Being involved in a sport can be a challenge; however, through hard work and motivation from others, a team can weather all the highs and lows. The HEHS badminton team weathered all of the challenges and ended up with State qualifiers and a second place ranking at their IHSA Sectional at Stevenson High School.

The three state-qualifying players included the doubles team of Vishva Patel, senior, and Bhavya Muthu, sophomore, and singles player Alisa Hilaly, junior. The team also advanced as far as playing the quarterfinals qualifying match at the State competition, which broke a school record.

“Competing at the IHSA Badminton Championships was very eye-opening, with all of the best teams in the state gathered in one gym,” said Muthu. “It was a great learning experience, and winning games were more meaningful as our competition was equally talented.”

This season’s sectional team athletes included Doubles Team 1, Patel and Muthu, Doubles Team 2, Julie-Anne Rogers, junior, and Aria Van Wijk, senior, and singles players Hilaly and Michelle Lin, junior.

“Badminton has been the first actual sports team I’ve been in, and it has genuinely been amazing!! The people and the coaches are all so great and create an amazing community to be a part of,” said Mahek Syed, freshman.

At the end of the season, the girls in badminton felt the season was unforgettable and unified them as one.

“The relationships we had with everybody were the best and they were my second family. Going into the conference was nerve wracking … But at the conference, I won first place and it was one of the hardest games I played but in the end the season as a whole was a great and memorable experience,” said Hiba Ali, freshman.

Muthu said some favorite moments from this season included the challenging conference win against Conant and the Maine West tourney, where everyone on varsity placed first at their respective positions. She also looks forward to continuing this momentum next season.

“I look forward to building off our successes from this past season and having another great run at state,” said Muthu.