There's the 100-meter dash. The fastball. A fastbreak. An ace. The kill. A power double leg.

All imply a burst of speed in some way, shape or form.

There is another one that is vastly underrated and was on full display Saturday at Desert Vista.

The speed at which a shuttlecock comes off a racquet in badminton is hard to see with the human eye.

Throw in the hand eye coordination and footwork required to return and it requires impressive athleticism to be competitive.

As a collective no one was better at in 2025 than Hamilton and Sunrise Mountain in Division I and Division II, respectively.

No. 1 Hamilton swept No. 2 Sunnyslope 5-0 for its second straight team title after losing to Sunnyslope in the 2023 title match.

Hamilton won its second straight Division I badminton team state title Saturday. (Jason P. Skoda, AZPreps365)

In DII, No. 1 Sunrise Mountain topped Ironwood, 5-4, for the Mustangs' second team championship, matching the 2022 squad.

Sunrise Mountain won its second Division II badminton team championship Saturday. (Jason P. Skoda/AZPreps365)

For the Huskies it was the second straight title, and three overall with all of the championships coming within the last four seasons.

"We kind of knew who our state team was going to be early on, but to stay focused and make it here is something different," Hamilton coach Lauren Rosales said. "It's a bigger event, a new gym and obviously more at stake. It was great to see them finish it off."

The singles winners were Nihira Sane, Katheryn Yi, Hayley Koh, Shreya Deshpande, Susan Yang and Sanika Deshukh.

Rosales pointed to Deshukh as a standout. She was on JV last year, went undefeated at the No. 6 position this season and dug in after losing the first set Saturday.

The Huskies approached the season in a way they that didn't let them become complacent.

"We talked about being a team fighting for a state championship, not defending one," Sane said. "We showed up having to fight for what we wanted."

Sane, who won the DI singles title last weekend, summed up what it takes to be successful in the sport.

"I definitely think the outward perception of badminton isn't indicative of the athleticism needed to perform," said Sane, whose older sister Rujusta won the 2019 state title. "It's all about reaction time, agility and stamina."

Sunrise Mountain showed as much in winning the DII title.

It came with a lot more drama than DI as the Ironwood nearly pulled off a big comeback.

The Mustangs won four of the six singles matches to make a commanding lead, but the Eagles won the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to tie the overall match at 4-all.

The No. 3 doubles match went to the third set before Sunrise Mountain’s duo of Chloe Thornburg and Gracen Thomas pulled out the 25-23, 16-21, 21-15 victory.

The Sunrise Mountain combo jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the third set, but Ironwood’s team of Ella Hartsburg and Reece Naylor tied it at 12. After the two teams switched sides of the court, the Mustangs duo had a conversation and went on a 9-3 run to clinch it for the team,

It led to the rest of the team rushing the court to celebrate the momentous win.

“We didn’t realize the whole match was coming down to us, so I think that helped,” Thomas said. “When we won, and everyone rushed us, it was indescribable. I’ve never been part of anything like that. I’ve only been playing badminton two years, and now we’re state champions.”

Sunrise Mountain coach Michele Carter, who taught at Ironwood for 26 years, was very happy for the squad but it was bittersweet as her senior daughter, Jaycee, missed the season due to a torn ACL.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Carter said. “It’s been great. It was a good year, and this was a total team effort.”

The winners for Sunrise in singles action were Violet Eisentraut, Brenna Riley, Nora Brooks, and Thomas.

Ironwood swept the first two double matches behind the teams of Madison Hutter, Bryanna Moser, and Hayden Flores and Sophia Tioree.

The Eagles made an expected run to the finals after winning the team title last year. They came in as the second seed but started the year with only one returning varsity player.

“We went to doubles having to win three and almost got the upset,” Ironwood coach Amy Hutter said. “For them to make it here was unexpected. I am very proud of them and how they fought back. I’m excited for next year.”

In the end, it was the Mustangs who prevailed this year as the won the second team title in program history.

“I am so proud of that moment,” Carter said. “We had all the tools to do it, but they just had to execute it at the right time. It hasn’t been smooth all season, but they stepped up to the plate.”