GRANT CLARK; Contributing writer |
After today, the Olympia High boys tennis team will know a lot more about its chances for defending its 4A Narrows League title.
The Bears, who also were district champions in 2010, face Bellarmine Prep ? a program that has won nine state titles, including four crowns since 2005, and 25 out of the last 30 Narrows League titles.
?Bellarmine?s such a strong program,? said Olympia coach Denny Bailey, whose squad defeated the Lions, 4-1, last year.
?They really are the measuring stick for how good your team is. I think we match up nicely again this year.?
Olympia expects to make a solid run at this year?s state title because the Bears return a bevy of players ? none better, however, than senior Hunter Wood and junior John Stormans.
The duo teamed up last year to capture the Class 4A state doubles championship, defeating league rivals Keenan Dolan and Spencer Herron of Bellarmine Prep, 6-2, 6-3, to give the Bears their first doubles state title since Jeff Allen and Eric Boe in 1983.
The team of Wood and Stormans were so dominant last season they didn?t even drop a single set.
?I don?t know how much coaching I do with those two, they?re pretty special players,? said Bailey.
?They approached me last year and said they wanted to try doubles. We had Will Topp, who was a senior last year and won the 2A singles title as a junior at Bellingham, as our No. 1 singles. John and Hunter are best friends and immediately clicked on the court. They were just unstoppable.
?If John is off, which isn?t very often, Hunter would carry a set and vice versa. More times than not, however, both are on their game.?
Olympia also has an experienced No. 2 doubles team of senior Drew Shanafelt and junior Nathan Stahley.
?They both have made some great progress. Anywhere else they?d be a No. 1 doubles,? Bailey said. ?We have a lot of flexibility with our lineup. I can do a lot of different combinations with this team.?
The Bears will also feature sophomore Nolan Godfrey and freshman William Berghoff.
?We will find out just how good we are Thursday,? Bailey added.
FALL GOLF
A key early season matchup in boys golf took place last week in the 2A Evergreen Conference. Tumwater edged defending league champion Chehalis, 198-206 at Tumwater Valley.
The Thunderbirds are coming off a fourth-place finish at the 2A state tournament last spring, after a third-place finish at district and a second in league.
?It?s still really early, but it?s kind of been us and Chehalis the last couple of years,? said Tumwater coach Scott Killough. ?Whichever team wins the head-to-head wins the league.?
Graduated from last year?s Tumwater squad is Kyle Schrader, who capped his stellar high school campaign with a third-place finish at state.
The T-Birds shouldn?t miss a beat with Seth Nickerson, who finished 20th at state last year, stepping in as Tumwater?s No. 1 golfer.
?He?s just a consistent player,? Killough said. ?Mentally he has the game down and that?s huge for (a) high school player.?
With Nickerson penciled in as the T-Birds? top player, a run at the state title could depend on how many golfers Tumwater advances to the state tournament.
Killough thinks Jackson Boe, Thomas Coates and Luke Hare all possess the talent to make deep postseason tournament runs.
?If you are going to finish in the top five at state you really need one of your players to finish in the top five overall and another player to get in the top 20,? said Killough, who guided Tumwater to a ninth-place state finish in 2009.
?I think we have the capabilities of doing that. Seth is talented enough to slide into Kyle?s role and Jackson can be a top-20 golfer for us.?
Source: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/09/22/1809780/olympia-seeks-title-repeat.html
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