Kent Denver’s team gathers on the podium and celebrates their 4A tennis title. (Zach Marburger/CHSAANow.com)
PUEBLO — Mother Nature may not have cooperated, but nothing could put a damper on the smiles of Kent Denver’s boys tennis team this weekend.
Ignoring the ugly weather and holding off a surging Colorado Academy squad, Kent Denver captured its second straight Class 4A boys tennis championship Saturday at Pueblo City Park.
Heavy rain Friday caused major delays and forced the tournament to run late into Saturday afternoon, setting up a tension-filled final few hours for Kent Denver head coach Randy Ross.
“Are you sure we got it?” asked Ross in the waning minutes of championship action. “I’m very excited obviously. This is what we work for and play for. It’s great that it turned out to be such a close margin actually. It’s great for high school tennis. We had a lot of good battles out there today. It was fun.”
Kent Denver finished with a total score of 86. Colorado Academy finished in second with 78 total points. Find complete 4A results here.
Both squads captured three individual championships Saturday. For Kent Denver, it was their dominance in doubles that secured the overall team victory. Duo Andrew Thompson and Travis Rase won the No. 3 doubles bracket, brothers Blake Parsons and Drew Parsons came out on top in No. 2 doubles, and Kevin Adams and Niko Hereford won the No. 1 doubles bracket.
Colorado Academy’s Fletcher Kerr and Noah Forman won the No. 2 and No. 3 singles bracket, respectively. John Barron and Tyler Fairbain also added a championship to Colorado Academy’s tally in No. 4 doubles.
In third place with 54 total points was Niwot, thanks in large part to the work of senior Spencer Lang, who defeated Kent Denver’s Willie Gold 6-4, 6-2 to capture the No. 1 singles championship.
Niwot’s Spencer Lang, right. (Zach Marburger/CHSAANow.com)
For Lang, who came in third in last year’s No. 1 singles bracket, it was a taste of redemption in the final tennis match of his high school career.
“Last year was really heartbreaking. It really wanted it,” said Lang after his victory. “Coming into this match I was pretty nervous. Last high school match. I’ve had this goal for a very long time and I just wanted to control what I could control.”
What Lang controlled over and over again was his powerful serve, though after the match said the biggest key was his ability to stay away from opponent Gold’s strength.
“My serve was really good today. Probably the best it’s been all tournament,” said Lang. “I thought I was really good coming in, catching with my volleys, not letting him dictate. I know he (Gold) has a really good forehand.”
With the state championship, Lang joins his brother Harrison in the state record books. The elder Lang bother won the No. 1 singles championship for Niwot in 2012.
For state champion Kent Denver and Ross, Saturday was the culmination of a season in which they knew they had a target on their backs. According to Ross, his team of veterans didn’t mind one bit.
“We knew this would be a good year for us, but so did everybody else in the world,” said Ross. “Therefore, every time they played us, they brought their best tennis, and that’s good. It made my guys live up to their reputation.”
The championship is Kent Denver’s fourth title since 2008, and Ross’ seventh overall. Thanks to the wacky weather and dramatic finish, Ross believes that this year’s title is particularly memorable.
“Yesterday was a challenging day, just sitting around the hotel and trying to keep the boys from doing anything they weren’t supposed to do,” said Ross with a laugh. “But it was a great evening last night, playing under the lights.
“This was a memorable tournament. People are going to be talking about this one for years. This tournament here brings out the best in a lot of people. I love this place. I love this tournament.”