The Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division II-IV Tennis Championships started here in McPherson on October 5th. With the day lasting almost 12 hours, the meet proved that the girls can persevere through almost anything. The meet began late and put the first round single matches on courts but shortly after starting, rain was inevitable and caused an hour delay, pushing back the meet to 12:30 a.m.

The Bullpups, the No. 2- ranked team right behind Wichita Collegiate in Class 4A outlasted every team there with a total of 62 total team points. The biggest competition there was the second placed team, Wichita Collegiate with 56, Winfield (45), and Buhler (40) following.

“I tried to focus on my weakness during daily practice and improve in those areas. As difficult of a competitor as Collegiate always is, I think our team is deep enough to compete at their level,” said Ellea Ediger. “I expected our team to finish top three in League, but after the first place finish I’m sure we can do really well in regionals and state. The biggest goal that we have to worry about now is to have all six varsity players qualify for state.”

With both Ellea Ediger and Maisie Edmonson playing No.1 and No. 2 singles they finished on top with a 3-0 record of the day placing them both first. Cassidy Corrigan and Rachel Ivers playing together for only the second time in doubles placed third in No. 1 doubles. Losing a tough loss to the 2014 4A State Champions, Jessica Steffen and Kendra Nachtigal of Buhler in the semi-finals. Heidi Myers and Shelby Gudenkauf place second in No. 2 doubles losing another tough loss to Wichita Collegiate a team with a third place finisher in singles playing.

“I honestly didn’t know what to expect coming into the championship game for No. 2 doubles against Collegiate,” said Shelby Gudenkauf. “We had nothing to lose in that match and I just remember turning to Heidi between points knowing that we just needed to play the best we could.”

The girls will prepare for Regionals on Friday and Saturday, October 9-10 at Smoky Valley.