Fairview freshman Seraphin Castelino will play in the No. 1 single finals. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — For the first time in nearly two decades, there might be a new champion in Class 5A girls tennis.
Emphasis on might.
Fairview and 19-time defending champion Cherry Creek are locked in a battle for the team title at the 5A state championships. Fairview holds a slim 58-56 lead in team points following the second day of competition on Friday.
It is a major development in the world of girls tennis. On top of the 19 consecutive titles, Cherry Creek has won 20 of the past 21 championships. And more often than not, those championships have come in a runaway fashion: The Bruins have bested the second-place finisher by an average of 27.6 points during their streak.
The streak is to a point where, from outsiders looking in, championships are simply expected from Cherry Creek girls tennis.
Cherry Creek coach Chris Jacob talks with Gloria Son during her match on Friday morning. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
“We try to really make it about these 11 girls this year. It’s not about the steak,” said Cherry Creek coach Chris Jacob. “But they know about it. They’re smart and they research stuff. … Everybody talks about it at school. They hear about it constantly, so there’s tremendous pressure that goes along with that.
“But they handle it well. I can’t imagine handling myself like that at 17; it’s lovely to see.”
The Knights, on the other hand, have been runner-up four times — 2015, 2012, 2011 and 2010 — in recent seasons.
“We don’t talk about winning,” Fairview coach Susan Stensrud said. “I believe we have the opportunity, the chance, the potential to win it all. But on a day-to-day basis, I don’t talk about winning. I talk about the girls playing their best match, playing their best game, maximizing their potential, and how they can support their teammates.”
Still, Stensrud later, “(The girls) are excited, but they’re very focused on the fact that all of us have a part in it. They’re all trying to think of what their part is.”
Fairview’s current position is made more impressive considering that only four players returned from last season’s varsity team, including the loss of defending No. 1 singles champion Amber Shen, who opted not to play this season as a sophomore.
Seraphin Castelino, a freshman, stepped into the No. 1 singles spot for the Knights, and will play in the final on Saturday. Castelino beat Mountain Vista’s Casey Zhong in three sets (6-7, 6-1, 6-1) to advance. She is the younger sister of former 5A boys No. 1 singles champion Ignatius Castelino.
Castelino will face Poudre’s Ky Ecton in the final. Ecton outlasted Cherry Creek’s Gloria Son in three sets.
“Amber was focused on her studies this year, and Seraphin just stepped right in,” Stensrud said. “For her to — two freshmen, she and Sophie (Pearson) — to drop in our lap this year has been quite a coup this year.”
Pearson will be in a crucial matchup on Saturday, in the No. 3 singles final against Cherry Creek freshman Sayuri Garud. It is one of two remaining head-to-head matchup between the two teams, the other coming in the third-place match at No. 4 doubles.
The Knights also have Clare Lupo and Denali Pinto playing for a title at No. 4 doubles.
Cherry Creek, meanwhile, underwent a rebuild of its own. The Bruins lost three top players to transfers at the January semester break, and returned just five varsity players.
But the transition?
“Not a problem, really,” Jacob said. “It allowed other girls to step up and move into these spots that they’ve worked for.”
The Bruins really gelled during a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a national tournament in March, Jacob said.
And so, “For as tough as that sounds, it was a real smooth transition for us,” Jacob said. “The girls responded, and they get along really well, and they’re supporting each other. We’re in a good spot.”
In addition to Garud, the Bruins have sophomore Micha Handler playing for the No. 2 singles championship, and the duo of Allison Murphy and Emily Wilkens in the No. 2 doubles title match.
Counting playbacks — each team has three positions in third-place matches — both Fairview and Cherry Creek have 15 potential points remaining.
“Some people ask me, ‘Do you want to know what the (team) points are?'” Stensrud said. “And I don’t want to know. I just to know at the end. … It stresses me out too much.”
Poudre’s Ky Ecton will play for the title at No. 1 singles. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Mountain Vista is currently in third place with 37 points, ahead of Poudre (29 points). Poudre has two finalists: Ecton and No. 2 singles finalist Alessia Fabiano, who is an exchange student from Italy.
Heritage is in fifth place with 19 points, while Fossil Ridge, Denver East and Ponderosa sit in a tie for sixth at 15 points.
The finals all begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Gates Tennis Center. Admission is free.