By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's boys tennis team took some lumps early in Monday's United Kansas Conference championships at Kossover Tennis Center, with the Vikings coming up short in their bid to advance to the title matches in either singles or doubles.
But Seaman was at its best down the stretch, with Jamie Robinson's Vikings rallying to claim their first UKC team crown by a 57-55 margin over Topeka West.
Seaman rallied from a slow start to capture its first UKC boys tennis championship Monday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We lost some early matches that I thought we could win,'' Robinson said. "We lost a heartbreaker in a tiebreaker when we were up in the tiebreaker with one of our doubles teams, but we were able to rebound in the last few rounds and that was enough. It was close and that was a lot of fun.''
Seaman got third and fifth-place singles finishes from Ethan Winter and Camden Dutton while Dayton Schneider and Owen Stewart took third in doubles and Wesley Budge and David Budge rounded out the Viking lineup with a ninth-place doubles finish.
Robinson said the Vikings have continued to grow as a team as the season has progressed.
"I knew we had depth this year,'' he said. "I didn't know if we had any big, big juggernauts, but we had depth and that came through. We had a lot of success early in the year and I thought, 'Wow, we're for real.' ''
Shawnee Heights' Brock Curley fought through cramping issues to win the UKC singles championship Monday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights also had a UKC title to celebrate, with Brock Corley overcoming mid-match cramping issues to take an 8-4 win over Topeka West's Mark Cianciarulo in the singles championship match.
"Usually I really don't have cramps, but today I was dehydrated so I was cramping up,'' Corley said.
Corley returned to action after being forced to take a short break and was able to take control down the stretch for the victory.
"I was drinking electrolytes and eating salt to help the pain go away and it went away after I took the salt,'' he said.
Corley said he tried to play with a sense of urgency after the cramping problems.
"I was like, 'Lets just go end it now. Lets go end it so we don't have to worry about it any more,' '' Corley said. "It felt good to win.''
In addition to Cianciarulo's second-place finish, team runnerup West also posted a second-place finish in doubles, with Julian Ramcharan and Collin McGee dropping an 8-2 decision to Piper in the final.
Seaman and Topeka West will compete in a Class 5A regional tournament on Saturday at Bonner Springs while Shawnee Heights will compete the same day in a regional at De Soto.
The 5A state tournament will be contested May 16-17 at Salina.
UNITED KANSAS CONFERENCE CITY BOYS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Kossover Tennis Center
Team scores
Seaman 57, Topeka West 55, Shawnee Heights 45, DeSoto 39, Piper 37, Basehor-Linwood 37, Lansing 32, Leavenworth 23.
Individual results
Singles
Championship -- Brock Corley, Shawnee Heights, def. Mark Cianciarulo, Topeka West, 8-4.
Third -- Ethan Winter, Seaman, def. Jacob Dennis, Lansing, 8-1.
Fifth -- Camden Dutton, Seaman, def. Emil Schiebel, Lansing, 8-1.
Doubles
Championship -- Vogel/Greenamayre, Piper, def. Ramcharan/McGee, Topeka West, 8-2.
Third -- Schneider/Stewart, Seaman, def. Gibson/Mahler, De Soto, 8-2.
Fifth -- Broxterman/Barnett, Basehor-Linwood, def. Ward/Phillips, Shawnee Heights, 8-5.
