High school girls tennis in Colorado began in 1975. Since then, it seems one standout champion has led to another.
But eventually the time came – with the exodus of two great champions – when the state was without a top player.
So how did the kingdom lose its queen? And who stands the best chance of claiming the crown?
The line of past champions is distinguished. Smoky Hill’s Patti Urban won three state titles from 1985-87. Urban’s reign begat that of Manual’s Miko Hemsi, who also won three championships, in 1989, 1991 and 1992. Hemsi was followed by Cheyenne Mountain’s Becky Varnum, the first of three players in state history to win four state titles. She roamed the courts from 1995-98. Next came Cherry Creek’s Alicia Salas, a four-timer from 1997-2000.
Then came the era of two champions. Columbine’s Sara Anundsen compiled a 50-0 record and won three consecutive titles, ending in 2003. Her run ran concurrent with Pine Creek’s Nicole Leimbach, the third and most recent player to win four championships. She also finished her prep career undefeated.
Since the graduation of Anundsen and Leimbach, a drought of sorts has hit the courts. The state is now in its second consecutive year without a clear-cut top player, an unusual turn since the early 1990s.
Plenty of worthy players are out there, and several of them are vying for elite honors. The players who appear to be the best four competed Saturday at the Cherry Creek Invitational in what was the first and last time they would meet this season.
Air Academy’s Tabatha Knop, a Class 5A No. 2 singles champion last season, won the No. 1 singles title at Cherry Creek. She beat Cheyenne Mountain’s Christina Cutter 6-2, 6-3. Cutter was 4A’s runner-up at No. 1 singles last season, behind Leimbach.
Knop’s main competition in the 5A ranks, Cherry Creek’s Greer Satherlie, finished fourth Saturday. She lost in the semifinals to Cutter, then was beaten by Cutter’s 4A rival, Catherine Duboc of Kent Denver, in the third-place match.
“It’s always a big deal when you get to go against other top teams,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Jason Kirkland said. “Especially when the top two players in 5A and 4A at (No.) 1 singles play each other.”
But can an eight-team tournament in April, without any implications, really crown the state’s best player?
“This is a great tournament,” Air Academy coach Jeanette Paddock said of the Cherry Creek Invitational. “But there is only one state tournament. The attitudes and emotions and competitiveness of players is always different at state.”
While Knop may be No. 1 now, the true tests will be three upcoming state-wide tournaments, where players from across Colorado will try their hand at knocking off the best.
The state high school championships begin May 12, with Knop and Satherlie leading the charge in Class 5A and Cutter and Duboc pacing 4A.
“I’m playing good tennis right now,” said Knop, a senior who is undefeated this year. “I feel good about it. I really put a lot of practice time in before the season. But there is still going to be a lot of great players at state.”
Then come two more big events – the Denver City Open on June 18 and the Colorado State Open on June 29. Those tournaments are open to all levels of players.
But often it is prep standouts who do well in local open tournaments. For instance, Knop last summer finished second at the Denver City Open after losing in two sets to the tournament’s youngest champion, then-14-year-old Krista Damico. Damico, who would have attended Ponderosa as a freshman, instead left for a tennis academy in Texas.
The U.S. Tennis Association last year ranked Damico the third-best national player 14-years and younger. Elizabeth Marsico, who now plays No. 3 singles for Cherry Creek, was ranked 56th and Colorado Springs’ Simone Kalhorn 58th.
For now, the state prep title will have to suffice. Not only would a state title put a player’s name next to those of past champions, it could be a step toward larger accomplishments, like those of Karen Sather, who owns 37 major Colorado titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles in three major state tournaments, excluding the prep level.
Who that next champion will be is still a mystery.
“It’s not quite as clear cut as last year with Nicole,” Paddock said before the season. “There’s not one outstanding force. But that makes it a little more exciting. It’s going to be a tight race this year.”
