Franklin sophomore Emma Genter followed the lead of her ponytail when determining wind direction on Wednesday.
An unusual method, but a successful one.
Genter, the Grizzly Cubs’ No. 3 singles player, was one of four players from her squad crowed a Mid-State Conference champion at the league’s annual tournament at Franklin.
Overall, coach Rusty Hughes’ program broke a lengthy dry spell by claiming the team title with 34 points. Johnson County’s other Mid-State squads, Greenwood and Whiteland, were second and third, respectively.
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All five final matches involved county representation.
“I don’t know the exact date, but it’s been a while,” said 31st-year coach Hughes when asked the last time his program won the conference. “It’s probably been over 10 years. We’ve been close, but never over the hump.”
Hughes cited his team’s depth as one of the main reasons it was able to add to the school’s trophy case.
“We’ve got nine players that play in the positions that normally seven people start,” he said. “We don’t have any All-Americans on our team, but we have nine really good players. And we’ve got only one senior in our top nine.”
Genter was the first local player to triumph, winning her match in convincing fashion, 6-0, 6-1.
“I’m feeling really good. (Tuesday) night was a struggle,” said Genter, referring to her three-set semifinal decision over Plainfield’s Hannah Snider. “Tonight was a matter of playing with the wind. My coaches told me to understand what side the (court) the wind will help you on.”
Franklin’s Alexa Wilkison defeated Martinsville’s Ali Viewegh to take the No. 2 singles division. In the No. 2 doubles title match, Grizzly Cubs sophomores Allison Bennett and Rachel Pinnick downed Mooresville’s Grace Teders and Nicki Belton, 6-4, 6-2.
“Those girls are really good, but I think we matched up pretty well against them,” Pinnick said.
“The wind was a bit of a challenge,” Bennett added, “because you would have to rearrange how you would normally hit your shots because the wind would take them out or bring them in.”
Best friends since seventh grade, Bennett and Pinnick said the friendship works on the court.
“We make a pretty good team because we know where the other one is at and how to talk and stay positive,” Bennett said.
Runner-up Greenwood qualified the No. 1 doubles tandem of Alyssa Roscoe and Maecee Terhune for the championship match. However, they came up short against Plainfield’s Kiersten Martin and Claire Harper.
Woodmen coach Jeremy Runge was proud of the tennis his squad played over the three-day event.
“Coming into this, expectation-wise I don’t think anybody, including our team, thought that we would get second,” he said. “In the regular season we’ve struggled, lost a lot of 3-2 matches, so for us to come in and win all five matches that first night and even position ourselves to make a run, we’re very, very happy with that.”
The No. 1 singles match was won by Mooresville senior Morgan Fitzpatrick, who defeated Whiteland junior Reese Johnson.
