Already acknowledged as a SDSSAA powerhouse in the likes of track & field and nordic skiing, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights will add a badminton banner to the bevy of placards currently encircling the school gymnasiums.

The chase group behind them, however, is both exciting and intriguing as some smaller schools in the region begin or continue to make a name for themselves.

With 44 points courtesy of 28 total entries, the Knights enjoyed a comfortable advantage over the Horizon Aigles (31 pts on 28 entries), Rivières des Francais Muskies (26 on 9 entries) and the St Charles College Cardinals (25 pts on 15 entries).

Furthermore, with a pair of gold medal winning entries and 16 of their 44 points coming from the Senior Division alone, there will be a need for Lo-Ellen to backfill next spring, at least to a certain extent.

Of course, when your institution is populated with athletes, that is a more reasonable ask.

A goaltender with the boys hockey team that fell just short of upsetting St Charles in the city finals, Mackinly Sobush took top spot in boys doubles play along with partner Nolan Kuhlberg, a member of the vaunted senior boys X-C crew.

Sobush and Mackinly defeated the Lockerby tandem of Liam Binks and Callum Baron (yes, there is a proliferation of multi-sport athletes who show very well in high-school badminton) in the final after the latter had gotten the better of the eventual champs earlier in the day.

"From last year, we knew that everyone above us was grade 12 - they would be graduated, gone this year," noted Sobush, a fourth place finisher with Kuhlberg in 2023. "All of the teams that are our age we had either played at Laurentian or played in past tournaments and we knew that we could beat them."

"We were pretty confident going in; I think that confidence got to us, early on," Sobush added. "We lost our third game and had to work our way all the way back up. It's a long day."

But worth it, in the end, as the Knights' lads continue to evolve, strategically-speaking, with every passing match.

"Nolan is definitely stronger at the back and I am stronger at the front so we lean towards that," explained Sobush, noting a switch depending on whether they are pressing or feeling pressured.

"The strategy is that when you clear the birdie, you go sides to play defense," he said. "When you're on offense, you want to go front and back."

Other Senior Division gold medal winners included Lillian Li (Lo-Ellen) and Caleb Lalonde (Champlain) in singles play, with Ashley Tourchette and Cassy Seguin (Riv-des-Francais) taking the girls doubles division while Chiana Rocca and Théo Lefebvre (Collège Notre-Dame) did likewise in the mixed doubles bracket.

Following are the results for all divisions, with placements one through five:

Senior Division
Boys Singles
1st - Caleb Lalonde (Champlain)
2nd - Simon Wright (Sacré-Coeur)
3rd - Ethan Simon (Horizon)
4th - Justin Barriault (Horizon)
5th - Mattias Siemann (Lockerby)
5th - Isaac Jeanveau (Bishop Carter)

Girls Singles
1st - Lillian Li (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Bailey Raymond (Notre-Dame)
3rd - Reanna Tremblay (Macdonald-Cartier)
4th - Madison Smith (Champlain)
5th - Lauren Pineau (Lockerby)
5th - Chloe Beaulieu (Horizon)

Boys Doubles
1st - Nolan Kuhlberg/Mackinly Sobush (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Liam Binks/Callum Baron (Lockerby)
3rd - Zachary Neron/Brayden Bertrand (Sacré-Coeur)
4th - Matti Jouppi/Jonah Gibson (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Rown Smith/Josh Colette (Bishop Carter)
5th - Aleksander Duguay/Keynan Kydd (St Charles)

Girls Doubles
1st - Ashley Tourchette/Cassy Seguin (Riv-des-Francais)
2nd - Alyna Oke/Kiana Lampinen (Lockerby)
3rd - Mira Toffoli/Sophia Cecutti (Lo-Ellen)
4th - Ava Massimiliano/Avery West (St Charles)
5th - Caedene Troscinski/Cameron O'Daiskey (Bishop Carter)
5th - Tara Guse/Ella Serre (Marymount)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Chiana Rocca/Théo Lefebvre (Notre-Dame)
2nd - Taryn Rollins/Cole Rosener (St Charles)
3rd - Danyka Tremblay/Nicolas Gigliotti (Macdonald-Cartier)
4th - Adasyn Radey/Will Mackey (Lasalle)
5th - Zoya Lauzon/Jonah Chaloux (Macdonald-Cartier)
5th - Michaela Tripp/Nay Couture (Lo-Ellen)

Junior Division
Boys Singles
1st - Noah Fortin (Riv-des-Francais)
2nd - Masimo Toffoli (Lo-Ellen)
3rd - Lukas Morin (Notre-Dame)
4th - Nicolas Leduc (Horizon)
5th - Aaron Vallée (Champlain)
5th - Christian Mallet (Notre-Dame)

Girls Singles
1st - Nyah Robinson (St Charles)
2nd - Manu Patil (Lo-Ellen)
3rd - Brynn Hobson (St Charles)
4th - Hakeemat Arije (Lasalle)
5th - Sophie Montgomery (Horizon)
5th - Janelle Jolett (Lively)

Boys Doubles
1st - Brody Mabbott/Gabriel Larocque (St Charles)
2nd - Lucas Gutscher/Wesley Wei (St Benedict)
3rd - Dax Rolston/Thomas Berardelli (Lockerby)
4th - Cameron Marcotte/Caleb Larocque (St Charles)
5th - Kai Koskela/Charles Xu (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Noah Duguay/Sullivan Smith (St Benedict)

Girls Doubles
1st - Audrey Pitre/Ashley Rancourt (Riv-des-Francais)
2nd - Lexi Briscoe/Emma Merigioli (Horizon)
3rd - Evaline Lacroix/Audrey Leblanc (Riv-des-Francais)
4th - Mobeena Moby/Keira Riccio (St Benedict)
5th - Lesly Fetgo/Maray Lapay (Sudbury Secondary)
5th - Marquise Castonguay/Sienna Hayward (Macdonald-Cartier)

Mixed Doubles
1st - Billy Hebert/Wyatt Singer (Riv-des-Francais)
2nd - Izzy Lanteigne/Ryder Coe (Lockerby)
3rd - Scarlett Parri/Addison Denomme (Horizon)
4th - Misaki Diavolitsis/Ethan Hodder (Lockerby)
5th - Victoria Seguin/Riley Payzant (Macdonald-Cartier)
5th - Page Pancel/Cameron Leroux (Lasalle)

Novice Division
Boys Singles
1st - Blake Chenier (Horizon)
2nd - Felix Fournier (Notre-Dame)
3rd - Kieran McCoy (St Charles)
4th - Connor Nicholson (St Benedict)
5th - Kaden Major (Macdonald-Cartier)
5th - Ty Gladu (Bishop Carter)

Girls Singles
1st - Pranali Joshi (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Ariana Tonkovic (Macdonald-Cartier)
3rd - Chloe Lavigne (Horizon)
4th - Maiya Parsons (Lasalle)
5th - Gabrielle Coffin (Horizon)
5th - Alexie Hammond (Notre-Dame)

Boys Doubles
1st - Eric Wang/Ryan Orrigan (Lo-Ellen)
2nd - Daniel Kulik/Vishnu Nair (Lo-Ellen)
3rd - Logan Law/Mathieu Hebert (Riv-des-Francais)
4th - Jacob Beaudet/Ryerson Johnston (Horizon)
5th - Alec Vu/Narayan Shukla (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Parker Dutrisac/Ben Managhan (Lockerby)

Girls Doubles
1st - Sophie Leveillée/Emma Jensen (Champlain)
2nd - Emilie Philippe/Teagan Roy (Horizon)
3rd - Ava Gigliotti/Katie Shaver (Macdonald-Cartier)
4th - Dylan Montgomery/Paige Burgdorf (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Berenice Koassi/Margot Vanderbeken (Macdonald-Cartier)
5th - Sarah Chisholm/Luna Fox (Macdonald-Cartier)

Mixed Doubles
1st Lorelai Van/Cameron Young (Lockerby)
2nd - Becca George/Lowell Huskinson (Lockerby)
3rd - Akshara Putsala/Maksim Rybiak (Lasalle)
4th - Annabelle Bulbring/Miguel Acuna-Munita (Lo-Ellen)
5th - Delphine Bachand/Caden Ross (Notre-Dame)
5th - Hillary Gallinger/Evan Hulisz (Lockerby)

The NOSSA Championships are taking place on April 24th/25th in Sault Ste Marie while OFSAA 2024 is set for May 2nd to 4th in Barrie.