The boys and girls racquetball teams flew to Portland, OR to compete against 41 different schools from around the nation. Overall, the team placed fourth in the nation, with the six girls placing fifth in the women’s division and the 13 boys taking their first third place title.
The team brought 19 students to compete, a slimmer pool of athletes in comparison to the historically successful teams such as private St. Louis schools Cor Jesu and St. Louis University High, as well as Portland powerhouses Sunset, Sprague, Southridge and Beaverton. These schools dwarfed the Parkway West team, bringing 25 to 35 athletes each.
“I took second at State and third at Nationals and it felt great. I found that I have a talent for the sport and have fallen in love with it. My performance at Portland inspired me to want to keep playing at college,” senior Matt Campbell said.
The 17 of the 19 players brought to Portland finished with one to three medals each from several different divisions and events, bringing a positive end to the high school careers of 11 graduating seniors.
“Portland was our ‘last hurrah’ as a team. It’s sad because we’ve been together for four years and now it won’t be ‘our’ team anymore,” senior Emily Karandzieff said. “The team bonding is pretty intense throughout the regular season, but especially at Nationals. We lived together for a week, so we just hung out and played games between matches. We all got really close.”
The close connections paid off in Portland, adding two new titles to their collection of state titles and private tournament victories, as well as collecting individual medals.
Complimenting the team accomplishments, seniors Madeline Gauch and Haley Dolezal and junior Ethan Slutzky earned an All-American award based off their point totals and their position in the top 10 players in the men’s and women’s division.
“It’s really exciting to be good enough nationally to rank in the top 10 girls and proud that we could have so many people do that,” senior Haley Dolezal said.
The senior athletes, composing the majority of the team, leave behind a winning record and underclassmen eager to continue the team’s success.
“I never expected to love this sport so much. The seniors have been my role models for the past few years and their love of racquetball and skills are what pushes me to improve my game,” junior Lizzie Rakey said. “I don’t think my last year of racquetball will be the same without [the seniors], but I’ve learned from them that it really does take hard work and a good mindset to get the results I want, and I want to be that kind of a role model in the future.”
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