Sports This Week: Royals badminton players win medals as playoffs near
By David McIver
Badminton
Senior badminton players at Rosetown Central High School won medals at two recent tournaments.
Rayna James and Ella Kadler won bronze medals in girls doubles at a tournament in Wilkie on March 27, coach Gary Paproski said.
Hailey Burton won the gold medal in girls singles at a tournament in Swift Current on March 28. Also there, Rayna James and Jacob Weber won silver medals in mixed doubles, Griffin White won a bronze medal in boys singles, and Justice Zacharias and Klaas Woudwijk placed fourth in boys doubles.
The next event for senior players will be sectional playoffs at the high school here on Wednesday, April 15, with North West Central and Biggar school players also taking part.
The senior Royals have their home tournament on Saturday, April 18.
District playoffs are to be held in Kindersley on the following Thursday, April 23, Paproski said.
In junior badminton, Rosetown Central High will host inter-sectional playoffs on April 14 and sectional playoffs on April 16, junior Royals head coach Amy Flynn said.
Junior district playoffs will be held in Biggar on April 21, she said.
Dinsmore Composite junior badminton players did well at sub-sectional playoffs in Elrose on March 30.
Those who finished first or second qualify for sectional playoffs in Elrose on April 14, school athletics director Lance Morrison said.
Lucas Bencharski won boys singles and Andrew Gauthier placed third.
Ali Morrison won girls singles and Aubrey James finished third in that category.
Two teams competed in boys doubles. Wyatt Tully and Kratos Gervais reached the semifinal. Alex Keeler and Layne Keeler placed third in their pool after some hard-fought matches.
Adele Sol and Jeht Flath won girls doubles. Abby Villamor and Mayah Heidt finished second.
Payton Noonan and Archer McBain placed second in mixed doubles, Morrison stated.
Club volleyball
The West Central Wind 16-and-under volleyball team hosted a five-team 15-and-16-and-under female volleyball tournament at Rosetown Central High School on March 28.
The 15-and-under Unity Wildcats defeated the Sundogs Selects 15-and-under team in the final 22-25, 25-17 and 15-6.
The Wildcats placed first in the round robin with a 7-1 set record. The Sundogs finished at 6-2 for second. The Wind went 3-5 for third, followed by the 15-and-under Meadow Lake Heat at 2-6 for fourth and the Kindersley-based 15-and-under West Central Panthers at 2-6 for fifth. The Heat just edged them in points in round-robin sets, 21-25, 25-20.
Wrestling
Elrose Wrestling Club members did well at under-15 and up Saskatchewan Wrestling club championships in Prince Albert on March 29.
Lena Ellingson won a silver medal in the under-15 age group.
In the under-17 group, Payton Allin and Naim Robertson both won gold medals, Easton Stan placed fifth and Wade Halliday sixth.
In the under-19 age group, Neda Robertson and Reese Allin both won gold medals.
Bowling
This week is the last full week of league bowling. The leagues are done on April 13 and the Tournament of Champions will be held on April 15.
Pool
A season-end pool tournament is set for April 12 at the local alley.
Catching up
A lot of local and area players played on the Lakeland College Rustlers women’s hockey team, which in March defended its conference championship.
These include Calla Kampen of Fiske, former Rosetown resident Paris Appel of Swift Current, Ella Wingert of Rosetown and Amiyah Jones of Dinsmore.
Claudia Lammers of Outlook scored the series-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over the Red Deer College Queens.
Relating to this was another teammate and former resident, goalie Paige Fischer, who has had to sit much of the recent games out due to surgery on both hips because of bone growth. Due to a 2025 transfer from the University of Manitoba, she is going into her third year of nursing at Lakeland.
Former Royal wrestler Frankie Gawryluik, now living in Swift Current, coached the South West district wrestling team at the recent Saskatchewan Winter Games. She works as a distance co-ordinator for the South West School Division.
Allie Gawryluik, Frankie’s younger sister, is finishing her third year in the College of Commerce at the University of Saskatchewan, their father, Clark Gawryluik of Rosetown, said recently.