Stevenson quietly celebrates title

Stevenson’s badminton team returned home Saturday from Charleston silently satisfied.

One might expect a raucous bus ride back to Lincolnshire after the program’s first trophy was a state championship it shared with Naperville North at the state badminton tournament at Eastern Illinois University. One filled with celebrating and shouting, right?

“They’re all excited but they’re exhausted,” said Stevenson coach Mike Fitzgerald. “It’s one of our quietest rides home.”

And their best in a season filled with happy rides after the Patriots won all 19 dual meets and every tournament. Senior Wan Wan Liu finished second at singles to lead the way as they tied Naperville North with 13.5 points and Fremd was third with 12.5.

“I’m just really, really happy and it’s a dream come true,” said Liu, who lost 21-14, 21-16 to Ellen Lin of Naperville North for the title. “Downstate everybody played their best and I’m proud of all the players. It was a very meaningful experience for us.”

Fitzgerald, who has been coaching the Patriots for more than 20 years, said they followed the team-oriented script of defending champion Sandburg, which also did not have a singles or doubles champion. The doubles team of juniors Emily Cai and Yein Lee advanced to the consolation-bracket semifinals, senior Taylor Seplowin reached the fifth round of the consolation bracket and seniors Shree Dash and Carrie Moy went 2-2 on Friday to pick up 1½ points.

“It actually feels amazing,” said Seplowin, who lost to Palatine senior and four-time medalist Maggie Van Grondelle. “It’s something we’ve thought about as a team for three years now and for the seniors this was our ultimate goal. We did it and we’re all really proud of each other right now.”

Liu, who was hampered last year by an injured bicep, advanced to the singles final with two-set wins over York’s Torrie Graham and Andrew’s Renee Olson.

“I felt pretty good but Ellen (Lin) played really, really well,” Liu said after becoming Stevenson’s highest medal-winner since Mina Kuniwake won the 1999 singles title.

“The (quarterfinal) match against Graham was a huge match right off the bat,” Fitzgerald said. “Wan Wan really played well. Those 2 points really shot us in the right direction and that sets the tone for the day.”

Cai and Lee overcame ankle troubles and a quarterfinal loss to top seed and eventual champions Brittany DeClouette and Emma Adcock of Hinsdale South to pick up a crucial half-point with a 19-21, 21-17, 21-9 consolation-bracket win over Buffalo Grove’s Kelsey Henrikson and Jenny Krewer.

“They really played courageously,” Fitzgerald said.

Although Stevenson lost a coin flip to take the title trophy home, they got to pose for pictures with the ultimate piece of hardware in Charleston and the players and coaches came home with the first-place medals. And the trophy should be arriving in Lincolnshire very soon.

“Every time this team put it on the line they’ve been able to take first place,” Fitzgerald said.

“This was something we all knew we could do and we had the capability of doing,” Seplowin said. “It came down to pushing each other.”

To the point of exhilarating exhaustion.