Evanston seniors Maia Robinson and Anne Hruska punched tickets to the Illinois High School Association state badminton tournament Thursday.
Sophomore Monica Hill will come along for the ride to Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, too.
The Wildkit trio earned top 4 finishes in doubles and singles at the York Sectional, and secured automatic qualifying berths for next weekend’s IHSA finals. Coach Karilyn Joyce’s team placed third at the 6-team sectional with 10 points, behind host York (17.5) and Elk Grove Village (11).
Robinson and Hruska teamed up for a fourth place finish in doubles, winning three of their first four matches before bowing to York’s Bethany Wilms and Kirsten Drost by a 21-14, 21-15 margin in the final match.
In singles competition, Hill also posted a 3-2 won-loss record and clinched a trip to state with a revenge win over Julia Bautista of Elk Grove. Hill lost a 21-16, 21-18 decision to 2017 state qualifier Bautista in the first round Thursday, but scored a taut 23-21, 21-18 win in the rematch and knocked Bautista out of the running for another state trip.
Hill then bowed to Lauren Oda of Elk Grove 21-18, 21-15 in the third place match. Earlier, Oda had eliminated Evanston’s other singles representative, Princess Asonganyi, in the fifth round of the consolation bracket in a 21-13, 21-19 showdown.
Like Asonganyi, the other ETHS doubles team of Jillian Collins and Clara Lynk chalked up wins into the fifth round of the consolation bracket before bowing out.
Dennis Mahoney is sports information director for ETHS.
Go Kits!
Go Kits!