One more point and the match would be finished.  Senior night would be successful and the season would near its end on a good note.  These were the thoughts of senior Emily Kegan as she concluded her final match on April 23rd against the Institute of Notre Dame (IND). JC ended up blowing out IND, 7-0.

The badminton team gathered in the lower gym as usual, but this time it was to honor their senior athletes.  The seniors dominated as both single match players, Kegan and Amanda Weerasooriya, won their matches.  Kegan won 21-18 and 21-11.  Weerasooriya won 21-8 and 21-9.

Seniors Dana Grimmel and Amanda Graziano did not get to play their doubles match because their opponents did not show up.  Grimmel and Graziano won by forfeit.

“It will be hard to replace the seniors.  Replacing two single players will be difficult, but the players always improve every year,” head coach Tess Gauthier said.  Most badminton players do not have any background in the sport, so any and all students are welcome to try out for the team next year.

The team celebrated their senior night with cake and flowers provided by Gauthier.  “Senior night was good and I really felt like a part of the team.  As captain this year, I pushed the team to do their best and helped them work on things that were hard.  I hope they do well next year,” Kegan said.

Both Kegan and Grimmel have participated on badminton team for all four years at JC.  Weerasooriya has been a member since sophomore year, and Graziano was the newest edition last year.

“I loved badminton. It will surely be missed,” Kegan said.  Kegan hopes to start a badminton club at Notre Dame College, where she will be attending in the fall.

Megan Battaglia is a Multimedia Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.