By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural and Seaman look to be top contenders for the team title in Thursday's city girls tennis tournament, and both the Junior Blues and Vikings tuned up for that meet with solid performances in Tuesday's Washburn Rural Invitational at Kossover Tennis Center.
No. 2 doubles champions Hailey Beck and Shelby Schmutzler led the way as Rural tied three-time defending Centennial League champion Manhattan for the team championship in Tuesday's eight-school tournament while No. 1 doubles champs Grace Unruh and Lauren Sweeney paced Seaman, the defending city champion, to a third-place team finish.
Seaman No. 1 doubles partners Lauren Sweeney (left) and Grace Unruh exchange a high five after winning a point in Tuesday's championship match in the Washburn Rural Invitational. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Unruh and Sweeney remained undefeated on the season with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Washburn Rural's Meredith Kucera and Kate Fritz in the No. 1 doubles final while Beck and Schmutzler remained unbeaten in No. 2 doubles with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Maize.
Washburn Rural also got second-place finishes in No. 1 singles from Sheriden Wichman and in No. 2 singles from Mena DiMarzio en route to sharing the title with Manhattan, which got championships from Jill Harkin in No. 1 singles and Maura Wiens in No. 2 singles.
"It was a great day and a great tournament,'' veteran Washburn Rural coach Kevin Hedberg said. "It's good to play full two out of three sets today because that's what we'll play at regionals and you have to get ready for that.''
Seaman's Unruh and Sweeney swept city, Centennial League and Class 5A regional doubles titles in 2020 before finishing fourth at state and Viking coach Jamie Robinson said the pair has put in the time to put themselves in a contending position again this fall.
"They practice before practice and after practice and it pays off,'' Robinson said.
The Vikings also got a third-place finish from Nina Del-Zio in No. 1 singles and from Katie Krumins in No. 2 singles.
Thursday's city tournament will also be played at Kossover, beginning at 3 p.m.
WASHBURN RURAL TENNIS INVITATIONAL
TEAM SCORES
Washburn Rural 30, Manhattan 30, Seaman 25, Maize 22, Derby 15, Basehor-Linwood 10, Emporia 8, De Soto 8.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Singles
No. 1 -- Championship: Harkin, Manhattan, def. Wichman, Washburn Rural, 6-0, 6-0. Consolation: Del-Zio, Seaman, def. Frye, Maize, 6-1, 0-6, 10-5.
No. 2 -- Championship: Wiens, Manhattan, def. DiMarzio, Washburn Rural, 1-6, 6-2, 10-2. Consolation: Krumins, Seaman, def. Bender, Manhattan, 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
No. 1 -- Championship: Unruh/Sweeney, Seaman, def. Kucera/Fritz, Washburn Rural, 6-2, 6-2. Consolation: Bahn/Loub, Manhattan, def. Strobel/Pfeifen, Maize.
No. 2 -- Championship: Beck/Schmutzler, Washburn Rural, def. McGrown/Haase, Maize, 6-4, 6-0. Consolation: Craft/Zhang, Manhattan, def. Yagen/Walsh, Derby, 6-4, 6-0.
