Panthères take team banner at badminton championships

Sudbury high school badminton beware, the Macdonald-Cartier Panthères are there.

Led by the gold-medal performances of seniors Sebastien Stefankow (Men's Singles) and Gabrielle Nellis/Lina Audet (Ladies Doubles), as well as incoming midgets Kaylee Wither/Vanessa Payette (Ladies Doubles) and Jordan Urban/Sophie Laforest (Mixed Doubles), ESMC earned the overall team aggregate banner at the 2015 SDSSAA Badminton Championships April 11 at St. Benedict.

The grand total of 33 points for the Panthères allowed the New Sudbury school to outdistance the Lockerby Vikings and Sacré-Coeur Griffons (both at 27), Lasalle Lancers (25) and Notre-Dame Alouettes and host St. Benedict Bears, both at 24.

While Stefankow was expected to rise through the ranks, having swept both SDSSAA and NOSSA banners at midget and junior levels the past two years, the progress of Nellis and Audet produced a pleasant surprise.

The tandem of a Grade 11 athlete (Nellis) with a partner in Grade 10 (Audet) would see both young ladies set aside the singles game in which they participated last year in favour of greater potential as a team.

"We've known each other for a while and play different sports together," said Nellis. "We wanted to try and get to OFSAA."

Yet facing the pairing of Stephanie Arsenault and Meaghan Ethier of Lasalle in the final meant that the Macdonald-Cartier ladies had their hands full.

"They're a really good team, and we've always had three-set games with them, really, really tight," said Nellis. "We started off not so good today, we were really stressed. But then we really got it together in the third game. I think we were more confident then."

If the senior ladies doubles champions proves that chemistry can develop quickly, the senior boys doubles gold-medal winners are proof that patience and experience can also pay off. Jayden Tiedtke and Jonathan Zanini of St. Benedict have partnered together for three years now, finishing fourth in the city last April.

"A lot of good players graduated last year," said Tiedtke. "We practised a lot more, working on making our shots perfect and picking the good spots on the court."

Not to mention the benefit that comes quite simply from hours and hours spent together on the floor.

"We know now where each of us is going to be," said Tiedtke. "We move around a lot faster on the court, because we know who is going to get the shot." Despite capturing gold, the Bears are fully aware of just how tough NOSSA competition will be, having faced many of the out-of-town contenders at an open tournament at their school in late March.

"We are hoping to place at NOSSA, but there are a lot of good players coming from the Sault and North Bay," said Tiedtke.

Following is a complete listing of medal winners for all 15 divisions that are in action at the SDSSAA championships:

Senior Divisions
Men's Singles
1st - Sebastien Stefankow (ESMC)
2nd - Skylar Cooke (LCS)
3rd - Christian Pitfield (LAS)

Ladies Singles
1st - Michelle Kozlowskyj (SC)
2nd - Chantae Robinson (MMT)
3rd - Vanessa Fleury (CND)

Men's Doubles
1st - Jonathan Zanini/Jayden Tiedtke (STB)
2nd - Blake Wisniewski/Bradley Sheppard (LCS)
3rd - Chase Pressacco/Anthony Zanetti (STB)

Ladies Doubles
1st - Lina Audet/Gabrielle Nellis (ESMC)
2nd - Meaghan Ethier/Stephanie Arsenault (LAS)
3rd - Melanie Pitre/Lianne Girard (HOR)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Will Agnihotri/Emmalee Barbeau (STB)
2nd - Alex Rheault/Bryanne Rheault (CND)
3rd - Martin Mrochek/Josee Boudreau (HOR)

Junior Division
Boys Singles
1st - A.J. Martell (SC)
2nd - Justin Levert (SC)
3rd - Dakota Démoré (HOR)

Ladies Singles
1st - Enara Iturregui (LOE)
2nd - Gracen Lacko (LOE)
3rd - Kayleigh Gauthier (LAS)

Boys Doubles
1st - Tyrus Cuculick/Danny Arsenault (LAS)
2nd - Braedan Tulini/Jack Wisniewski (LCS)
3rd - Remi Fortin/Olivier Dubreuil (ESMC)

Ladies Doubles
1st - Rebecca Guse/Cally Vanier (CVDCS)
2nd - Holly Black/Kyla Bruni (LOE)
3rd - Tiffany Hodgins/Hope Joly (MMT)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Cameron Duff/Stephanie Smuland (CFD)
2nd - Justin Lamontagne/Kaitlyn Thibault (SC)
3rd - Dylan Terris/Keeley Lebreton (LAS)

Midget Division
Boys Singles
1st - Patrick Thom (STB)
2nd - Miguel Mrochek (HOR)
3rd - Philippe Larochelle (CND)

Ladies Singles
1st - Kalie Rheault (CND)
2nd - Danica Servant (CND)
3rd - Emma Dion (STC)

Men's Doubles
1st - Luc Demers/Marcus Valtonen (SC)
2nd - Tylor Chartrand/Alex Frappier (HOR)
3rd - Julian Simeoni/Cameron Lamour (LCS)

Ladies Doubles
1st - Kaylee Wither/Vanessa Payette (ESMC)
2nd - Afenene Bouhedda/Kapanga Shawana (LAS)
3rd - Kindra Arnold/Kyla Mulligan (LCS)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Jordan Urban/Sophie Laforest (ESMC)
2nd - Carter Brown/Bronwynn Pitura (CFD)
3rd - Cole Loewen/Alexanne Coulombe (LCS)