Athletes of the Week: Losing helps badminton champ HaNeul Jeong-McDonell gain ground

St. Paul Highland Park • badminton

Jeong-McDonell learns quickly from her losses.

The Scots senior defeated St. Paul Washington's Cinderella New 21-12, 21-14 to win the singles championship in the badminton state tournament at Edina High School. She was the runner-up in the state tournament in 2021.

"I was overwhelmed and excited," Jeong-McDonell said. "You can learn from your losses. I just kept plugging away."

Jeong-McDonell lost to New the previous week, 10-21, 21-16, 21-16, in the singles final in the St. Paul City Conference championships.

"I knew I could face her again in the state tournament," Jeong-McDonell said. "I worked hard on receiving her high serves. That helped me in the state tournament."

Jeong-McDonell was seeded second behind New entering the event. The previous year she was more of an unknown.

"I wasn't expected to place last year. I surprised myself," Jeong-McDonell said. "This year was a lot of fun."

Northfield • lacrosse

The three-year captain is a big reason the Raiders are 9-2 this season. Northfield's leading scorer, he has 42 goals, three more than he scored a year ago, and 20 assists. He has five games of at least five goals. "Spencer is a natural goal scorer who can also be a two-way contributor," Raiders coach Jeff Wright said.

White Bear Lake • softball

Barber is 13-2 as a pitcher with a 1.11 ERA while striking out 190 in 101 innings. At the plate, the junior is hitting .446 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI. "Chloe's talent, potential and knowledge of the game make her a special player," Bears coach Kaity Wightman said.

Edina • golf

The senior is one of the reasons Edina is ranked No. 1 in the state by the Minnesota Golf Association. Nasby, ranked No. 34 among individuals, shot a 7-under-par 64 in a Lake Conference meet at Wild Marsh Golf Club in Buffalo. "A 64 is a crazy low number for a high school golfer to shoot, and he made it look easy," Edina coach Mike McCollow said.

Bloomington Kennedy • lacrosse

The senior has 73 goals on the season, which includes five games of eight or more. She has three 10-goal games in the past two years, helping turn the Eagles program into a winner.

Farmington • baseball

The senior first baseman homered in three consecutive games as the Tigers (17-2) extended their winning streak to 15 games. "He continuously finds ways to reach base and help us produce runs," Farmington coach Jon Graff said.

Belle Plaine • softball

The sophomore catcher is hitting .559 with 23 runs scored and 37 RBI. She has belted seven of her 13 home runs in May. "Cam works very hard to get better every year," Tigers coach Brent Jaeger said. "She is one of those players every coach would love to have."

RON HAGGSTROM

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