Longest streak? What about MP?

A lot has been made recently of the Brandon (Fla.) high school wrestling team losing a match for the first time after winning 459 straight. It made the top of the "Go Figure" section of this week's Sports Illustrated. The streak was listed as a national high school record for any sport. But ... what about the Miller Place badminton win streak, which spanned 504 matches?

This was brought up on the New York State Sports Sportswriters Association's Web site.
Here's what is said:

Streaking: The blog item earlier this week regarding the end of Brandon (Fla.) High's 459-match wrestling winning streak has generated some e-mails about the Miller Place badminton program.

NYSSWA member Jason Molinet covered the story for Newsday when Miller Place finally lost on April 12, 2005, after 504 consecutive co-ed wins over 32 seasons. The streak ended at the hands of Smithtown, 10-5, but seemingly should be recognized as the national record for a high school sport.

The problem is that few schools offer the sport. There were only U.S. 218 boys teams and 424 girls teams (mostly in California), accounting for 14,961 athletes, playing badminton in the 2006-07 school year according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The National Federation record book does not track marks in badminton or several other more popular sports such as bowling, water polo and weightlifting.

According to Molinet, Miller Place broke the old mark of 292 straight wins, held by the Amherst Sweet Home girls volleyball, on April 7, 1992.


Here's how the Sun covered Miller Place's first loss:


After 504 wins, team (gasp) loses
April 15, 2005
By Michael Gasparino

The agony of defeat was something that the Miller Place High School badminton team had never experienced.

The Panthers went unbeaten in their first season of play in 1973 and kept on winning, posting 32 perfect seasons in a row to build the longest team sports winning streak in the nation. When Miller Place defeated Smithtown last May for the Suffolk County championship, it was, incredibly, the team's 500th victory without a loss.

Four more wins were added to the streak this season, but on Tuesday afternoon at Smithtown High School, the steamroller stopped rolling. Miller Place lost to Smithtown, 10-5, ending the streak at 504 straight victories.

"They were definitely the better team today," said Miller Place coach Dave Hartman. "They were very well prepared and they outplayed us. We had our best team out there and they beat us."

The result became official when Smithtown's Jenna Marks rallied to beat Stephanie Garritano at girls' second singles, 5-11, 11-4, 11-1. That match gave the Bulls their eighth point, clinching the victory and achieving something that no team had been able to do for more than three decades.

"I think that their main focus was to beat us after the county championship last year," said Hartman, who took over the Panthers this season from Patrick Murphy, who resigned to pursue a career in administration. "It's obvious that they've worked hard. There were matchups where we beat them last year, they beat us this time."

Miller Place won four singles matches but only one doubles match against Smithtown. Brittany Tokar won at girls' first singles, and eighth-graders Amanda Christie and Lauren Garritano won at girls' fourth and fifth singles, respectively. Josh Dietrichson, a freshman, won his match at boys' second singles, and the duo of Sonja Tenzler and Jocelyn Rizzi won their match at girls' first doubles.

Smithtown won a huge match at boys' first singles, when Chris Hotzak came back to defeat Chris Goubeaud, 12-15, 15-10, 15-9.

Hartman said that while the Panthers put up "a brave front" in post-match interviews, the loss was tough to take. "It was a very somber bus ride home," the coach said.

"I told them that the new streak starts tomorrow," Hartman added, and he was right. Miller Place defeated Commack on Wednesday, 11-4, to improve to 5-1. Tokar won her match at girls' first singles, 11-5, 11-0, over Sarah Chaudary. Goubeaud defeated Sid Chadha, 15-3, 15-2, at boys' first singles.

According to the National High School Sports Record Book, the longest current high school winning streak belongs to a wrestling team in Brandon, Fla., which has won 413 straight matches since 1973.

Hartman noted that Smithtown has become a force to be reckoned with, and the Bulls stand out among the rest of the Panthers' competition in Suffolk County. But that's not the only change that has affected Miller Place badminton.

"It's a reflection of the change in priorities at Miller Place," said Hartman, who has taught physical education at the high school for more than 30 years. "They're adding other girls' sports, de-emphasizing badminton in gym class. It's changing. They're not playing [badminton] as much as they used to."

Hartman noted that the addition of other girls' sports like lacrosse, while a positive for female athletes in general, comes with a price for badminton. "You take three or four good athletes out of badminton and it just dilutes the talent," Hartman said. "It just shows an evolving athletic program. There are just more opportunities for the girls."

Suffolk County badminton teams are coed and play a 15-game schedule, with the six teams in the county playing each other three times. Miller Place meets Smithtown twice more, including the regular-season finale May 19 at Miller Place High School.