Tennis team looking to repeat success

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish High School tennis team has been practicing since March 10, gearing up for a season loaded with expectations.

After finishing with perfect undefeated regular seasons last year, both the boys and girls will be hungry for another big run in 2008.

Last season was an epic one for the Bulldogs in more than one way. While the players were on fire in a figurative sense last year, the tennis bus literally caught fire, burning to cinders with the boys’ second-place state trophy still inside.

The Bulldogs are hoping to have a little less drama this year, but there has been just a tiny bit of it so far.

Head boys coach Kathy Sullivan has taken over the girls’ duties as well after Patrick Dryden stepped down from coaching the Lady Bulldogs.

Sullivan, in her third year as a coach at Whitefish High, says she is confident her transition to both boys and girls coach will be smooth.

“It’s been a lot of fun so far,” she said.

Sullivan has hired two assistant coaches and is working on getting a third to help her out. The Bulldogs have been forced to remain indoors for practice so far due to the weather, and Sullivan said her kids are eager for that to end.

“We’re very excited to get out on the courts,” she said. “Hopefully, the city will come out and spray some warm water for us.”

The team has been working on conditioning, strength and quickness drills indoors this week, including working out a few days at The Summit in Kalispell.

“We have to work all the core muscles. A lot of strength in tennis comes from the legs, so we work everything,” Sullivan said.

The tennis team is returning five senior boys and three senior girls.

“Certainly Brielle Menegazzi and McCara Cullen are going to be leaders for the girls, but the whole team should be strong,” Sullivan said. “For the boys, the whole squad should be great. We have a couple kids from overseas, Rigoberto Paris (from Bolivia) and Renzo Caimi (from Chile) will be pretty exciting to watch.”

Sullivan said that the Northwest A conference should be pretty tough this year.

“All the teams are competitive, but Polson especially always has a strong program, as do Bigfork and Libby,” she said. “It should be close.”

The Bulldogs’ first match of the season will be on Saturday, April 4. The boys will travel to Columbia Falls for a match at 3 p.m., while the girls will play at home against the Wildkats.