Dan Falloon
Three Muskie badminton players have reason to strut on the way to Stratford next week.
Rory Bagacki captured the senior boys’ singles title at the NWOSSAA championships in Atikokan on Monday, and the senior girls’ doubles team of Kimika Alexander and Chelsea Carlson earned a first-place showing in their division, meaning all three will be heading to the all-Ontarios for the second-straight year.
Bagacki swept all five of his matches in Atikokan, defeating Thomas Aquinas 2-0 (21-15 and 21-14), Manitouwadge 2-1 (12-21, 21-19, and 21-17), Marathon 2-0 (21-5 and 21-11), St. Ignatius 2-0 (21-19 and 21-12), and Hammarskjold 2-0 (21-13 and 21-12).
Alexander and Carlson won all five of their matches, too, defeating Fort High’s second team of Hannah Taylor and Jillian Berry 2-1 (16-21, 21-18, and 21-7), Manitouwadge 2-0 (21-18 and 21-10), Lake Superior 2-0 (21-10 and 21-8), Hammarskjold 2-0 (21-8 and 21-8), and Churchill 2-0 (21-5 and 21-9).
Alexander said she and Carlson were able to overcome a disadvantage in their first match. They arrived for it just in the nick of time, although they weren’t afforded much time to get ready.
“The bus arrived right before our game started. We were getting called, so we didn’t have much time to prepare,” recalled Alexander.
“We started out a little bit rough, but we picked up soon after that.
“We came out really great, and figured out a lot of good ways to work and change up our shots,” she added.
Alexander and Carlson both felt their stiffest challenge came from the Manitouwadge duo, but Alexander added they never gave in as they have a history of making things work.
“I was pretty confident that we would win because, knowing me and Chelsea, we always pull things together at the last minute,” she remarked.
“Even though we start off rough, we always stay positive throughout the game. We always think we’re going to be able to do it.”
Carlson felt Manitouwadge was the more experienced team, but noted she and Alexander tried to ensure their opponents weren’t able to get too comfortable.
“We were just trying hard to mix up our game, we were trying hard to break habits and keep them guessing,” she recalled.
“Teams with that much experience tend to analyze weaker teams and pick out all of [their] weak points, and we tried not to let them have that chance.”
Bagacki agreed his match against Manitouwadge was his toughest, but he also was able to eke out the victory.
“Somehow I pulled it off, luckily,” he said. “They play year-round, so he was just more experienced.”
Now, the trio will set their sights on Stratford, where they hope to make an impression at the all-Ontarios.
The Fort High contingent finished out of the medals last year, with Simone Desjardins still the only Muskie badminton player to bring home hardware from the all-Ontarios—taking the ‘C’ bronze medal back in 2002.
Alexander felt earning the OFSAA berth wasn’t too much of an upset, but making an impression against some stronger players from southern Ontario would be.
“I can’t say that I’m not surprised that I made it because I was very confident,” she shrugged. “We did make it before, and I had a good idea of what it was going to be like.
“We’ve trained really hard to come back harder this year, and we’ve planned to do even better than last year.”
Alexander said she learned a lot about competing at the provincial level last year as a Grade 9 student, and knows there are going to be a number of quality teams prepared to make the locals run.
“There’s going to be a lot of hard teams because we’re going to be playing a lot of teams from Toronto, who get professional training and everything,” she remarked.
“From squash, I know that kids even younger than me started getting personal coaches and everything.”
Carlson, a Grade 11 student, has tempered her expectations before this year’s all-Ontarios after she found out about the high level of talent possessed by teams across the province.
“We’re not going to expect to win against Toronto,” she admitted. “The whole Toronto area is amazing.
“We’re not expecting to come home with a medal, but it’s just the experience of it.”
Carlson made it clear to not mistake her toned-down expectations for a lack of confidence, however, as she expects to lose the stage fright that hindered her performance last year.
“I don’t think we’re going to be as nervous for this one,” she remarked. “Last year was our first OFSAA, so I think the nerves will be down a little.”
Alexander also has noticed a strengthened resolve in Carlson, and expects that last year’s experience will help drive her this time around.
“Chelsea, last year, she let the nerves get to her a little bit because she didn’t have the tournament experience,” Alexander recalled.
“I’ve been going to tournaments for a long time.
“I think this time she’s going to pull together.”
Alexander also noted the pair has seen better competition in recent times, and that Carlson has risen to the challenge.
“It’s definitely going to be better this year because she’s a lot more confident in tournaments, and we’ve done a lot more tournaments together since then,” she reasoned.
As well, both players commented their on-court communication has improved over the past year, making for more efficient game play.
“We’ve improved our communication a lot lately,” Alexander said. “Chelsea was talking to me about that during the game.
“Before, we would run for the same shot and then not go for a shot. We’d kind of get confused, but now we call it out loud.”
“We’ve played together enough where we know where we need to be to cover the other person’s weaknesses,” echoed Carlson.
We’re very good at communicating,”
Bagacki, meanwhile, was part of a tandem with Tim Desjardins at OFSAA last year but is flying solo this time around. He was proud to have broken through to the provincials in the singles side after competing in doubles.
“I’m really excited to go [to OFSAA], it should be a lot of fun,” he enthused.
“It’s pretty nice just to make it from the singles side.”
Bagacki had played singles up until he was teamed up with Desjardins last year. And while there is a difference in approach, he has slid back into the singles routine fairly seamlessly.
“It’s a pretty tough one, seeing as you’re the only person covering the court, so that’s tough to get used to,” he admitted.
“I’ve played singles before and it was just last year that I played doubles, so I’m just back to normal, I guess.”
As for the other Fort High results in Atikokan, Taylor and Berry ended up finishing third in their division, as did the senior boys’ pairing of Robert Stevens and Spencer Pearse.
Taylor and Berry won three matches, downing Lake Superior 2-0 (23-21 and 21-19), Hammarskjold 2-0 (21-11 and 21-13) and Churchill 2-0 (21-8 and 21-13).
But they fell to Manitouwadge 2-1 (5-21, 21-15, and 21-18) in addition to their loss to Alexander and Carlson.
Stevens and Pearse won two games at NWOSSAA, defeating Beaver Brae 2-1 (23-21, 13-21, and 21-19) and St. Ignatius 2-1 (21-16, 13-21, and 21-12).
Their losses came at the hands of a pair of teams from Manitouwadge, falling 2-0 (21-11 and 21-17) and 2-0 (21-11 and 24-22), as well as to Superior 2-0 (22-20 and 21-17).
As for the Muskie juniors, the boys’ team of Andre Emond and Bryson Skirten came second while Cassandra Spade was third.
Emond and Skirten finished at 4-1, defeating Dryden 2-1 (21-17, 16-21, and 21-10), Manitouwadge #2 2-0 (21-16 and 21-9), St. Ignatius #1 2-0 (21-18 and 21-12), and St. Ignatius #2 2-0 (21-17 and 21-18).
Their lone loss came against Manitouwadge #1 2-0 (21-11 and 21-16).
Spade, meanwhile, finished at 3-2, getting past Dryden 2-0 (21-17 and 22-20), Westgate 2-0 (21-18 and 21-11) and Churchill 2-1 (19-21, 21-15 and 21-9).
Her losses came at the hands of Lake Superior 2-1 (17-21, 21-12, and 21-14) and Marathon 2-0 (21-17 and 21-13).
