Girls tennis team prepares to rebuild

Craig Wright
March 19, 2013

The girls tennis team looks to rebuild after graduating seven seniors and losing coach Justin Carrier to an assistant coaching position at Pacific University. The team is now led by Coach Linn Beswick and captains Mackenzie Coronel, Emmalee Scheid, Emily Borne and Nicole Campbell, all seniors.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year, so I think the biggest challenge will be rebuilding our team,” Scheid said. “Thankfully, we have a lot of great players coming in.”

Coronel advanced all the way to the semifinals of the state tournament last year with doubles partner Emily Erbin. She hopes to have similar success this year with Campbell.

“Personally I hope to make it to state again with Shorty [Campbell],” Coronel said. “I have high hopes for us so we’ll see how it turns out, but I think we will have a pretty good turn out.”

Playing number two doubles this year will be the senior team of Scheid and Borne. “My personal goal is to obviously have a shot at state, but to also have a fun season and really get to know the underclassmen,” Scheid said.

At the top of the singles lineup is Ella Riddle, junior, who recently moved from Yorkshire, England. Riddle appears to be one of the top players in the league and has a great chance to make it to the state tournament.

Rebecca Cruze, sophomore, will play number two singles in her second year of varsity.

The rest of the lineup has already shifted multiple times during three preseason matches against Sunset, Barlow and Sprague. As the season continues, a less flexible lineup will be set. Other members of the team include Madelyn Kunstel, sophomore, Jenna Broadhurst, Priya Basak, Julia Casad, Callie Olson, Amanda Comings, juniors and Sarah Chung, senior.

Weather permitting, the next match will be tomorrow at Oregon City High School starting at about 3:45. On Thursday, the team will take on the Canby Cougars at home before heading into spring break.

“It’s going to be hard to pick up from the great season we had last year,” Coronel said, “but I’m still hopeful because the new members of the team are fairly good and optimistic.”

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About the Contributor

Craig Wright, Reporter

Whether running drills on the tennis court or jamming in his basement, Craig Wright, senior, fully commits himself to his passions. Wright has been playing tennis since he was six, when he was shorter than the net. He has been on the Boys Varsity Team all four years of high school and hopes to be captain this year. Wright is just as big of a fanatic about music as he is about tennis; he’s been to too many concerts to have a sure count; his best estimate is 34.

Wright’s interest in tennis was inherited; his dad played tennis in high school and shared his interest with Wright’s mom. His parents introduced he and his brother, Brett, to the sport and they both took to it. Last year Wright and his doubles partner, Jonathan Macemon, Class of 2012, were third in the District Championship and made it to State. In fact Wright’s favorite vacation was going South Carolina, primarily because he and his family were able to play tennis on real green clay courts.

Even though he plays tennis year round,somehow Wright has time for intramural basketball. However, according to Wright, when it comes to intramural “the less effort the better.” Another extracurricular activity that Wright participates in is Symphonic Band; he is a percussionist.

Wright’s interest in music extends beyond percussion; he has been playing guitar since sixth grade and bass guitar since eighth grade. The reason that Wright is so interested in playing instruments is that he is a huge music fan.

“I like a little bit of everything,” Wright said.

Wright’s brother introduced him to a wide variety of music, and they share many favorite bands like The Beatles, The Replacements, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, Gaslight Anthem, The Ramones and The Clash. Wright idolizes many musicians and dreams of meeting them.

“Joe Strummer[The Clash] would be awesome [to meet], but he’s dead,” Wright said, “I’d like to meet Brian Fallon[The Gaslight Anthem]; he’s just a cool dude.”

Wright’s interest in the arts continues into his academic career. His favorite class is AP English, and he thinks he wants to study English or journalism in college.