NL_051718

newlenoxpatriot.com SPORTS
the New Lenox Patriot | May 17, 2018 | 41
Badminton
Central, West qualifiers take on state’s best players
Senior Haley Burns
took on eventual
state champion in
second round
James Sanchez, Editor
Lincoln-Way West’s singles
players finished their
high school careers with
state wins at the badminton
state tournament Saturday,
May 12, at Eastern Illinois
University.
Sectional champion Haley
Burns earned two wins in
her playoff run. She defeated
Emily McClanahan, from
Glenbrook South, 21-10,
21-15, before losing to eventual
state champion Ester Yi,
from Stevenson.
Burns went on to win her
second-round consolation
match 21-18, 16-21, 21-
14 over Nancy Liu, from
Naperville Central, but her
postseason run ended the
following round to Lauren
Oda, from Elk Grove High
School, 21-19, 21-16.
West’s No. 2 singles player
Sara Swanberg responded
after her opening round loss
to 11-seed Hanna Konrath,
from Willowbrook, by defeating
Monica Hill, from
Evanston Township, 21-16,
21-11. Her road ended in the
consolation second round to
Julie Mills from Wheaton
North.
West doubles team Allison
Hullinger and Shaunna
O’Malley had the same
path as Swanberg, narrowly
losing its opening
round match to New Trier’s
Naomi Aisen and Eleanor
Cheng 21-17, 19-21, 21-17,
Adrianna Strozak (pictured) finished her high school career
with a state appearance. Her doubles partner Kayla Wojcik
will return for her junior year. Photos by James Sanchez/22nd
Century Media
and then defeating Adalynn
Downing and Kylie Novak,
from Oswego, 21-18, 21-
14. They lost the following
round to Aimee Puz
and Kaitlyn Hurka, from
Hinsdale South, 21-10,
21-17. Both Hullinger and
O’Malley will return next
year.
West’s other qualifying
doubles team, Adriana Strozak
and Kayla Wojcik, lost
both of their matches. They
Allison Hullinger (pictured) and her doubles partner,
Shaunna O’Malley, got a win at the state tournament. Both
are expected to return next year.
nearly advanced after the
consolation first round but
lost 19-21, 21-14, 21-11 to
Carmela Aldea and Johanna
Duckmann, from Elk Grove.
Strozak is a senior, and
Wojcik will return next year.
Lincoln-Way Central’s
lone state qualifiers, doubles
team Alyssa Arce and Cora
Smith, capped off their high
school careers with a state
appearance. They lost both
of their matches.
polo
From Page 45
five goals. Orloff added four
goals.
“Give East credit, those
boys played hard and did
very well shooting against
us,” Central coach Patrick
Shaughnessy said. “They
threw us off our game. We
settled in on defense at the
end of the first half, but
couldn’t get it going on offense.
Ryan Burke had a great
season for us and [fellow
seniors] Adam Ceh stepped
in and did well for us and
Chuck Evans did a nice job
as a first year goalie. We had
12 of our 13 losses to top 12
ranked teams. These 11 seniors
were the greatest group
that I ever coached.”
On May 9, the Knights
defeated Homewood-Flossmoor
12-6 in a quarterfinal
matchup.
For Lincoln-Way West, the
Central senior Josh Fox looks for an open teammate.
end result wasn’t indicative
of its season. The Warriors
had their first winning season
in their 9-year program
history. But in the opening
semifinal on Friday, May 11,
they ran into a buzzsaw and
lost 17-4 to Sandburg.
Actually things didn’t start
out too bad for West. Senior
Josh Carlson (2 goals) tied
the game at 1-1 on a goal
with 2:30 left in the first
quarter. Sandburg led 2-1 at
the end of the first quarter
and was only up 5-3 when junior
Tyler Hubbs hammered
home a goal with 1:51 to play
in the fist half. But the Eagles
answered with a pair of goals,
including one by senior Joey
Jenkot (8 goals) with a second
left in the half for a 7-3
lead. The Warriors got one
goal - from junior Jake Wroblewski,
in the second half.
“The guys worked their
butts off to get to this game,”
West coach Jake Bernard
said of the No. 5 seeded
Lincoln-Way Central senior Adam Ceh fires a shot Friday, May 11, during a sectional
semifinal matchup against Lincoln-Way East in Frankfort. Photos by James Sanchez/22nd
Century Media
Warriors knocking off No. 4
seeded Andrew 12-6 on May
9 in a quarterfinal game that
avenged two earlier losses
to the Thunderbolts. “They
showed the heart and commitment
to get to this game.”
West finished the season
16-11-2.
“I told the guys we were
guaranteed a winning season
and they said they didn’t
want just that,” said Bernard,
who noted that coaching this
team to the semifinals was
even happier for him than he
was when he played water
polo at Lincoln-Way Central
- graduating in 2012. “To win
like we did against Andrew
was a proud moment for me,
but even prouder for the players.”
Carlson, who will continue
his water polo career at Mckendree
University in Glen Ellyn,
agreed.
“They have the numbers
and the speed and we have
six or seven guys that play
the whole game,” he said.
“But I waited four years to
get to this [sectional semifinal
game]. I’m proud of that
and of what our team accomplished.”