Panther tennis builds experience

Valuable experience was gained in the 2022 Creston tennis season, according to coach Kevin Cooper at Sunday’s team banquet held at Creston Community Middle School.

The girls team won two duals and finished ninth in the Hawkeye Ten Tournament. The boys were winless in duals and placed 10th in the conference. But, both squads were building experience that will pay off in the long run, Cooper said.

“This year in regards to our team I’d be lying if I said I knew it wasn’t going to be a challenge,” Cooper said. “Some kids moved up several spots on varsity compared to what they had played in the past. Some were new to us this year and two weeks later they’re playing in a varsity match for us. You could see the improvement in the kids individually through the year, even if it didn’t show up in the team scores.”

It was a youthful squad, with 23 sophomores and six freshmen on a team of 46 total boys and girls.

Graduating seniors are Morgan Driskell, Halle Evans, Jenny Li, Sophia Short and Elsa Synacek from the girls team; along with Avery Fuller, Isaac Shields and Luke Tebbenkamp from the boys team. Driskell and Fuller were the primary No. 1 singles players this season, and Driskell was a state qualifier in doubles last year with then-senior Sam Dunphy.

Cooper mentioned the number of Hawkeye Ten players involved in state tournament competition this year, which adds to the challenge of posting team success.

“We want to play as tough of competition as possible, and sometimes that involves going 90 miles away,” Cooper said. “Two Hawkeye Ten girls teams were in the final eight in the girls state team tournament. The boys state tournament had five or six Hawkeye Ten kids still going on the second day of their tournament.”

Cooper also announced that both Creston teams earned the academic team award for grade point average of 3.25 to 4.00.

Letterwinners

Girls team

Seniors — Halle Evans, Jenni Li, Morgan Driskell.

Juniors — Brooklyn McKinney, Caitlin Bruce.

Sophomores - Josie Mahan.

Freshmen — Ava Adamson, Sasha Wurster.

Participation awards — Sophia Short, Elsa Synacek, Aleah Calvin, Briley Dunning, Draven Pierce, Haylee Gillam, Kloey Crawford, Mica Andreasen, Abby Collins, Abby Tallmon, Abby Wheeler, Bailey Wilson, Hannah Buchanan, Kaylee Harper, Kennedy Lohoff, Kolbey Bailey, Kristi Travis, Shayelynn Vandel, Hallie Abildtrup, Angela Chen, Maykynna DeLong, Mila Kuhns.

Boys team

Seniors — Avery Fuller, Isaac Shields, Luke Tebbenkamp.

Sophomores — Braeton Rinner, Carson Cooper, Conner Wiley, Damion Meyer, Lucas Rushing, Thayer Rooney.

Freshmen — Spencer Brown.

Participation awards — Luke McElwain, Ben Hill, Chasin Luther, Gavin Millslagle, Steven Bell.