Even though the season was brief, this year’s R.D. Parker Collegiate badminton program was in no short supply of quality talent.
This is why Murphy Krentz (Grade 10), David King (Grade 11), and Alyssa Campbell (Grade 12) are RDPC’s top athletes for May 2017.
According to head coach Blair Fortune, these three were chosen because of their performance at provincials, where they all ended up cracking the top 10.
Fortune said this is especially impressive for a pair like King and Murphy, who excelled as a team in doubles action despite the fact that this is their first year competing in senior badminton.
“They still have another year together and Murphy still has two more years in high school badminton,” he said. “So they’re really ahead of the curve. I think that’s one of the main reasons for picking them.”
The pair identifies their unique team chemistry as the factor that helped them cruise into a second place finish in zones and a 10th place finish in provincials.
“They have something I couldn’t duplicate with any other group,” said Fortune. “They’re on the same wavelength. I think the fact they have so much fun out there really relaxes the two of them and they know each other really well.”
In contrast to the young team of Krentz and King, Campbell’s second-place finish in zones and sixth-place finish at provincials as a singles competitor is emblematic of her years of hard work as a veteran in this program.
“She’s been a leader on the team for a couple years. One of our best players that’s come through in a long time,” said Fortune. “She’s put in years in all of our athletics and it’s good to see it really start to pay off with an individual event.”
While Campbell is unsure if she wants to pursue athletics once she graduates, Krentz and King will continue to compete in sports like badminton, basketball and volleyball throughout their tenure at RDPC.
