WATERLOO REGION (April 12, 2024) – This week, the District 8 Badminton titles were up for grabs, and with Woodland returning nearly their full senior roster from last season, they were able to retain the senior and overall team titles. 

It was a three-peat for Woodland’s senior girls pair of Ruari Adams and Kaylee Chapman being unbeaten in District 8 Badminton since the 2022 Championship. They topped teammates Annika Stoter and Carly Byma who collected the silver medal, while Ella Umar and Julie Bingeman won bronze. 

Woodland’s top senior boys’ singles player Dave Fan was able to beat last year’s champion Anton Grasso from Monsignor Doyle, two sets to one. Resurrection’s Theo Dickerson took the bronze in senior boys’ singles. 

Trisha Kooy-Valazquez from Woodland took the gold medal in the senior girls’ singles event after knocking teammate and eventual bronze medalist Lily Arkema to the wrong side of the bracket. Monsignor Doyle’s Desiree Vitalis won the silver medal and punched her ticket to CWOSSA beating Arkema in straight sets 22-20, 21-16.  

The fourth Woodland gold medals went to the mixed double pair of Julia Hiller and Ben Van Noord who topped teammates Sienna Rowe and Lucas Jonker in the championship. Monsignor Doyle’s Braxton Ray and Martin Cekan took the bronze. 

With success in the boys’ doubles bracket, Resurrection finished second in the senior team scoring, finishing just two points ahead of Monsignor Doyle. Joseph Sadik and Brenden Biber won the gold medal for Resurrection, beating the St. Mary’s pair of Jared Kiers and John Min. Oscar D’Mello and Dominic D’Mello won bronze for the Phoenix. 

Thursday’s junior final was dominated by schools from Cambridge winning all the gold medals in each event, and Monsignor Doyle squeezing past Woodland to win the junior team title. 

The Mustangs finished one – two in the junior mixed double draw with Brianna Resendes and Nathaniel Smith winning gold and Marissa Thorne-Simao and Oliver Nakazi winning silver for Monsignor Doyle. Arianna Rabano and Aiden To took the bronze. 

The top boy’s singles player also came from Monsignor Doyle after topping Woodland’s top singles player. Andrew Cekan won the gold medal for the Mustangs while Aaron Alas and Jacob Stoter won the silver and bronze medals, respectively. 

St. Benedict’s showed up huge in the boys and girls doubles events winning three of six possible medals. Ryan Power and Grayden Shute won gold over teammates Jacob Harrison and Alvin Siju in the boys’ doubles, while Nyra Lam and Alaina Siju won the gold for the Saints in the girls’ doubles event. 

Resurrection’s pair of Ishaan Nijjar and Akshay Ramachandran won the bronze in boys’ doubles. Adeline Steckley and Lila Van Zwol won the silver for Woodland in the girls’ doubles draw, while Monsignor Doyle’s Ava Santos and Megan Schotsch won bronze. 

Theodora Dragan from Père-René-de-Galinée leveled up from her silver medal in girls’ singles in 2023 to a gold in 2024 beating Rockway’s Lindsay Sothern in a tough fought final match. Sia Kim from Woodland collected the bronze in girls’ singles. 

All qualifiers will advance to the CWOSSA championships held April 17th (junior) and 18th (senior) in Kitchener .