New Trier’s Georgiadis caps perfect year

New Trier badminton player Mari Georgiadis capped a brilliant senior season by cruising to the state singles championship Saturday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

The top-seeded Georgiadis (52-0) beat T.F. South senior Loran Pasko 21-15, 21-5 in the title match to complete a dominant campaign in which she did not lose a set. She is the second straight New Trier player to win state and fourth overall.

Sandburg, which had never won a team trophy, beat T.F. South 14.5-11.5 for the title. Defending champion New Trier was third with 11 points to grab its third consecutive trophy and record 17th overall.

“It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment,” Georgiadis said. “I was always hopeful that would be the end result but I never knew for sure. All the hard work paid off.”

The victory ended a remarkable prep career for the Harvard-bound Georgiadis, who finished third last year in doubles and was fourth in doubles at last fall’s state tennis meet. She saved her most dominating performance for last, defeating Pasko, a 3-4 seed, with ease.

“I give her all the credit in the world,” Pasko said. “She’s a true champion. The first game was pretty close. The second game she had no mistakes and no bad shots and she blocked all of mine. The five points I got I had to earn.”

The soft-spoken Georgiadis had talked all year about how she was taking one match at a time, but with the finish line in sight she stomped on the accelerator.

“I had a lot of heart and really wanted it and it showed in the second game,” Georgiadis said. “I didn’t want to lose.”

Neither did Pasko, who became the first singles medalist in her school’s history and upset No. 2 seed Katie Wagner of Sandburg 12-21, 21-10, 21-13 in the semifinals. Pasko had lost her last four matches to Wagner, who beat Lincoln-Way Central’s Jessica Glennon 21-17, 21-13 for third place.

“I’ve been training all season to beat Katie Wagner, so that was the highlight of state,” Pasko said. “She drops very well and blocks crosscourt and that’s what I had to (defend).”

Wagner and Pasko didn’t get the top spot but still had plenty to celebrate.

Wagner and junior Kara Kentner, who finished fifth, led Sandburg to its first state championship. “It’s unbelievable right now,” Wagner said. “We’re all so happy. Every girl on the team has worked really hard all season and it all paid off.

Wagner was trying to become Sandburg’s first individual champion but wound up with her school’s second-best finish. She and Kentner are the Eagles’ first medalists since 1993.

“I wished I could have placed higher but it’s not a disappointment,” Wagner said. “(Pasko) is a tough player. She hit a lot of good shots. It was back and forth and she came out with the win.”

Pasko came out with more than that. Her performance, coupled with seniors Melissa McNish and Kym Tisder’s 22-10, 21-18 defeat of Reavis seniors Melissa Carrington and Theresa Lacek in the third-place doubles match, gave the Rebels their first trophy and just the second by any sports team in school history. T.F. South’s only previous hardware was the 1990 state title in girls bowling.

“I really didn’t expect us to get second place since we only had one singles player and one doubles team qualified,” Pasko said. “Second place is great. I don’t think T.F. South could have done any better.”

Palatine’s Maggie Van Grondelle and Tomoyo Tsurumi captured the doubles championship with a 21-19, 23-21 victory over Willowbrook seniors Mary Kate Monahan and Kara Redmer. Van Grondelle, a senior, and Tsurumi, a sophomore, were seeded second and became the sixth Palatine doubles team to win state but first since 1992.

The top-seeded team of Buffalo Grove seniors Nell Boyd and Michelle Byjos was upset 21-12, 14-21, 21-18 in the quarterfinals by 9-12 seeds Carrington and Lacek, who then were beaten 21-14, 21-15 in the semifinals by Monahan and Redmer. Boyd and Byjos rebounded to win three consolation matches to finish fifth with a 37-1 record.

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