Marist junior tennis star Helena Klooster had a decision to make.
Play high-school tennis?
Or spend the fall playing U.S. Tennis Association events to improve her ranking and attract more college coaches?
It was a tough choice, but Klooster decided to compete with the RedHawks.
“I was deciding on what I should do,” Klooster said. “I finally decided to just do (high-school tennis) because it’s fun. I’m on a team and it teaches me good teamwork skills. The season is so short, so I’m like, why not?
“I was able to work on what I needed to work on during the season. And, at state, there is good competition so I stayed.”
Her choice turned out to be a good one.
Klooster made history on Oct. 25 becoming the first RedHawk to reach the IHSA state tennis tournament championship. She dropped a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 decision to York junior CJ Coan in the Class 2A title match at Hersey to finish second. She finished sixth as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore.
With a year left in her high-school career, the Orland Park resident has cemented her legacy among Southwest Regional Publishing tennis players.
Only three other area players reached a state title match — all from Lyons. Margie Lepsi won state titles in 1991 and 1993 and finished second in 1992. Lahari Yelamanchili won a title in 2015. Alex Chatt finished second in 2011.
Klooster opened the state tournament with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over South Elgin’s Abby Wolf.
She then rallied past Stevenson’s Kriti Mohan 1-6, 6-2, 10-4 before beating Asha Sarai of Hinsdale Central 6-4, 6-1.
On the second day, Klooster won 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 over Downers Grove South’s Gabby David in the quarterfinals before defeating New Trier’s Julia Ludwig 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals.
The top local finisher apart from Klooster was Nazareth junior Elaine McNamara, who reached the consolation fifth round and went 4-2 in Class 1A.
Running to sectionals
There was a logjam of Morton runners vying for first place in the Class 3A Lyons Regional on Oct. 25.
In a wild finish, Morton senior Orlando Sandoval took first with a time of 15 minutes, 00.31 seconds while senior teammate Alex Rodriguez was second with a 15:00.43 and junior Mustang Miguel Flores was third with a 15:00.70.
They will have another chance to sort things out on Nov. 1 at the Hinsdale Central Sectional.
Reavis’s Santiago Chavez won the Class 3A Argo Regional title with a 14:55.07 and will run again at Hinsdale Central.
In Class 1A, Chicago Christian’s girls team won the Class 1A McNamara Regional with 54 points — three better than runner-up Manteno. Senior Khira Moes led the Knights with third-place finish in 18:41.36.
The Knights are at the Lisle Sectional on Nov. 1.
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