The Road to State: The girls golf and tennis teams have qualified for state and are preparing by team bonding and more drills

After placing first in state the past two years, the girls golf team is heading back this to state this year, which will take place on Oct. 25 and 26 in Emporia, Kan. The competing team consists of freshmen Ingrid Blacketer and Faith Grecian, sophomores Maren Adams, Sofia Wehner and Maggie Leonard and senior Tess Roman. 

The team will arrive at the competition on Oct. 23, where they’ll play practice rounds and have a team dinner before the actual competition. The two day tournament will consist of 18 holes.  

With three-hour practices four days a week at various clubs depending on the day, the girls feel prepared to compete, according to Blacketer. But as with any big match, the pressure is always on.

“I’m honestly nervous,” Adams said. “But I’m okay with it because usually the nerves make me play better.”

Along with practices, coach Dave Hanson provided each of them with personalized advice, which vary from how to perfect their swing to how to mentally prepare for the big match.

Although Hanson plays the role of coach on the green, he’s also become a mentor to the girls — always working to create a safe space for the girls to be themselves. Hanson asks the girls about their feelings and listens when they need it. He’s always ready with snack bags of sandwiches, fruit and chips in case any of them need an energy boost.

This year, senior Tess Roman is the only returning member on the state team, with it being all other five players’ first times on varsity. Even so, Roman has full confidence that her team members will do well at state. 

“Everyone is pretty excited,” senior Tess Roman said. “Since the rest of the team is new, I bet everyone else on the team will be pretty nervous. But I think they’ll handle it well.”

The girls golf team brought home the state trophy in 2019 and 2020, so the pressure is higher this year, according to Blacketer. The team is the underdog this year, according to Roman, but that lessens the stress on the team.

Roman, along with her team, is excited to go to state because of the close bond her team has formed. While they’re excited to grow their skills at state, they’re also excited to grow their friendship even more. 

“Our team is really close this year,” Roman said. “It’s a lot less stressful because we’re the underdog. Everyone is friends with everyone. We have a group chat and we text in it every day, all the time. It’s really good.”

The East state tennis team is going to state this year, after winning first the past two years. The team consists of senior Bridget Epstein, juniors Bryson Langford, Greta Stechschulte and Katie Schmidt and sophomores Abigail Long and Katie Murphy.

Throughout the season so far, the team has competed in tournaments in anticipation of state, even placing first at the Sunflower League tournament on Oct. 4.

Doubles teams Langford and Stechschulte placed first, while Long and Schmidt placed second. In the singles match-ups, Murphy placed second and Epstein placed third. 

“I am honestly really excited,” Long said. “Because last year, I was there as a freshman and to go back and walk around the same girls, it’s really fun to do it twice.” 

The team has two-hour practices each day, where they focus on the skills they need for state during their practice, from their serving skills to their volleys, all to prepare for their biggest match of the year.

Stechschulte and Langford​​ have placed first at state in doubles every year they’ve been at East so far, and are hoping to carry on the tradition as upperclassmen.

“[Winning the past two years] make us a little bit nervous but excited to have such an opportunity to go three in a row which we’re hoping to do,” Langford said.

Langford and Stechschulte have been training for state by playing against Long and Schmidt in scrimmage doubles matches to mimic the competitive atmosphere.

Team members take year-round lessons outside of East at places like Overland Park Racquet Club to further improve their skills. The lessons consist of basic conditioning like running and scrimmaging. 

“We all have individual goals in what we need to work on but for Greta and I specifically, it’s our aggressiveness at the net when we’re playing doubles, so our volleys and overheads,” Langford said.

The girls are excited to play at state again this year, and ready to show their skill and hopefully add a trophy to East’s trophy case, according to Long.