One More Trip To State For Joyce, Wildkits

After three decades of coaching and teaching physical education at Evanston Township High School, Karilyn Joyce is ready to retire.

And the Wildkit badminton team made sure Thursday that Joyce’s last hurrah will be special.

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ETHS qualified its entire squad for the Illinois High School Association state finals for the first time since 2015 after competition at the Maine South Sectional tournament and continued a streak of state qualifiers that dates back to when Joyce first joined the coaching staff in 1992.

The state badminton finals will be played May 15-16 at DeKalb High School.

Seniors Livi Sumi and Cassia Major captured the doubles championship to set the pace for the Kits, who wound up second in the overall team standings behind host Maine South. Joining the pair for the trip to State are the senior doubles team of Emma Beaudoin and Arli Nickell, plus singles players Sadie Conklin, a sophomore, and senior Anna Hanson. They all placed in the top four to earn automatic bids to State.

It’s the second straight trip for Conklin and Sumi/Major --- and the final trip for Joyce.

“I am so proud of that streak, and we wanted to keep it going,” Joyce said. “Our top six is a very tight group and they’ve worked so hard the past four years. And there’s been no drama with this group. They aren’t looking for excuses, they just come to practice every day and work hard.

“The fact that we’ve had someone (playing) at State from 1992 ‘til now is really unbelievable. It’s very difficult to get there and it’s even better now that we’ll have the full team there. For us to make it to Saturday (second day of competition in the double elimination format) will be tough. But any one of them can do it.”

On Thursday, Sumi and Major scored straight set victories against Sopheta Rabin/Josna Stephen of Maine East (21-9, 21-12) and Anushka Patel/Tia Novak of Elk Grove Village (21-15, 22-20) to advance to the finals.

They took down No. 1 seeded Selma McDonaugh and Brooke Henning of Maine South 21-13, 21-18 and will take an overall record of 21-12 into their first round matchup at State.

Nickell and Beaudoin bounced back from a loss to that same Maine South team (21-18, 21-13), toppling Maine East’s Ari Nguyen and Lauren Libu 21-17, 21-15 in the consolation bracket with a State bid on the line and then bowing to Maine South’s Zara Bahena/Jenna Elliott in a three set thriller by margins of 21-18, 18-21, 21-16 in the third place match.

Both Conklin and Hanson started slow in singles play and Joyce acknowledged that nerves might have played a role at the beginning of the competition.

“I thought Sadie played really well. And when Anna split in her first match, I thought a lot of it had to do with nerves,” said the ETHS coach. “Yes, it could have been better for both of them, but they just had to settle down. I’m OK with the way they played.”

The two Evanston players met in the third place match, with Conklin improving to 20-13 on the year after her 21-12, 21-12 triumph. Conklin and Hanson both lost to Maine South representatives in the semifinals, but Conklin whipped Catherine Makowiecki of Lake Forest 21-10, 21-8 in the consolation bracket and Hanson eliminated Neva Ginjo of Maine East 16-21, 21-11, 21-13 to punch a ticket to State.

Joyce’s ability, after years in the sport, to work the IHSA system resulted in the path taken by this year’s squad. The Wildkits were seeded 5^th as a team in the sectional tournament grouping --- right where they should be based on regular season results.

“You have to do your homework to make sure you get the right seeds,” she said. “Other teams didn’t have the strength of schedule we do and all the scores are right there on the computer now. But you still have to convince the other coaches where you should be, and what you deserve.”

Joyce’s love of the sport has come full circle. She was a two-time state qualifier for ETHS --- maiden name of Neuendank --- as a doubles and singles player, combining with Caroline Orr for a third place doubles finish in 1986.

Her blunt --- but honest --- coaching style almost brought about the end of that state qualifying streak last year when a half dozen seniors quit the program. But she worked diligently to help develop Conklin into a postseason threat, recognizing the talent of the first freshman to crack the starting lineup in memory.

“Sadie’s one of the few players we have who take (private) lessons. In the last 10 or 15 years now, kids have started playing year-round and we don’t have that here,” Joyce noted. “There are some kids (at other schools) who just play badminton and that’s not the philosophy I have. I’m all about playing ALL sports, because they all can help you as an athlete.

“At one point Sadie was telling me that she wanted to be a rower and I said go ahead and try it. She said really, it’s OK? I said it will help you develop your muscles. I’d never discourage a kid from playing another sport. This is high school sports, so come out and have fun, and as we have fun, then we’re going to win. I can get you there if you play hard and drill, drill, drill.

“I’ve been involved in badminton for 44 years (playing and coaching) and that’s a long time. I’m OK with walking away from it now. I need a break, and it’s time for somebody else to do it.”