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Guilford has the grandest tennis history in the NIC-10.
But that is what it is — history. Or at least what it was until the last two weekends.
Guilford followed up its narrow NIC-10 title over Hononegah by winning its 13th girls tennis sectional title Saturday — but only its second in 20 years. The Vikings had their entire team qualify for state and finished with 28 points. Auburn was second in the Class 2A Guilford Sectional, held indoors at Boylan, with 24 points and Hononegah a distant third with 14.
“The girls are super stoked,” Guilford coach David Woosley said. “It means a lot to the school. We have had a long, long history of tennis success, but it’s been awhile since we won. It’s nice to bring it back.”
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Guilford’s boys teams won 28 of the first 29 sectional titles when sectionals began in 1982 but hasn’t won since 2010. The girls team last won in 2014.
“It’s amazing. We are all so excited,” said Mackenzie Larson, who teamed with Laci Belknap to finish second in doubles. “None of us knew we had won until (Woosley) said that we won. We were all so excited.
“I don’t think any of us knew going into the season we had the possibility to do all that. And doing it together was really fun. We wouldn’t want it any other way. We’re one big family.”
Auburn had the brightest stars with Avery Trapp easily winning in singles and Addysen Feng and Rebecca Wang doing the same in doubles. But Guilford’s great depth saw Habiba Kamel take third in singles and Yeva Ksenafontova fourth. Both doubles teams also reached state, as Lexi Whitham and Amelia Runne took third.
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“That was so amazing,” Larson said. “Most of us were more proud of our teammates and happy for them than for ourselves. It was so stressful watching them.”
Also reaching state were Hononegah’s Elle Loch (second in singles) and Belvidere North’s Elizabeth Abbott and Leilani Mora (fourth in doubles).
Class 1A Rochelle Sectional
Rockford Lutheran qualified Melissa Hillman for state in singles and a doubles team of Katelyn de Guzman and Hillman’s sister, Megan. Both Lutheran entries finished second. Boylan’s Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Isabelle Grisanzio beat Lutheran 6-4, 6-1 to win the doubles title. Lutheran (18 points) and Boylan (16) finished a close third and fourth in the team race, behind Sycamore (22) and Dixon (20).
Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Guilford, once a tennis dynasty, back on top of NIC-10 and sectionals