On Friday morning May 4 the Memorial Park tennis courts turned to a sea of gold, blackand orangeasthe final showdown pitted Arapahoe against Lewis-Palmer in allsevenflights ofthe Class 5ARegion8 girls tennis finals.

Lewis-Palmer would go on to win all seven finals securingtop seedState births for all 11 players and winning Region8 as a team. The State Tournament takes place in Boulder May 10-12.

" It is always a difficult time for the coaching staff when you have seven matches taking place all at the same time. I was confident however that mypre-matchspeech and ritual would inoculate them from a great degree of the "mind disease" which takes place during a tennis match. Tennis is such a mental game. It is difficult enough to have to deal with one's opponent, let alone a secondopponent lurking inside yourown mind. As a coach I try to get my players to have one opponent. The playeron the other side of the netischallenge enough. Keep it simple and allow the body to react as instinctive as possible."

Prior to Regionals Lewis-Palmer had lost one dual match in season.That loss was topowerhouse Cherry Creek. The week prior saw the tennisRangers place first in The Northern Colorado Tennis Tournament held in Loveland. " All indications were that we would have a strong showing at Regionals. However, I try to live by a philosophy of expect nothing. Be ready for anything." Perhaps LP could have read regional success in the tea leavesas the Ranger'sNo.1 singles player Deanna Thirkell defeated the tournaments second seed Nicole Cimino of Overland 1- 6, 7- 6(8-6),6-1 in a three hour first round match. " Ithink the rest of the team was so pumped after watching that match theybelieved they could do anything, and they did."After advancing to the finals Lewis-Palmer would meet and defeat Arapahoe in the following matches. No.1 singlesThirkell defeat Ray 6-3,6-3. No.2singles Sam Hess defeat Ray 6- 4,6- 0. No.3 singles Kelsie Hiesterdefeat Chang 6-1,6-3. No.1 doubles Megan Underhill / Niki Taylor defeat Craig / Stemper

6-7(6-8), 6-4, 6-3. No.2 doubles Kameo Kardel / Jenna Wheaton defeat Maxey / Morris 6-2, 7-6(8-6). No.3 doubles Mai Ichihara / Maddie Hester defeat Lorenzo / Pacetti 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Finally the LP No.4 doubles team of Chloe Hansen / Abby Brierton would defeat Blakney / Corder 6-4 , 7- 6(8-6). The final team point standings forClass 5A Region 8 were Lewis-Palmer 84, Arapahoe 63, Overland 23, Coranado 18, Doherty 16, Sand Creek 15, Douglas County 10 and

John F. Kennedy 3

"We have one of the deepest singles squads in the state with Thirkell, Hess and Hiester playing 1,2 and3 singles respectively. Our doubles teams have so much talent and laden with playoff and tournament experience. I've taught tennis to many of our girl's. Some since they were 9 years old and younger andhave been Head Coach of LP tennis for 6 years. I've got so many memories and to watch these once little kidsdo what they did made thisperhaps the most rewarding coaching day of my life.When asked who to watch out for in the post season my answer is simply 1 singles through 4 doubles. Expect nothing. Be ready for anything."