Joey Payeur
One went all the way to OFSAA last year; the other hasn’t played competitively in four years.
Aaron Bujold and Jacob Jack are the Muskie badminton version of “The Odd Couple,” but they will gladly go together to Atikokan today as the lone black-and-gold players to advance to the NorWOSSA final following the conference qualifier last Wednesday in Sioux Lookout.
Bujold, the defending NorWOSSA senior boys’ singles champ and NWOSSAA silver-medalist while only being in Grade 10, finished tied with Atikokan’s Grant Legaree for first place with identical 5-0 records at the qualifier.
“I didn’t have really any tough games,” Bujold admitted.
“I played good but I played to the level of my opponents.
“There’s better badminton in me to be shown,” he pledged.
Muskie coach Brian Church wasn’t nearly as critical of his team leader.
“Aaron played his normal fluid and seemingly effortless way to a first-place finish,” he lauded.
“Many spectators and coaches alike were in awe of his talented play.”
Jack, in his “victory lap” year at Fort High, hadn’t picked up a racket for the Muskies since he was in Grade 9.
But he looked quite in his element in Sioux Lookout last Wednesday, going 3-1 in pool play and then 1-1 in the playoffs to finish third overall—despite knowing he also didn’t bring his A-game the entire day.
“I wanted to try out badminton this year since it was my last year here and I’m trying to play a ton of sports,” Jack noted.
“I wasn’t that happy with how I played [at the qualifier],” he admitted.
“I kind of slacked off for a bit but I picked it up by the end of the day.”
Jack’s only loss was to
Legaree—a match he felt he could have won.
“I could have played better, but to be honest it was really hot in that gym,” he recalled.
Bujold said he and Jack have to be prepared for a tougher test at the NorWOSSA final if they’re going to be in the top two in the division and advance to the NWOSSAA championships next Wednesday (April 20) in Dryden.
“We have to be ready for much harder games and we can’t think that we’re better than anybody ahead of time,” Bujold stressed.
“I’m going to try my best and play smart, and pick up from what happened last week and see if I can do better,” echoed Jack.
Seven other Muskie individuals or teams finished fourth in Sioux Lookout—coming agonizingly close to making it into the top three overall, which would have booked their berths to Atikokan.
Andrea Schram (junior girls’ singles) was in a three-way tie for second in her pool at 2-1.
She then went 2-0 against Atikokan and Ignace opponents in her first playoff round, but then 0-2 in her last playoff round against the top two finishers in the other pool to wind up just shy of qualifying.
So, too, did the junior boys’ doubles team of Dakota Jernberga and Chad Westover, who went 2-1 in their pool to place second but then 0-2 in the playoffs.
The junior girls’ doubles pairing of Janissa Judson and Sam Berg landed in a three-way tie for third after pool play with a 3-3 record.
After beating their Dryden opponents in the first playoff game, then watching that pair down another Eagles’ team, a rematch was needed between the Muskie and Eagle duos.
This time, it was the Dryden combination pulling out a 21-17 win to snatch third place from Judson and Berg.
The junior mixed doubles tandem of Mykenzie Borger and Hunter Brown was second in their pool but also fell in the playoffs.
Janelle Ball gave it her best shot in senior girls’ singles but finished at 0-4 to just miss the top three.
Those not moving out of the round-robin included Katelynn Jack (junior girls’ singles), Caity Visser and Marissa Loveday (senior girls’ double), Jonah McCormick and Shaye McCormick (senior boys’ doubles)) and Sam Westover and Shayton Ottertail (junior mixed doubles).
Callum Galusha (junior boys’ singles) and Mikaelah Yerxa and Jasmine Jourdain (junior girls’ doubles) also failed to advance.
