THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

Another week, another four day stint. Highland Park was charted twice: Monday with Central and Wednesday with Kennedy. Both Central and Kennedy had yet to be charted. Tuesday I was at Math & Science with their match with Park Center (more on M&S below) and then wrapped up the week with the #1 v #2 showdown with Harding and Johnson in team and singles won by the Governors on both counts.

With six additional teams checked off I have charted 19 of the 32 or 59.375%. There are now 13 teams left with five regular season weeks to go. I need to average 2.6 teams per week the rest of the way to hit 32.

We still have 31 of the 32 teams out playing. Fridley awaits and they join the fray on Tuesday at Park Center.

HISTORY & MATH (& SCIENCE) LESSONS

History was made this last week. No charter school had beaten a St. Paul City Conference school—ever. The charter schools started their badminton programs slowly with Hmong College Prep Academy the first joining the badminton world during the 2009 season. In the 17 years in between the charters never had a victory over St. Paul. The closest call came on April 15, 2014 when Como Park beat HCPA 4-3. Now Math & Science can claim the first Charter school win over a SPPS team. It was the same 4-3 score and again involved Como Park. The game was at the home of the Cougars on Monday, and Como has a reputation for being a site that opposing teams do not like to venture to because of the narrow space along the walls for the backline. Both Como and Math & Science were leaders in their respective conferences last year and both are under new leadership. M&S is coached by Jumy Miko who played at Harding (finishing second in the singles division in 2018 to Nou Chee Yang of Johnson) and she also coached the Knights for a few years.

That streak was 62 matches stretching back to 2009. Trinity of River Ridge did beat Humboldt on May 5, 2023 4-3, but….Trinity is a religious school, not a charter school. Trinity unfortunately ended their badminton program the next year when their coach retired.

To give you an idea of the St. Paul dominance in this sport the team title has been won by a Capitol City member 21 of the 29 years in the current format. That is a 72.4% clip. Johnson (12 times) and Harding (8) have won the lion’s share (Central was the other SPPS champ). The same holds true for singles and doubles titles. On the singles side of the court SPPS have won 75.9% while doubles are 72.4%. Looking at the “Elite Eight” in the past few tournaments St. Paul schools have ranged from seven entries to six in singles and six to four in doubles. Minneapolis and charter schools have not had an entry into the elite eight during this window. Minneapolis last won titles in singles in 2005 and in doubles 1999. But the drought has been severe of late. The only charter school player to make the elite eight was Pa Zao Yang from Hmong College Prep Academy in 2014. Suburban schools’ last title in singles has been a while too. Chusang Nhasang of Kennedy won the 2017 state singles title with a 15-0 mark, also the last time a singles player finished the season undefeated.

MORE FUN WITH NUMBERS

Here is a look at how teams that have played opponents across the spectrum instead of staying in their conference silo (so far). This is the margin gap.

SCHOOL	S/ D	ST. PAUL	MPLS	SUBURBAN	CHARTER	IMPRV
Edina	D	7.47		14.67		7.2
Highland Park	D	4.28		7.28		3.0
Math & Science	D	3.15	6.33	9.06	14.67	5.91
Como Park	D	-0.52		-3.94	-2.94	-3.42
Como Park	S	4.45		0.25	7.50	-4.20
Edina	S	3.10		10.02		6.92
Highland Park	S	-3.45		3.76		7.21
Math & Science	S	-4.47	0.75	6.44	11.00	10.91

What can we learn from this? The competition level in St. Paul is high with lower numbers for all with one exception—Como Park. But that sample is small with only one Suburban match against Edina. But the swings are dramatic. HP has an improvement of 7.21 in singles moving from St. Paul to the Suburbs. M&S is even bigger in singles with 10.91 improvement.

SNAKEBIT

Burnsville only has one game under their belt. Three times they had matches scheduled but were unable to play due to circumstances beyond their control. First Roosevelt did not have the contract signed sidelining (temporarily) that match. Then Minneapolis North had a bus breakdown forcing another postponement. The latest issue came on Thursday when the Bloomington schools called school off due to the impending winter storm, that turned out to be less than advertised. The Blaze are supposed to play three times this week (fingers crossed) including one match with Roosevelt.

ON THE HORIZON—-COON RAPIDS? MAYBE MORE? ANOTHER HISTORY LESSON

Coon Rapids has started an inhouse club badminton program. This may be a step to join the badminton party in the future. This would give the Northwest Suburban Conference a second program and would be a gateway to the five school Anoka-Hennepin district. That could deliver even more Anoka County schools.

Other spots that should be and could be ripe for new programs would be Maple Grove (the intersection of the Lake Conference and the Osseo district —Park Center’s home); Roseville; Woodbury, Park-Cottage Grove; Hopkins, Cooper, Richfield, and Shakopee.

Did you know that in the beginning of the girl’s sports era in the 1970s more areas had some badminton teams. Duluth had four teams: Denfeld; East (both of which still exist as schools) and Central and Cathedral (which are no longer in business). The Denfeld Hunters won the city tournament there in April 1976. Prior to the start of the girl’s interscholastic era individuals from White Bear Lake competed in the April 1972 State Badminton tournament at Augsburg. The then Valley Conference held a badminton tournament in March 1974 with Orono, St. Anthony, Chaska, Shakopee and Golden Valley. GV is now part of the Hopkins district.

Even boys played on Minneapolis teams in the late 1970s.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Edina has the longest winning streak going now at 48 after two wins last week over Humboldt and Park Center, both 7-0 sweeps. They now have the second longest win streak. Still they trail Johnson’s 75 mark from 2016-2019. The Governors also own the longest win streak with 75 wins from 2016 to 2019. Humboldt on Monday at home will have the first crack at trying to stop that streak. The Hornets would move to 48 wins with that win and on April first with Park Center paying a visit. They will need 27 more wins to match that mark. That won’t happen this year. The Hornets will be facing stiff competition with #1 Johnson and #2 Harding in April.

Highlights on the schedule this week Edina seeing undefeated Burnsville and Eden Prairie on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unbeaten Washburn travels to Roosevelt, who is undefeated in Minneapolis on Friday.

Rolling spring break takes St. Paul off the schedule this week. After that all the spring breaks should be over.

UNDEFEATED

We lost one team (then #1 Harding fell to #3 Johnson); we lost one singles (#1 Gao Zhia Vue of Harding fell to #2 Amanda Her of Johnson); we lost one second singles (Amelia Her of Johnson lost to Paige Xiong of Harding). The landscape should see more teams and individuals fall this week as unbeatens face each other in Suburban battles.

TEAMS: 4 Washburn, Edina, Eden Prairie, and Burnsville

1^st SINGLES: 3 (minimum 2 matches): Isabel Chen, Minnetonka; Jenny Lee, Commuity of Peace; Sophia Mitchell, Roosevelt

2^nd SINGLES: 5 (minimum 2 matches): Tsuki Solheid, Como Park; Saisha Peram, Eden Prairie, Chelsey, Community of Peace; Mollie Anderson, Roosevelt; Sam, Washburn

1^ST DOUBLES: (minimum 2 matches) 3: Daisy Hennington-Hoff / Ella Burke, Edina; Abigeya Akalewold / Ella Fremstad, Roosevelt; Savana / Ximena, Washburn

2^ND DOUBLES: (minimum 2 matches) 5: Joshnasaree Jeevarathinam / Inaya Khirid, Eden Prairie; Caitlin Ashton / Reese, Edina; Kelly Yang / Lydia Vang, Harding; Aadhya Patel / Mihira Kanukurthy, Math & Science, Madi / Vivian, Tartan

STANDINGS

SAINT PAUL

SCHOOL	CW	CL	TW	TL	SW	SL	DW	DL
Harding	6	1	6	1	19	9	19	2
Johnson	6	1	6	1	18	10	15	6
Como Park	4	3	4	5	24	12	7	20
Humboldt	3	4	4	5	22	14	8	19
Central	2	5	4	5	15	21	9	18
Highland Park	2	4	4	5	13	23	20	7
Washington	1	6	2	6	10	22	7	17

MINNEAPOLIS

SCHOOL	CW	CL	TW	TL	SW	SL	DW	DL
Washburn	2	0	2	0	6	2	4	2
Camden	2	0	4	1	10	10	12	3
Roosevelt	2	0	3	1	14	2	9	3
South	1	1	1	1	3	5	4	2
Edison	1	2	1	2	5	7	3	6
North	0	2	0	3	3	9	2	7
Southwest	0	3	0	3	3	9	0	9

SUBURBAN

SCHOOL	CW	CL	TW	TL	SW	SL	DW	DL
Edina	2	0	4	0	14	2	11	1
Eden Prairie	2	0	3	0	10	2	8	1
Burnsville	1	0	1	0	3	1	1	2
North St. Paul	1	0	2	2	8	8	7	5
Tartan	1	0	1	1	1	7	5	1
Park Center	0	1	1	4	5	15	3	12
Minnetonka	0	1	1	2	8	4	4	5
Wayzata	0	2	1	2	2	10	2	7
Kennedy	0	3	0	4	4	12	2	10
Fridley

CHARTERS/PRIVATES

SCHOOL	CW	CL	TW	TL	SW	SL	DW	DL
Math & Science	1	0	5	2	15	13	18	3
Eagle Ridge	1	0	1	1	4	4	3	3
Community of Peace	3	1	3	1	14	2	7	5
Hmong CPA	2	2	2	3	12	8	7	8
Prairie Seeds	2	2	2	2	7	9	5	7
Twin City Academy	0	1	0	1	0	4	2	1
Com. School of Excellence	0	2	0	2	0	8	0	6
Hiawatha	0	2	0	2	0	8	0	6

CW conference wins; CL conference losses
TW total wins; TL total losses
SW singles wins; SL singles losses
DW doubles wins; DL doubles losses

TEAM SINGLES WINS

1. Como Park 24
2. Humboldt 22
3. Harding 19
4. Johnson 18
5. Math & Science 15
6. Central 15

TEAM DOUBLES WINS

1. Highland Park 20
2. Harding 19
3. Math & Science 18
4. Johnson 15
5. Camden 12

RANKINGS

The first changes of the year at the top for team and singles.

TEAM

1. Edina 4-0
2. Johnson 6-1
3. Harding 6-1
4. Eden Prairie 3-0
5. Highland Park 4-5
6. Como Park 4-5
7. Math & Science 5-2
8. Humboldt 4-5
9. Central 4-5
10. Washington 2-6
11. North St. Paul 2-2
12. Roosevelt 3-1
13. Burnsville 1-0
14. Tartan 1-1
15. Wayzata 1-2
16. Camden 4-1
17. Minnetonka 1-2
18. Community of Peace 3-1
19. Park Center 1-4
20. Kennedy 0-4
21. Washburn 2-0
22. Hmong CPA 2-3
23. Edison 1-2
24. Prairie Seeds 2-2
25. South 1-1
26. Southwest 0-3
27. Mpls North 0-3
28. Eagle Ridge 1-1
29. Hiawatha 0-2
30. Twin City Academy 0-1
31. Community School of Excellence 0-1

Fridley will join the party on Tuesday when they travel to Park Center. Then the Tigers will be ranked next week.

INDIVIDUALS

Changes at the top in Singles. Also we are up to 15 places in singles; 14 in doubles. We should have 16 by next poll.

SINGLES

1. Amanda Her, Johnson 6-1
2. Gao Zhia Vue, Harding 6-1
3. Niko Solheid, Como Park 7-2
4. Tsuki Solheid, Como Park2 9-0
5. Nica Johnson, Highland Park 5-4
6. Isabel Chen, Minnetonka 3-0
7. Vivian Nguyen, Eden Prairie 2-1
8. Evelyn Ge, Edina 2-1
9. Jenny Lee, Community of Peace 4-0
10. Sophia Mitchell, Roosevelt 4-0
11. Kpru Paw, Humboldt 3-5
12. Rose Braun, Central 3-4
13. Paige Xiong, Harding2 5-2
14. Amelia Her, Johnson2 4-2
15. Aarushi Bhatnagar, Edina2 3-1

DOUBLES

1. Daisy Hennington-Hoff/ Ella Burke, Edina 4-0
2. Alice Verbrugge / Violet Solem Valentine, Highland Park 6-1
3. Cammie Yang / Aliya Vang, Johnson 4-2
4. Gray Mo / Cindy Yang, Harding 5-2
5. Asta Ket / Lana Yang, Como Park 3-6
6. Lwe Paw / Way Ber Paw, Humboldt 5-3
7. Abigeya Akalewold / Ella Fremstad, Roosevelt 4-0
8. Sanjana Tatikonda / Sathvika Tatikonda, Math & Science 6-1
9. Caitlin / Angela, Edina2 4-0
10. Kelly Yang / Lydia Vang, Harding2 7-0
11. Alexa Bernardy / Ashtyn Bernardy, Eden Prairie 2-1
12. Abby Putz / Julia Yang, Highland2 7-2
13. Marina Chang / Cathy Hang, Central 2-7
14. Joshnasaree Jeevarathinam / Inaya Khirid, Eden Prairie2