The spring sports season has arrived and that means season previews! In this preview, we take a look at badminton.
Note: All coaches were contacted multiple times via email for this exercise. Those responses are shown below. Not on here? Contact Michael Wojtychiw (mmwojtychiw@cps.edu) for more information.
School name: Walter Payton
Last year’s record: 9-3
Social media handles: Instagram: wpcpbadminton
Starters returning (name, position, year in school, stats/honors if available):
Hailain Yu (Sr.) – 2x reigning Singles City Champion, qualified for State Championship Tournament Spring 23
Ashley Strauss (Jr.) – Doubles City Champion
Hannah Ding (Sr.) – Doubles City Runner-up
Nina Shinall (Sr.) – Singles top 10 finish last year in City tournament
Key non-starters returning (name, position, year in school, stats if available):
Channing Lee (Sr.) – Leader and great competitor for our team.
Key newcomers:
Sophie Hong (So.) – Skilled and will be playing with Hannah Ding in Doubles this year
Shefali Gupta (Jr.) – Hard working leader that will play Doubles with Ashley Strauss this year
Inika Bansal (So.) – Talented athlete that will look to make a splash in Singles
Big games/matchups:
3/11- Quad @ Reavis
3/16- 16 Team Tournament @ Hinsdale South
4/6- Quad @ Lincoln Way West
4/8- Conference match against Whitney
4/15- Non-conference match against Roosevelt
4/18- Non-conference match against OPRF
Coach’s season outlook:
Payton is looking to continue our reign as City Champions. We have won all of the city championships in CPL 6 year history of the sport.
School: Roosevelt / Von
Last Year’s Conference Record: 5-0
Overall Record: 10-1
Social Media Handle: @roughpanthersbadminton (Instagram)
Starters Returning:
#1 Doubles
Hana Fazlic (Jr) / Alba Oliva (Jr)
#1 Single
Cerela Marin (Sr)
Key Non-Starters Returning:
Angela Thomas- Played as a Doubles last year and now improved to #2 Singles
Newcomers to Watch:
- Junior Melenie Delgado was a part of last year’s #2 Doubles team. She switched is now #2 Singles
- Senior Nashly Condo is playing her first year as a #4 Single.
Coach’s Season Outlook:
- Last year, we placed 1st in conference and 4th in city as a team. We are looking to keep that conference championship and improve for the city championship to place 1st.
- Doubles players- Junior Hana Fazlic and Junior Alba Oliva placed 3rd in city hoping to take 1st.
School name: Whitney M. Young High School
Last year’s record: 9-1
Social media handles: wygirlsbadminton
Starters returning (name year in school):
Caherine Xu- Senior
Arushi Virmani- Senior
Sunshine Pang- Senior
Caroline Chen- Junior
Sam Park- Junior
Michelle Yee- Sophomore
Key newcomers:
Aryana Collins- Senior
Mia Distel- Junior
Natalie Chin- Sophomore
Sarida Silapaduriyang- Sophomore
Anushri Virmani- Sophomore
Kylie Watts- Sophomore
Mira McDermott- Freshman
Autumn Moon- Freshman
Kinzie Warner- Freshman
Big games/matchups:
Coach’s season outlook: We’re looking forward to developing our program with new players on board this year while our sights are set on City!
