Palmetto cruised to another sweet victory at GMAC badminton
Walls Old Fashioned Ice Cream anybody?
Hopefully the folks at Walls down on South Dixie Highway in Mami were prepared for the onslaught of kids storming their store late Wednesday afternoon. That group was likely the boys and girls from the Palmetto badminton team.
That after the Panthers dominated the GMAC Badminton Tournament at Goleman High School, capturing championships in four of the five divisions to easily win the title with 21 total points, well ahead of second place Coral Park with nine points.
“To be honest about it, it’s become a tradition each year after every GMAC tournament that I take them all to Walls regardless of whether we win the tournament or not,” said Palmetto coach Dave Zarco, who led the Panthers to their first county title since 2019 and sixth title since 2010. “But I’ll admit that after the way we played today and the kind of season we had, that ice cream will taste extra good (laughing).”
Zarco watched as both his boys and girls doubles teams captured championships along with the mixed doubles and an individual champion as freshman Katarina Slazas won the girls singles title.
The only non-Palmetto champion on the day was Southridge senior Arman Kashem. After going through the frustration of two runnerup GMAC finishes as a freshman and junior mixed in with not getting to play as a sophomore when there was no tournament due to COVID, Kashem finally broke through, defeating Coral Park’s Ian Merchan 21-12, 21-10 in the final.
“Today was big because after coming so close those two times, I’m a senior and this was my last chance,” said Kashem, who also won the Youth Fair championship and finished a perfect 15-0 for the season. “I just stayed calm and tried to just keep focused on what I had to do and it all worked out.”
Aiden Korg and Nicole Paz won the mixed doubles for the Panthers, defeating Eva Carol and Tiago Pillado from Krop 21-13, 21-17 while Penelope Murray and Isabella Reale captured the girls doubles with a 21-17, 21-17 win over Sophia Acosta and Diana Valencia from Varela.
Slazas, who also won a GMAC championship a few months ago playing for the girls soccer team, defeated Anabelle Calles from Goleman 21-17, 21-13 in the girls’ singles final.
“Cookies and Cream is my favorite,” said Slazas with a smile when asked what she would be ordering at the store. “Today was great because it wasn’t just about me individually, it was about all of us as a team really playing well. All of us, boys and girls are so close and we all pull for each other and that had a lot to do with our success this season.”
The one Palmetto team that got pushed hardest was the boys doubles team of Michael Morgado and Charles Mo. In the winners bracket, all they had to do was defeat Reagan’s Christopher Kang and Amlan Pradhan once to win it. But Kang/Pradham beat them, forcing a final championship match where Morgado and Mo bounced back to win it 21-10, 21-19.
RESULTS
Team: 1. Palmetto 21; 2. Coral Park 9; 3. Varela, Southridge and Reagan 4; 6. Goleman and Krop 3; 8. Ferguson 2.
Individual - Boys’ singles: 1. Arman Kashem, Southridge; 2. Ian Merchan, Coral Park; 3. Calvin Marenco, Ferguson; 4. Matthew Kang, Reagan; Girls’ singles: 1. Katarina Slazas, Palmetto; 2. Anabelle Calles, Goleman; 3. Marisa Mourelle, Coral Park; 4. Sofia Arnau, Palmetto; Boys’ doubles: 1. Morgado/Mo, Palmetto; 2. Kang/Pradhan, Reagan; 3. Damski/Jagers, Palmetto; 4. Chirolde/LaPorte, Varela; Girls’ doubles: 1. Murray/Reale, Palmetto; 2. Acosta/Valencia, Varela; 3. DeArmas/Fernandez, Coral Park; 4. Hutton/Teachey, Palmetto; Mixed doubles: 1. Korg/Paz, Palmetto; 2. Carol/Pillado, Krop; 3. Alvarez/Quiroga, Coral Park; 4. Duong/Jagers, Palmetto.