Mahan places third at H-10

CARROLL — Creston junior Josie Mahan placed third in No. 2 singles to lead Creston’s seventh-place finish in the Hawkeye Ten Girls Tennis Tournament Wednesday.

Creston scored eight points in seventh place. Lewis Central edged Clarinda for the team title, 218-26. St. Albert was third with 19 points. No. 1 singles champion was Lanee Olson of Lewis Central. The Clarinda duo of Taylor Cole and Mayson Hartley won No. 1 doubles.

Besides Mahan’s appearance in the No. 2 singles semifinals and third-place finish, the Panthers got eighth-place finishes from Caitlin Bruce in No. 1 singles and the sophomore doubles team of Ava Adamson and Sasha Wurster.

The doubles team of Brooklyn McKinney and Kolbey Bailey won their first match but did not place.

“Today was a great day for the Hawkeye Ten Tournament,” Creston coach Kevin Cooper said. “We had our chances to get some more team points and just weren’t able to get that done. Going into today we had talked about getting double-digit points and seeing if we could get in the top five or six teams, and we came up just short of that goal. While we do lose two seniors (Bruce and McKinney), we have four others from today coming back next year that were able to get some valuable experience at the Hawkeye Ten Tournament.”

Mahan won her first match, lost to the top seed from Harlan and then won 9-8 with a 7-2 tiebreaker score in her third-place match.

“Josie had a really good day in the No. 2 singles bracket,” Cooper said. “She has really improved throughout the year and that showed today. She was very consistent and that was the difference between her and some of her opponents.”

Cooper said the sophomore doubles duo of Adamson and Wurster played at a faster pace than they are accustomed to in their usual spots in the lineup, but they managed to win their first consolation match to get into the placing round on their way to finishing eighth.

“Today was a great learning experience for them, and they will only improve from here,” Cooper said.

Bruce was in the rugged No. 1 singles bracket and won two matches for the day, including her opening match and her first consolation match.

“Caitlin ended up going 2-3 for the day to give us a team point in eighth place,” Cooper said. “She has it tough playing against the conference’s top players night in and night out. She has been a great leader for our team this year.”

McKinney and Bailey were unable to advance after winning their first match of the day.

“Brooklyn and Kolbey have played well towards the end of the season at our three doubles spot, but just couldn’t quite get that second win today,” Cooper said.

GIRLS

Hawkeye Ten Conference

Team standings — 1. Lewis Central 28; 2. Clarinda 26; 3. St. Albert 19; 4. Red Oak 18; 5. Kuemper Catholic 17; 6. Harlan 12; 7. Creston 8; 8. (tie) Shenandoah and Denison-Schleswig 6; 10. Glenwood 4; 11. Atlantic 0.

No. 1 singles — Caitlin Bruce (Cr) def. Restal (Glenwood), 8-1; Olson (LC) def. Bruce (Cr), 8-0; Bruce (Cr) def. Sorenson (Atlantic), 8-4; Simons (Kuemper) def. Bruce (Cr), 8-5; Pestal (Glenwood) def. Bruce (Cr), 9-7, in seventh place match.

No. 2 singles — Josie Mahan (Cr) def. Mullanix (Glenwood); Swenson (Harlan) def. Mahan (Cr), 8-4; Mahan (Cr) def. Janssen (Kuemper), 9-8 (7-2 tiebreaker), in third place match.

No. 1 doubles — K. Schulz-C. Leinen (Denison-Schleswig) def. Ava Adamson-Sasha Wurster (Cr), 8-1; Adamson-Wurster (Cr) def. S. McGindss-S. Jones (Harlan), 8-4; G. Bohnet-L. Narmi (St. Albert) def. Adamson-Wurster (Cr), 8-4; B. Hays-G. Jacobs (Shenandoah) def. Adamson-Wurster (Cr), 8-4, in seventh place match.

No. 2 doubles — Brooklyn McKinney-Kolbey Bailey (Cr) def. C. Schmitz-A. Kay (Harlan), 8-2; B. Damgaard-L. Bergantzel (Lewis Central) def. McKinney-Bailey (Cr), 8-1; A. Martin-C. Gough (Shenandoah) def. McKinney-Bailey (Cr), 8-2.