Some of the most exciting Moore League action this year didn’t happen on a football field or a baseball diamond, but on the hardcourt for the league’s badminton schedule. After Long Beach Poly won the last five co-ed league championships, Cabrillo and Lakewood unseated the Jackrabbits this year to claim an historic co-championship.
For Cabrillo, it’s the third Moore League championship in school history and first for a sport besides boys’ soccer. Badminton is on the books as a co-ed sport in the league and isn’t divided by gender the way that swimming or track and field are, meaning it’s also the Jaguars’ first-ever girls’ Moore League title.
“We’re super excited, it means so much to us,” said Jaguars coach Tina Tran, who founded the program in in 2012 and has dreamed of a championship since. “It’s an amazing feeling, and I’m honored to be the coach of all these great kids.”
The co-championship came after Lakewood edged the Jaguars in their first meeting, winning 11-10 after trailing 10-7. The Jaguars reversed that feat when they met again later in the year, trailing 10-9 before winning the final two points on wins from Aron Camain/Rheanne Bergenholtz and Kyle Fernando/Maricar Reyes.
Badminton is a sportsmanship-first sport, and Lakewood coach Michael Young emphasized that when asked about his co-championship.
“Please put in that we’re happy to share the title with Cabrillo, we knew it would be one of us this year and I’m happy we both did it,” said Young, who is a recent Lakewood graduate.
The Lancers and Jaguars had been chasing the Jackrabbits for five years, but knew that Poly was graduating a big class last year.
“It was a really big goal to beat them this year,” said Young.
Lakewood’s last badminton title was in 2012, and was the conclusion of a four-peat for the Lancers. Cabrillo’s two other league titles were in 2004 and 2016.
Here are the top four results from the Moore League Tournament held last week at Lakewood.
Girls Singles
1- Blessing Omalafe (Jordan)
2- Molly Sam (Poly)
3- Kaithlyn Reyes (Cabrillo)
4- Vanessa Orna (Wilson)
Boys Singles
1- Julian Morales (Millikan)
2- Nick Nga (Lakewood)
3- Mykel Mendoza (Cabrillo)
4- Diego Mayen (Cabrillo)
Girls Doubles
1- Maricar Reyes/Rheanne Bergenholtz (Cabrillo)
2- Jenny Ouk/Jennifer Soeung (Lakewood)
3- Zina Verdejo/Doris Chuang (Wilson)
4- Onica Chrea/Regilyn Catanyag (Wilson)
Boys Doubles
1- Jay Chea/Jaylen Ouk (Lakewood)
2- Kyle Fernando/Ivene Sumicad (Cabrillo)
3- Aron Camain/Joseph Galima (Cabrillo)
4- John Nguyen/Kevin Van (Lakewood)
Mixed Doubles
1- Jaylen Ouk/Jenny Ouk (Lakewood)
2- Aron Camain/Rheanne Bergenholtz (Cabrillo)
3- Kyle Fernando/Maricar Reyes (Cabrillo)
4- Julian Morales/Selina Maniapaz (Cabrillo)
