Two Innisfail Jr./Sr. High School students walked away with medals after a stellar performance in mixed doubles Zone championships April 27 at Hunting Hills High School in Red Deer.
Impeccable chemistry between Grade 12 students Sam Carr and Matt Whitehead led to a two-game sweep of the bronze medal match against Bawlf.
“I think we kind of got in their heads,” said 17-year-old Carr. “Then it got easier.”
Whitehead, also 17, smashed the shuttlecock past the opposing players to clinch the battle.
“We were the only people in the school to medal,” he said, noting their celebrations were kept to a minimum out of respect for the losers. “I think it escalated to a hug.”
The win capped a short but fruitful season for the pair.
“We caught on pretty quick,” Carr said. “You just have to know when you should make your shots.”
The duo came away with silver at Areas April 16 at HJ Cody in Sylvan Lake, after facing four different teams.
At the tournament, junior players Christie Whitehead and Kourtney Panasiuk won bronze in girls doubles. In intermediate play, Jade Marshall and Nicole Andersen won gold in girls doubles. Sydney Daines won silver in girls singles and Shawn Abraham won bronze in boys singles.
In senior action Erik Ijff and Cole Wallawein also won silver in boys doubles while Courtney Orton and Momoko Asano won bronze in girls doubles.
The Zone finals were like a marathon with Carr and Whitehead playing 14 games over six-and-a-half hours. The bronze medal performance is a particularly impressive achievement, given Whitehead was running on an empty tank.
“I woke up late,” he said. “I didn't eat until 6 p.m.”
First up was the squad from Lacombe.
“We won the first game; they won the next two,” Carr said. “It was really close.”
Playing against Stettler the pair flipped the script in the second match, losing the first game then winning the next two.
“It felt great,” Whitehead said. “We finally cracked the egg.”
Carr said she thought they were playing better as they headed into the round robin match against Bawlf. But they were in for a rude awakening.
“They destroyed us the first game,” Whitehead admitted.
The 21-11 score was painful and forced the two Innisfail players to calm down.
“We reminded each other to refocus,” Carr said.
“We kinda just talked to each other and told each other what we had to do,” Whitehead said.
The breather worked, with Innisfail winning the next two games 21-18 and 21-19.
The team had to play a first-to-15-points game against Lacombe, the team they had fallen to earlier in the day, to get into the playoffs.
“We knew we could beat them,” Whitehead said, noting he wasn't worried about the previous match. “We just didn't play our best.”
After knocking off Lacombe in their quest for medals, the Innisfail team lost in the semifinals to Notre Dame, who went on to win the tournament.
So the pair prepped for the bronze medal match against Bawlf.
“We just came out swinging,” Whitehead said, noting they won the match in two straight. “We were on our game.”
In total agreement Carr looks back fondly on the moment with a smile at the sports pun.
“Pretty much,” she chimed in.
