Shawnee Mission East sweeps top spots at 6A tennis

The tennis players at the 6A State Tournament were greeted by a beautiful sunny day, but the rays of sunshine shined brightest on the shoulders of Shawnee Mission East, as they completed a clean sweep on their way to capturing the title at Riverside Tennis Center in Wichita.

Not only was Shawnee Mission East able to claim the overall team championship, but also came in first in both singles and doubles competition.  

Senior Mimi Fotopoulos was able to defend her singles title against Madison Rhyner of Blue Valley Northwest in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1, ending her high school career with back-to-back state titles.  As the tennis ball hit the court for the clinching point of the match, tears of happiness began to flow for the emotional Fotopoulos as her teammates rushed to hug her at the net.

“It is truly an unbelievable feeling to come back here and end up winning another state singles championship, but more importantly, I came back to win the team championship,” Fotopoulos said. “We did it, and I can’t believe it; it is an amazing feeling to go out with the state championship returning to East.”

Coach Sue Chipman said she reiterates the happiness felt by her team, as they accomplished a goal they had set at the beginning of the year.  Shawnee Mission East had been chasing this title down since 2008, and now it comes back home to the school’s trophy case.

“We have been after this one for about three years since we won last, as we trailed Blue Valley Northwest a couple years,” Chipman said. “This year we had enough strength to put it all together, and I know we weren’t far ahead.

We needed some breaks along the way, and the girls are delighted. Even though the squad is a small group here, there are another 30 kids at home that are going to be delighted that these six performed so well.”

This year those breaks didn’t fall the way of Blue Valley Northwest, as they finished just three points out of first behind East, claiming second in the state.  Coming in third was Washburn Rural.

Noddka Hayashi of Olathe Northwest came in third place in singles, behind Rhyner and Fotopoulos, respectively.

In doubles action, another title came the way of Shawnee Mission East, as Mollie Cooper and Elizabeth Wilcox defeated Ellen Fields and Megan Schultz of Blue Valley Northwest, 6-4, 6-2.  Taking third in doubles competition was Jennifer Lowe and Lindsay Haight of Blue Valley Northwest.

Maize was the highest Wichita area finisher with 7.5 team points, good enough for 10th place. Paige Lungwitz and Jess Holman finished in ninth place in the doubles bracket after knocking off Maria Stoica and Alex Welch of Washburn Rural, 9-7.

Lindy Wilkerson of Wichita Northwest took eighth place after falling 9-6 to Alexis Czapinski of Lawrence Free State. The Grizzlies finished 11th in the team standings.

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