A year of growth and accomplishment

“You look at the ceiling … there is none. You can go as high as you want the next three years.”

Those were the words of Creston/Orient-Macksburg head tennis coach Kevin Cooper at Sunday’s team banquet.

The sentiment was directed at the young and still relatively inexperienced girls team, but stood for everyone in attendance.

Of the 30 players who played tennis this past spring, about 15 showed up for the banquet and Cooper passed down his thanks, and congratulations to go along with several awards.

The Panther girls squad, a year removed from a team trip to tennis and second-place overall finish, showcased an entirely new varsity roster this spring.

“I came into this thinking we were going to win some meets and I also knew that it would be a great experience for some of the kids that haven’t gotten to play varsity the last couple years. Whether it be on the girls side or the boys side,” Cooper said.

The team, which went 3-7, featured nothing but players with little varsity experience.

Creston/O-M’s girls won duals against Atlantic, Audubon and Chariton.

Still, after playing a challenging Hawkeye 10 and nonconference schedule against difficult competition, Cooper felt optimistic about the chances for the girls team to succeed in 2018.

The same went for the boys, who went 5-4 and won duals against Southwest Valley, Clarinda, Audubon, Red Oak and Chariton. The boys took second at districts abd lost to Clarke at substate.

Three players with varsity letters returned for the Panthers this spring, while the duo of Jacob Cook and Jaden Driskell continued a run of boys success for the program.

“For those guys to go as juniors, it’s a great accomplishment for them to go as juniors,” Cooper said. “We’ve only had a couple kids go as juniors and for them to experience that, once you get up there, it’s the real deal.”

Seeing his teams compete in Cedar Falls further solidifies the need in Cooper’s mind to continue to schedule difficult competition to prepare the Panthers.

“The one thing that I noticed when we were at state tennis was I kind of looked around and the boys, kids that were on the courts from other towns, there was like six teams we played (during the regular season),” Cooper said. “Boone was on the court, North Polk, Atlantic, Ballard. We try to get the schedule as hard as we can so that the kids are used to that level of competition by the time they get to Cedar Falls.”

Cooper thanked the administration, parents and fans, the other coaches on this past year’s staff and local media.

Always with an eye forward, Cooper noted that 81 kids participated in junior tennis camp several weeks ago, and that the future looks bright for the program.

“I’ve had kids that showed up as ninth-graders and two years later they’re at the state tournament,” Cooper said.

“Hopefully next year we get a group of kids up there.”

Accolades

Letterwinners — Seniors — Triston Davidson 4, Mattie Wheeler 1, Madison Callahan 1, Olivia Hartman 1, Leah Stow 1. Juniors — Jacob Cook 3, Jaden Driskell 3, Dustin Merritt 3, Ethan Anderson 1, Emilien Florentin 1, Sara Williamson 1. Chloe Hagle 1. Sophomores — Walker Patterson 1, Megan Haley 1. Freshman — Heylee Shields 1.

Hawkeye 10 All-Academic — Jake Hitz, Triston Davidson, Macy Evans, Mattie Wheeler, Olivia Hartman, Madison Callahan.

State qualifiers — Jacob Cook and Jaden Driskell as doubles partners.

Girls team had above a 3.25 grade point average as a team.