By Sarah Sanchez

    Being light on their feet and swift with their hands, the Sunnyslope High School badminton team claimed the state title for the 2009-10 school year.

    “It was breathtaking,” senior Gina Minichiello said. “When we walked off the court, the whole team was so happy and jumping around because we were so excited that all that hard work had paid off.”

    The team doubles, juniors Jasmine Fuller and Renata Arronte, had beaten Greenway’s team. Greenway had won the previous Wednesday against Sunnyslope, but the team did not let it bring them down. In fact, it motivated them to do even better.

    “We always tried our hardest every game, and we had a 12-2 record and we didn’t even lose games until state week,” Minichiello said.

    Fuller won state individuals as well. “It was awesome that we won because it really showed that hard work paid off,” Fuller said.

    Coach Sarah Schlesinger was a member of the badminton team while she was a student at Sunnylsope and played a role in Sunnyslope garnering its first badminton State Champions title in 1993.

    “I am very proud of the girls accomplishments and they worked very hard even against some non-competitive teams and always gave their best,” Schlesinger said.

Editor’s note: Sarah Sanchez is a journalism student at Sunnyslope High School.