Fremd wins 5th straight MSL title
Two juniors named Maggie had their moments of glory Saturday in the Mid-Suburban League badminton championships at Schaumburg.
In the featured No. 1 singles, match, Palatine’s Maggie Van Grondelle took an intense three-set battle and avenged an earlier loss to Fremd freshman Angela Wu.
Maggie Swofford may have received less fanfare but her No. 10 singles title in three sets highlighted why Fremd claimed its fifth straight MSL crown and sixth under coach Bob Hanson as it edged Buffalo Grove 63-59.
“He definitely emphasizes that,” Swofford said of everyone’s importance toward team success. “He told us that a bunch of times this past week.”
Fremd’s other singles titles came from No. 6 Mayu Sugikawa, No. 7 Ji Young Seo and No. 8 Rina Seo. And its Friday night doubles titles were from No. 3 Shannon Fitzgerald and Sugikawa, the Seos at No. 4 and Swofford and Janet Sanoica at No. 5.
Fitzgerald is the only senior in Fremd’s lineup. Only Annie Huang, who lost in three sets to BG’s Nell Boyd for the No. 2 title, played in Charleston in last year’s third-place state finish.
“It feels so good and it’s totally rewarding,” Swofford said.
“It was scary because BG gave us everything we could handle today,” Hanson said. “It took a total team effort to pull this one off. To come back that strong when people were calling it a rebuilding year, the girls didn’t want to accept that.”
Van Grondelle also prepared to rebound from a 22-20, 22-20 regular-season loss to Wu. Van Grondelle watched video of the loss numerous times and also put together a detailed scouting report.
It all paid off in a 21-14, 15-21, 21-11 victory where she was lifted off her feet afterward by her dad and BG coach Chris Van Grondelle.
“That was so intense,” said Maggie Van Grondelle, who took third at No. 1 doubles with Tomoyo Tsurumi. “I can’t even believe it. It hasn’t hit me yet.”
Wu took the second set by scoring 10 of the last 11 points but Van Grondelle overcame a 5-3 deficit in the final set.
“Definitely,” Van Grondelle said of being worried after Wu’s second-set comeback. “I knew I had to stick with the game plan and what I was doing and not let her get ahead like she did before.”
Boyd remained unbeaten at No. 2 with a 20-22, 21-11, 21-13 win over Huang.
“She’s a really good player and I knew going in I had to try my best to move her around,” Boyd said. “When I lost the first game, I said ‘I’m still totally in this and can do this. I really focused and executed against her.”
BG also got singles titles from Kelsey Hendrikson at No. 4, Jenny Krewer in three sets at No. 5 and Emily Michelsen at No. 9.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Chris Van Grondelle said. “We got so many key wins out of the deal. The kids played hard and played smart.”
Senior Sydney Slager highlighted fourth-place Barrington’s resurgence by taking the No. 3 title 21-13, 21-14 over Schaumburg’s Roshni Patel.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Slager said. “After my sister (Alyssa) and I got second (at No. 4 doubles), I thought maybe I could do it.”
Third-place Prospect’s 44.5 points were 2.5 more than Barrington. Kara Kendall finished second for the Knights at No. 10.