PUEBLO — Freshman are supposed to bide their time. They need seasoning, both physical and mental, to compete against 18-year-olds.
Tatum Burger of Steamboat Springs has the appearance of a first-year high school student, but the savvy play of a veteran.
Steamboat’s Tatum Burger. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
And now she has something to show for it with a Class 4A state championship in No. 1 singles in her first taste of prep tennis.
Burger, coming off victories over fellow title favorites Tara Edwards of Colorado Academy in the quarterfinals and Payton Fielding of Cheyenne Mountain in the semis, was cruising through the tournament in impressive fashion Monday and Tuesday at the City Park Complex in Pueblo.
But Alex Weil of St. Mary’s Academy, a senior who finished third in No. 1 singles in 2013 and was the state runner-up in 2014, was waiting in the finals. Weil, who greatly outsized Burger, overpowered the freshman 6-4 in the first set with her big serve and forehand.
Burger adjusted and began using her superior agility to her advantage. She won the second set 6-1.
“Once we started extending the rally and having her make plays, it was in Tatum’s favor,” Steamboat Springs coach John Aragon said.
From then on, it was all Burger as she secured the 4A crown with an easy 6-0 win in the third and final set. The freshman joined Kacey Bernard as the only Steamboat girls to ever win No. 1 singles at the 4A state championships.
Burger capped off her season with an unblemished record at 17-0.
Aragon knew he had something special in Burger, but also respected the caliber of players in the field.
“From the start, when we looked at the draw the big one was the CA girl,” he said. “She is a player. Tatum came up against CA and played tough and took it to her.”
Then came Cheyenne Mountain’s Fielding, a big hitter, and finally Weil, an equally big hitter.
“When she made them play to extend the points, it was in Tatum’s favor,” Aragon said. “She’s like a little pitbull. She’ll fight to the end.”
Burger, a quiet competitor on the court, was never rattled on the state’s biggest stage. But, she was thankful to have the support of her own built-in fan section. Five siblings, four of which were able to make it to Pueblo for finals, were in her corner.
“I’m really lucky to have my whole family here,” she said.
Burger not only won the crown for herself, but also for Steamboat, a program that has long been relevant statewide with a dozen regional titles in a row. The Sailors know success, but Wednesday was something special. Aragon hopes they can feed off the breakthrough.
“I think it’s going to get more kids out there playing,” he said. “We have a good junior program. We have a pro in there now working with them. I think Steamboat is going to come back on top like the old days. We were always a threat. Hopefully that’ll happen again.”
As for the team race, the first two days were dominated by Cheyenne Mountain as the Indians qualified for semifinals in all seven positions, reached five finals, and captured their seventh consecutive girls tennis state title and 20th in school history.
Cheyenne Mountain won the 4A team title. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
The Indians closed well by winning No. 1 doubles (Casey Ahrendsen and Ally Arenson), No. 2 doubles (Tory Louis and Claire Dibble), and No. 3 doubles (Megan Dibble and Chelsey Geisz). Each pair also won the 2014 state titles in the same positions and went undefeated this year. Coach Dave Adams has 25 total team championships to his name at Cheyenne Mountain, 17 on the boys side and eight on the girls side.
He’s already looking forward to the future.
“We’ve got a nucleus of a pretty good team coming back, but we’ll have to retool some things,” he said. “We’re losing half of two, half of three, and half of four doubles. It’s the same thing everybody goes through.”
“I’m just happy for these girls and I’m trying to stay dry for the moment,” he said with a laugh right before getting the traditional Gatorade bucket dumped on him.
As much as the 4A tennis championships continued to be monopolized by the team in maroon and white, Cheyenne Mountain finished with 73 points to Kent Denver’s 46 and Colorado Academy’s 37, Wednesday was a chance for individuals to fight back.
Kent Denver’s Caroline Kawula defeated the Indians’ Daniela Adamczyk 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in a near-three-hour match for the No. 2 singles championship.
In No. 3 singles, Maeve Kearny, a Kent sophomore, took down another Cheyenne Mountain girl by beating Jessica Metz 6-3, 6-1.
Trinity Payne and Cammy Lee won No. 4 doubles for D’Evelyn over Holy Family’s Brianna Bartlett and An Tran.