THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008
Girls Seek Medals At State Finals
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Sports
Can the Mid-Suburban League continue its tradition of success at the state badminton finals again this year?
Will Ashley Lepcin of Wheeling realize her dream of a state medal in singles?
How about Hersey, Prospect, and Glenbrook South, which qualified a total of 15 players to state, none of whom is considered a strong candidate for a medal?
These are the questions this weekend as 128 state qualifiers in singles and doubles start batting the birdies around in quest of a state title.
The first three rounds of the state finals were held at Eastern Illinois University yesterday (Thursday), and the final two rounds will take place today (Friday) and Saturday.
Top seeds this year are Karishma Kollipara, a Hinsdale Central senior, in singles, and Deepa Ramadurai and Anjylla Foster of Hinsdale South in doubles.
The Mid-Suburban League shined in this event last year when Lindsey Gibbel of Prospect won the state singles championship. Three MSL players are seeded in the state's top 16 this year - Jenna Langhorst and Erica Lee of Fremd are seeded 2nd and 7th, respectively, while Wheeling's Lepcin is seeded 12..
All three will be looking for a top-six finish and a state medal this weekend. Based on their sectional performances, all three are solid bets to take home some hardware.
Other singles entrants are Ada Krzywicka and Stephanie O'Connor of Prospect, Karolina Sabaliauskaite of Wheeling, Klara Schroederus of Glenbrook South, and Hailey Miller and Meagan Matias of Hersey. All of them had solid, but not spectacular seasons, and they have an uphill battle against the state field of 64
qualifiers.
Nine area doubles teams will represent the Journal area this year. They include Jillian Cabrera and Ashley Thomas and Katie Meyer and Stephanie Yang, of Hersey; Leslie Jacob and Kelli Takagi and Evelyn Chou and Alex Winans, of Glenbrook South; Shannen Chechang and Sakina Khan of Wheeling, Kinjal Patel and Ripple Patel of Elk Grove; Julie Provenza and Lindsay Miller of Prospect, Holly Anderson and Larissa Binkus of Conant, and Francesca Himelman and Melissa Heller of Rolling Meadows.