MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Cornerstone Christian School Falcons are once again the top team in the Moose Jaw High Schools Athletic Association senior badminton league.
The Falcons won their second-straight overall championship on Tuesday night at Peacock, and while it was a relatively comfortable victory in 2023, things were far closer this time around thanks to a solid second-place showing by the Central Cyclones.
All told, Cornerstone would win three divisions and Central the other two, giving the Falcons an 18-14 win when scores from each division were totalled.
The city championship also had a different look this year in that there were a handful of returning champions who defended their titles when last season saw newcomers atop the podium across the board.
Cornerstone competitors accomplished the feat in all three of their division wins, as Kiana Hrechka was tops in girls singles, Tanner Behrns and Drew Biette led the way in boys doubles and Payton Fisher and Ademide Adewumi were tops in girls doubles.
Peacock’s Prin Sintunyatham claimed second spot in girls singles, while the bronze medalist was Mickayla Carle form Central.
Boys doubles saw the Falcons’ Matt Artavia and Cole Benallick finish second for the second straight year, while Central’s Josef Yee and James Tian were third.
The girls doubles class saw Cornerstone’s Gabby Thomas and Jorja Seida-Ruthven take second place just ahead of Central’s Blake Maltais and Grace Wilson.
After finishing third last year, Central’s Cole Wilson took top spot in the boys singles division, finishing ahead of teammate Zen Quimio and bronze medalist Allan Lu of Peacok.
It was new winners the mixed doubles division, as Central’s Micah Salido-Porter and Tara Nguyen finished in first place, Cornerstone’s Wyatt Craig and Annika Wonnick were second and Central’s Elijah Apuada and Momo Afolabi took third place.
The one-night tournament brought an end to an extremely abbreviated city league season, with STF job action seeing games postponed until the first league night last week, leading directly into the MJHSAA championships.
Things keep moving along from here, with the senior and bantam district championship taking place Saturday, Apr. 27 at Peacock, followed by regionals May 4 in Rosetown and provincials May 11 in Nipawin.
