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Jared Dean

The team looks to senior leadership to help direct the team towards success. "We still have our first singles, Jack Leach, and first doubles, Parker and Cole Dutko, from last year who are now all seniors, so we have a more experienced team than last year," juinor Keyan Shayegan says.

The boys tennis team has their goal of making the state tournament set again this year with a lineup unlike the lineups they have seen in previous years.

The boys tennis season is starting up and they will have their work cut out for them this year. The section 4AA conference is packed with talent including some of the top teams in the state like Mahtomedi and Mounds View, two teams that are consistent state competitors.

“Mounds View and Mahtomedi are two of the best teams in the state and we start off the season playing them back to back. Those will definitely be two of the toughest matchups of the year,” senior captain Jack Leach said.  

The first matchup of the year against Mahtomedi was rained out. Despite this delay the team’s spirits are still high with their eyes set on the state tournament at the end of the season. In order to get into the tournament they will need to beat either Mahtomedi or Mounds View in the section tournament.

“I definitely think this is one of the strongest teams I think we’ve had in recent years. We have had some strong teams in the past few years but this one is better than teams we’ve had in the past,” senior captain Jonathan Rustad said.

The team is filled with newer talent with a roster including a freshmen and even some middle schoolers. The team also has a strong sophomore presence, this gives the captains confidence for the seasons to come.  

“We try and be with the younger players in practice, one of the biggest things you can do to improve is just to go out and hit the ball with other players,” Rustad said.

Rustad and Leach are two of the four captains on the team and their leadership is needed with such a large team. The team did well last year but still did not finish as well as they wanted to. Last season the team missed out on the state tournament, something that all high school athletes strive for.  Juinor teammate Keyan Shayegan agreed with Leach and Rustad about their goals for the tournament.

“To make state we will have to beat Mounds View and/or Mahtomedi in the section tournament. We are really focussing on beating them during the regular season in order to get a good seed in the section tournament,” Shayegan said.

The veterans on the team have worked hard to include the newer players to help improve their play. Practice makes perfect and the team works hard in practice to make sure they are the best team they can be for the upcoming matches.

“After this year we are going to be losing a lot of players so I am excited to see how the younger players develop their talent this season,” Rustad said.