Girls tennis players to watch as Colorado postseason beckons

In regards to the team race, the girls state tennis tournament hasn't held much intrigue over the past several years. Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) has won 19 straight in Class 5A and Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) has captured the past seven in 4A.

Thankfully, tennis is just as much known as an individual sport, and there has been plenty of drama on that front. Just look at the No. 1 singles matchups from last season, when Fairview (Boulder) freshman Amber Shen defeated heavily favored Kalyssa Hall of Cherry Creek in 5A. And in 4A, another freshman, Tatum Burger of Steamboat Springs, outlasted then-St. Mary's Academy (Denver) senior Alex Weil.

The season is down to the nitty-gritty now with regionals slated for Wednesday and Thursday (each class has eight sites). The state tournament will follow on May 12-14 at the Gates Tennis Center (5A) and Pueblo City Park (4A).

Here is a brief look of what watch for in each classification as things start to get serious.



Class 5A

The Minnesota-bound Hall, now a senior, is not on Cherry Creek's roster this spring, nor is Anshika Singh, a sophomore who won it all at No. 2 singles last season. That means No. 3 reigning champ, senior Gloria Son, will inherit the No. 1 role for the favored Bruins.

Cherry Creek earned the top overall regional seed, joining Fairview (Boulder), Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch), Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins), Denver East, Grand Junction, Ponderosa (Parker) and Chatfield (Littleton) as regional hosts.

As is fairly typical on the high school circuit, where top-level players often opt out of varsity play, Fairview's Shen is not back after her dramatic win over Hall last season. But Fairview has another freshman star in Seraphin Castelino – younger sibling of last season's 5A boys No. 1 champ Ignatius Castelion – who has gone 10-1. The Knights also return No. 2 singles player Natalie Munson (10-1).

Castelino is the only player to defeat Mountain Range (Westminster) standout Kristen Kirby (15-1) and vice versa. The tandem could be primed for a rematch at state. Also keep an eye on Fruita Monument standout Sarah Fleming at No. 1.

Fort Collins could be an outsider to keep an eye on with No. 2 singles Delsie Johnson and No. 3 Emily Hay-Arthur having combined for a 22-5 mark.



Class 4A

Cheyenne Mountain can be considered firmly in the running for an eighth straight on the strength of its doubles teams. The No. 1 doubles tandem of Casey Ahrendsen and Ally Arenson has gone 14-0 but it doesn't stop there. No. 2 Chelsey Geisz and Jessica Metz have produced a 13-1 mark, as has the No. 3 pair of Ariana Arenson and Tatumn Mika.

D'Evelyn (Denver) duo Claire Jones and Abby Molnar (13-0) might have the edge at No. 4, but the Indians are poised to pile up an abundance of team points on the doubles scene. That's before considering their singles players, such as emerging freshman Morgan Hall (8-5), No. 2 Daniela Adamczyk (10-4) and No. 3 Claire Dibble (11-4).

But don't count out Kent Denver (Englewood), with talented athletes such as Maeve Kearney and Caroline Kawula, nor Colorado Academy (Denver) and Mullen (Denver), all of which joined Cheyenne Mountain as a regional host after a stellar regular season.

And keep an eye on standout individuals, such as D'Evelyn No. 2 singles Kara Robbins (12-1), who has not lost a 4A match, and No. 3 singles Shelby Naill of Eaton (10-0).

Naill's Reds earned one of the eight regional seeds, as did Niwot, Pueblo County and Delta. Among the several additional individuals to watch in 4A are Denver North  freshman Mia Oliver (13-0) and Niwot sophomore Julia Pentz (11-1) at No. 1 singles.