singles.

And Palmetto junior Katarina Slazas did not disappoint.

Slazas has become clearly the top girls player in MiamiDade County over the past three years and maintained dominance winning her third consecutive GMAC title.

On the boys’ side, however, it was time for a new champion to emerge and Coral

Park’s Leandro Villalobos stepped up to the challenge by winning his first GMAC boys’ singles championship.

As such, Villalobos and Slazas are the Miami Herald’s Badminton Players of the Year.

Villalobos, a tennis and beach tennis player who completed his first season playing the sport by going unbeaten, led the Rams to a team runner-up finish. He was also one of two Coral Park division winners along with the team of Madelyn Casco and Sebastian Mota, who won the mixed doubles title.

“My coach asked me if I’d try out the sport and I loved it,” Villalobos said after winning his championship. “I approached it like I do everything, putting in my best effort to try and play the best I can.”

Slazas, a former soccer player for Palmetto, cruised past every opponent in her bracket while leading the Panthers to their third consecutive team championship and eighth overall. She was one of three division champions for Palmetto, which also won the boys and girls doubles divisions.

Slazas will have the chance to become Palmetto’s first player to win GMAC titles each of her four years of high school.

“This is great. I always have a lot of fun when I’m out here,” Slazas said.

COACH OF THE YEAR

He set a standard in his 15 seasons as coach at Palmetto.

And his players put in the work and set yet another milestone for their program.

David Zarco watched proudly after the Panthers secured the victories they needed to win their third consecutive GMAC championship.

As such, Zarco is the Herald’s Badminton Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year.

During Zarco’s tenure as Palmetto’s coach the Panthers have won back-to-back titles twice and now won three in a row for the first time.

As has become tradition for the Panthers, they enjoyed a celebratory outing at Wall’s Old-Fashioned ice cream shop near Dadeland Mall in Miami. And Zarco said each player will get a day they can keep the GMAC championship trophy, similar to when the NHL’s champion hangs on to the Stanley Cup for a day.

And the run isn’t likely to end anytime soon as the majority of his lineup, including Slazas, is expected to return next season.