CARSTAIRS-CREMONA-DIDSBURY -Several badminton players from the area had some great success at the recent Chinook's Edge School Division badminton championships in Olds, with four players qualifying for zones.
Didsbury High School (DHS) placings in Olds:
• 3rd Place: Brooklyn Campbell (Grade 9, girls' singles)
2nd Place: Deity Daunheimer and Rachel Martens (Grade 9, girls' doubles)
• 2nd Place: Kassi Hatcher and Lacey Newsome (Grade 11, girls' doubles)
• 2nd Place: Ethan Dunn (Grade 11, boys' singles)
• 1st Place: Luke Hildebrandt and Brenton Robertson (Grade 9, boys' doubles)
• 1st Place: Mckenna Dussault and Dawson Mailer (Grade 9, mixed doubles)
• 1st Place: Jaedan Miller (Grade 12, boys' singles)
The team is coached by teachers Mark Leggette and Iain Paton.
Didsbury players qualifying for the grade 10-12 zone championships are: boys' intermediate singles players Ethan Dunn and Jaeden Miller, and girls' intermediate doubles team Kassi Hatcher and Lacey Newsome. Three Grade 9 doubles teams from DHS qualified for the Grade 9 zones April 26 in Olds.
"We are pleased to have so many grade 9s go to zones," said Leggette. "Being in grade 9 and in their first year at our school, we will just be seeing how well they do at zones so we will be looking forward to them doing better next year.
"Our senior high team is disappointingly small in numbers but the number who made it to zones is good. We are sending four strong players. However, the talent pool at zones gets very strong. It would be nice to see someone get through to provincials, which we have not had for a while."
The South Central zone championships for grades 10-12 goes Saturday, April 28 in Brooks, while the zones for Grade 9s goes Thursday, April 26 in Olds.
Qualifying from Cremona School for the grade 10-12 zones championships were the boys' doubles junior duo of Dylan Laye and Brandon Tetz and the mixed doubles juniors team of Madison Black and Berkeley Steffler.
Qualifying from Hugh Sutherland School (HSS) in Carstairs in girls' intermediate singles were both Samantha Baustad and Lucy Bannard; girls' doubles junior duo Paige Coutts and Cassidy Cooper; and mixed doubles juniors partners MacKenzie Moulaison and Shaun Holtby. Darby Gale and Jessica Gerle also qualified in Grade 12 girls' doubles but are unable to attend.
HSS head coach Leah Knudsen said all her players did well and played hard at the regional championships.
"All students had a great time at divisionals in Olds," said Knudsen. "They have shown improvement over the course of the season and have been able to have fun doing it. We will have a break for spring break and then get back at it for a couple of practices before zones."
