On Friday, May 24 and 25, Janet Toe, Sedina Begic, and Anna Christensen will be competing at the girls state tennis tournament in Johnston, Iowa. Freshman Toe will be competing in singles and juniors Begic and Christensen will be competing as doubles partners. Johnston High School is hosting the state tournament for each of the eight 2A regions across Iowa.
Freshman Janet Toe will be facing Lilly Holland, a returning state qualifier from Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Begic and Christensen will be facing Linn Marr in the first round and then, play the winner of Iowa City West vs. Iowa City Liberty. Begic and Christensen received the number one seed in doubles at regionals and the number two seed at state. Girl’s tennis coach Brenton Kuchera shares “anything can happen, but one thing that has given our girls an edge all season is their ability to plan, prepare, and adjust.”
Coach Kuchera has been coaching Wahawk tennis since 2011. He shares that “to my knowledge, it had been decades before I began that we ever had this many qualifiers in a single year.” There is a deep history of tennis ingrained in West High School. When the state of Iowa first sanctioned girls tennis 70 years ago, the first six singles champions came from West High. However, Marilyn Meeker and Karen Moser were the only Wahawks to bring home the state title. There is an immense sense of pride that the girl’s tennis team is competing at this level once again.
Tennis is a lifetime sport, and the friendships and skill sets will last well beyond high school
— Coach Kuchera
Coach Kuchera isn’t the only one with high hopes for the state tournament this season. Freshman Toe shares “for these final matches, I hope to show myself and others that I can go beyond expectations by just going out there and playing my best tennis no matter what the results may be in the end.” Kuchera points out that Toe is particularly exciting because of how much of a team player she is, how willing she is to grow, her ability to try new things and the amount of commitment Toe has for the sport of tennis. He even notes that he has seen her practicing two to three times a day in the summer.
However, Begic and Christensen have also had a long history with tennis. Both Begic and Christensen have been playing tennis for several years. Christensen shares that she played tennis ever since she was four years old but took a break when she was around ten and started playing again when she got to high school. Whereas Begic shares that she played tennis ever since she was around seven or eight years old. Begic and Christensen have a strong connection most tennis players at West might not have, they have been doubles partners since their freshman year and have qualified for the state tournament together for two years in a row.
There is no doubt that the West High girls tennis team will accomplish great things, not only this season but for many seasons to come.
