Andrew Flora thought he would contend at No. 1 singles at the Class 5A state tennis championship last October. But the Mountain Range High School standout wasn’t able to repeat his third-place effort from 2007, getting bounced after two matches.
Later in his junior year, his life came crumbling down. He was expelled from school, for reasons he won’t discuss, and in need of a new home. That’s where Broomfield High came in this fall.
Coach Jim Vogel already had a defending state champion at 4A in Kelly Donaldson at his No. 1 spot, though Donaldson was coming back from a fractured vertebra. But the addition of Flora seemed to offer a powerful one-two punch at the start of the school year.
“What we thought was that when Kelly came back, we’d have some challenge matches,” Vogel said. “My smart money was on Kelly being at one and Andrew at two. But Kelly never came back.”
Donaldson had healed well enough to play this fall but decided to further his tennis career outside the high school ranks. That left a void at Broomfield’s No. 1 spot, which has been filled by Flora, who was given a second chance to prove himself. He hasn’t disappointed.
Though he missed the first half of the tennis season for transfer rules, Flora has shown no signs of rust since returning to the court about five weeks ago. He won six matches during the regular season, including thrilling three-set victories over Greeley West’s Chris Schommer and Kent Denver’s Jack Reynolds, before winning the 4A Region 5 championship last week.
“He’s a real hard worker,” Vogel said. “We’re trying to get him in the best possible tournament shape we can get him.”
Flora, who said he elected to transfer because he wanted to play with Donaldson, was hesitant to take over at No. 1.
“I would’ve been completely fine playing at No. 2,” said Flora, who still plays doubles with Donaldson on the state circuit. Nevertheless, Flora is back at No. 1, with another shot at state.
“It wasn’t a huge transition, since I was playing No. 1 singles at 5A,” Flora said.
The 4A state tournament starts today at Pueblo City Park, with the 5A tournament at Denver’s Gates Tennis Center.
“I’m kind of nervous about state,” Flora said. “There are three really good players out there for the No. 1 spot.”
He mentioned Reynolds, Lewis-Palmer’s Aidan Reid and Mullen’s Stan Vaughan, whom he would meet in a Friday semifinal, should they both advance that far.
