Badminton comes in 8th at state
By Natalie Terchek

  Practice, teamwork and dedication really pay off in the long run. In fact, it is the main reason why New Trier’s varsity badminton team got the opportunity to go to the state tournament this year.
  This is a huge achievement compared to last year’s team, in which only two sets of doubles qualified for state, but were eliminated early in the competition.
  “It’s a step up from last year,” sophomore Lauren Stephenson said. “We went out there, played hard and had fun.”
  The team ended up placing eighth at state this year. This may seem like a mediocre result, but the competition was fierce, so this was enough to keep New Trier satisfied.
  “It’s a really [competitive] pool,” senior Alex Atkinson said. “There are some really good teams out there. I’m extremely proud of everyone that went down. Obviously, we wish we could have done better, but everyone did their best, and that’s what’s important.”
  “We would have liked to win more games, but we gave it our all and played hard. It was a great experience,” Stephenson said.
  The team overall had a very successful season. “We had a very good record,” Atkinson said. “We were expected to do well [at state], and we fulfilled that expectation. Our record is an accurate portrayal of how hard we work.”
  Atkinson said that part of the reason of their success is due to the addition of new players. It was the first year for senior Sophie Haglund, an exchange student, and it was very successful. She ended up being one of the six New Trier players that qualified for state this year.
  “She was a really good addition to the team,” Atkinson said.
  However, Haglund was not the only new addition this year. Including Atkinson and her, there were only four seniors on the team. The other seniors are Margie Rennolds and Katie Green. All of the other players are underclassmen.
  “We had some freshmen and sophomores on the team this year, and they did extremely well,” Atkinson said. “We had stronger younger players this year compared to previous years.”
  Stephenson, a sophomore, played on the varsity team for the first time this year, and was the only sophomore to advance to state.
  “It was definitely a surprise,” she said. “I didn’t know that Adrienne [Abrams, her doubles partner], would qualify. It was really exciting as a sophomore to go to state this year. It was a great experience.”
  As exciting as it may be, it is a little scary to be one of the youngest players at state this year. However, thanks to a supportive team, Stephenson says she felt more confident playing.
  “It was definitely nerve-wracking, but my teammates were really nice and supportive about it,” she said.
  The closeness of the badminton team could be another factor in the team’s success. In fact, the team members are having a difficult time dealing with the fact that the season is over.
  “It hasn’t hit me yet, but it’s going to hit me gradually,” Atkinson said. “It’s going to be extremely strange.”
  “I can’t believe the four seniors aren’t going to be there next year,” Stephenson said. “They were a huge asset to the team and so fun to be with.”
  However, the players will always have the memories of this season to look back on.
  “We had a really fun season,” Atkinson said. “We worked hard and practiced hard, but there were a lot of fun girls on the team.”
  “We’ve always been a tight-knit team,” Stephenson said. “As a team, we’ve really worked hard and improved a lot.”
  While the girls managed to have fun, it was still a lot of work to be successful.
  They had practice every day after school and on Saturday mornings (when there wasn’t a tournament). Practice consisted of running laps, doing hard-core drills and scrimmages.
  But all of this hard work really paid off at the end: “Our goal was to improve our individual skills and cohesiveness as a team, and we did it,” Stephenson said.