McKenzie Perry: Serving up an Impressive Season in Badminton

Badminton is being featured for athlete of the week, focusing on senior McKenzie Perry. Perry’s coach, Craig Morris, thinks she exemplifies the E.A.S.T values: Excellence, Academics, Spirit, and Tradition.

This season marks Perry’s first as a part of the badminton team at East, which she joined for the amazing team dynamic and overall fun she has while playing.

“I like being able to have fun with a new group of people that I never would have met without badminton,” Perry said, “I’ve made some new friends and created a new environment for myself which wouldn’t have been possible without badminton.”

Perry is a very strong athlete in many different sports, having played softball, basketball, and flag football. This background in competitive sports is a very obvious reason for her determination and talent in badminton.

Morris, head girls badminton coach, thinks Perry has shown extreme growth so far this season from her performance at pre-season open gyms to current varsity practices.

“Her ability was first noticed in the skills and endeavour she demonstrated at the Badminton open gyms prior to the season beginning. This continued through the tryout process, and she was selected for the varsity squad,” Morris said.

Not only is Perry making a mark on the Badminton program at East, she is also an excellent student with a weighted 4.6 grade point average and is planning to attend Aurora University in the fall of 2025.

“I’m double majoring in Pre-med/health sciences and Neuroscience,” Perry said, “I’ve always dreamt of becoming a neurologist in the future because I had my own neurological conditions when I was younger, so I want to be able to help people that have gone through similar issues and help advance what we know about the brain.”

As she has found a passion at a young age within a career and future within neurology, she’s been open to trying new things through her senior year creating more goals for herself and team.

“Some goals the team has this year is to do our best throughout the season and work hard together, and hopefully make it far in conference,” Perry said.