Boys tennis crowned co-champs

The boys tennis team had excellent performances at the 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 3 Championships held in Medford on Monday and Tuesday, May 9 and 10. The Outlaws tied with North Bend for a first-place finish and were crowned co-champions. If head-to-head matches had been counted the Outlaws would have won 3-1.

Canyonville Christian took third place and Hidden Valley and Henley tied for third.

Three players, Ben Fullhart (No. 1 singles), and Colby Gilmore and Austin Williams (No. 1 doubles), will head to the state championships next week.

Fullhart started off the tournament with a decisive 6-0, 6-0 win over Paul Zhu of Canyonville Christian and then beat Zack Leinginger of Henley 6-2, 6-2. Ben notched a third consecutive win with his 6-0, 6-0 victory over Cody Phillips of Saint Marys. Fullhart recorded 10 aces in his match against Phillips with one ace on a match point.

Unfortunately, Fullhart lost his next two matches: a 2-6, 2-6 loss to Will Cochrane of Phoenix in the semifinals and a 3-6, 6-7, (2-6) loss to Kevin Payne of Hidden Valley. Payne placed third and Fullhart finished fourth.

Coach Garth Tosello said, "Ben lived up to his No. 3 seed and only lost four games in three matches. He performed up to my expectations and qualified for state. He played a very tough semi-final against the eventual winner (Cochrane)."

Fullhart told The Nugget he is both nervous and excited about the upcoming state championships.

"I'm excited to be able to see and play against good players," said Fullhart, "but I'm a little nervous, too. My hope is to make it to the quarterfinals."

Gilmore and Williams won by default in their first match of the tourney and then went on to win three matches in a row. The duo defeated Abruzzini and Wardle of Hidden Valley 6-3, 6-2 and Kahler and Johnson of North Bend 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Gilmore and Williams recorded a 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Cuzzort and Scott of North Bend in the semifinals and then suffered a 3-6, 3-6 loss to Morse and Pena of Cascade Christian in the finals for a second-place finish.

Tosello said, "Colby and Austin weren't seeded, so they came in knowing they were a dark horse. For us, that led to excitement. They'd been improving every week, and we knew they had a good shot at the semi-finals and making state. They outperformed my expectations by making the finals and pushing the eventual winner and giving them a run for their money."

Freshman Paul Fullhart (No. 2 singles), in his first district appearance, won two matches, which included a 6-4, 7-6, (7-2) victory over Kris Crawford (No. 1 seed) of Klamath Union in a tiebreaker.

Freshman Devon Calvin (No. 4 singles), also in his first district appearance, won a first-

round match which lasted two-and-a-half hours, the longest match of the tourney. Calvin defeated Shawn Saenger of Henley 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

No. 3 singles player, Luke Gnos, lost his first round and went into consolation where he played two great rounds and then lost 3-8 to Shawn Saenger of Henley, the eventual winner of the consolation bracket.

Tosello was pleased with his team's effort and performance.

"Our goal as a team is to always win districts, but realistically, halfway through the season I though we'd make the top three. We kept pushing, and the boys showed tenacity and won more matches than anyone thought they could and came away with the district title."

The State Tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday, May 19-21, at the University of Oregon's tennis complex.