After sharing the Moose Jaw High School Athletic Association senior badminton championship with the Central Cyclones last season, the Cornerstone Christian School Falcons apparently decided they weren’t going to leave anything to chance this time around.
The Falcons would win four of five divisions during the city championship tournament on Tuesday night at Peacock, easily winning the team title with 18 points. Central finished second with eight points while Peacock landed in third with five points.
The 2023 city championship was an interesting one, too, in that there were no repeat champions, with boys singles champion Nigel Fang coming the closest -- the Central senior win bronze last season but moved up two podium spots to win the title this time around. Peacock’s Alan Lu finished second while Central’s Cole Wilson was third.
That’s not to say there weren’t a couple of champions who had won before.
Kiana Hrechka continued Cornerstone’s dominance in girls singles, following up her junior girls title in 2022 with senior gold this time around. Vanier’s Feona Tolentino was the silver medalist, with Peacock’s Kylee Cooper landing bronze.
It was a similar situation for the Falcons’ Tanner Behrns and Drew Biette, as after winning junior gold last season they took the top title in the senior division in 2023. Curtis Smith and Conner Yeroschak of Central won silver, Cornerstone’e Matt Artavia and Cole Benallick were the bronze medalists.
The girls doubles division saw Cornerstone’s Payton Fisher and Ademide Adewumi claim gold, while Peacock’s Jess Selensky and Makena Simmons were second and Rizza Alimoot and Kristen Ma of Vanier third.
There were also three new medalists in the mixed doubles division, as a pair of Cornerstone teams finished one-two. Nolan Kearns and Jorja Seida-Ruthven were the gold medalists, finishing just ahead of Aswin Abraham and Rebecca Gutek. Central’s Eihab Dahab and Ashley Ciserno won bronze.
The top two teams from each division advance to the District championship this weekend at Peacock, followed by regionals in Regina during the May 6 weekend and provincials on May 13 in Unity.
