Valley athletes compete in state tennis tournament for first time

PALMER — As one Valley player made history Saturday afternoon, a coach from another team looked forward to the potential for local athletes in the Valley’s newest prep sport.

Palmer junior Johnie Burton became the first Valley athlete to win a state tournament tennis match and five Colony athletes also competed during the final day of the ASAA/First National Bank State Tennis Championships at Alaska Club East in Anchorage Saturday.

Burton defeated West Valley’s Brons Gerrish 8-7 in consolation bracket action in the boys’ singles class. Burton, Palmer’s lone tennis player, finished 1-2 in three matches in the tournament. Burton opened the meet with a close loss to Kelson McPherson of Juneau-Douglas. McPherson needed the tiebreaker to edge Burton (7-5, 2-6, 1-0). Nicolai Benko beat Burton 8-4 in the final consolation match.

Colony boasted five athletes competing in three different classes in the tournament. The Knights finished without a victory in the meet, but Knights head coach Susan Brunner said everyone is thrilled about the progress of the first-year program.

“Totally excited,” Brunner said by cellphone Saturday afternoon. “They went way further than they ever thought they would. They’re pretty surprised with themselves.”

Colony’s Peyton Johnstone (girls singles), Owen Ballos and Michael Crawford (boys doubles) and Michael Conner and Alex Tenditnyk (mixed doubles) participated in the meet. All five Colony state qualifiers are seniors, but Brunner said her athletes were happy with their seasons.

“They came off the court today feeling good about it, good about the way they finished,” Brunner said.

Chugiak’s Ripley Campnell beat Johnstone in the final match of the girls’ singles consolation bracket. Service’s Tom Hanks and Chris Bailey got past Ballos and Crawford 8-3 in boys’ doubles. Lathrop’s James Kardash and Rachel Jordan beat Conner and Tenditnyk 8-0 in the mixed doubles.

During the tournament’s first round, Chugiak’s Jed Butikofer and Izzy Larue defeated Conner and Tenditnyk (7-6, 6-2) in the mixed doubles quarterfinals. Service’s Dylan Bruce and Aiden Moon, the second seeds of their bracket, beat Ballos and Crawford (6-0, 6-0). West Valley’s Maddie Baumgarten beat Johnstone (6-1, 6-2) in girls’ singles.

The state tournament stage was dramatically different from what the Colony players had experienced. Other than scrimmages, Colony’s lone official meet before state was the Region III Championships in Kodiak. Saturday, the Knights played in front of solid crowds at Alaska Club.

“I thought they handled it pretty gracefully,” Brunner said.

Brunner said the Colony coaches are excited about the future and the potential of the program, and hopes to see interest in tennis continue to grow at Colony High.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.