Led by a fifth-place finish by No. 1 singles player Hallie Kretsinger, the Emporia High girls tennis team finished fourth at the Centennial League meet Monday at Junction City.
The Spartans finished with 59 team points along with Junction City, just one point back of third-place Hayden. Washburn Rural won the title with 84 points, while Topeka West was second with 74 points.
Krestinger went 5-1 over the course of the tournament, with her lone loss coming to Teri Hopkins of Topeka West in an 8-7(7-0) setback.
Krestinger rolled otherwise, taking matches from Linsday Roberts of Junction City, 8-0, Rachel Anderson of Manhattan, 8-0, Andrea Freeze of Topeka High, 8-1, Ashley Jones of Junction City, 8-1, and Shannon Johnston of Topeka West, 8-0.
The next-highest finishers for the Spartans came in doubles action, where the No. 1 doubles duo of Rachael Bachman and Emilia Chiroy went 4-2 for the tournament, good enough for seventh place.
Bachman and Chiroy defeated teams from Highland Park, 8-0, and Seaman, 8-3, to open play before dropping their first match to the team from Topeka High, 8-3. Bachman and Chiroy got back on track with an 8-3 win over Junction City before dropping their second match to Washburn Rural, 8-6. The pair closed out the tournament with an 8-3 win over teammates McKenzie Cinelli and Sarah Watkins.
Watkins and Cinelli were right behind Bachman and Chiroy, as they placed eighth with a 3-2 record in No. 2 doubles play.
Whitney Page, playing at the No. 2 singles spot, finished in 15th, as she lost matches to Danielle Quigley of Manhattan, 8-0, Alex O’Neal of Hayden, 8-0 and Jennie Mead of Seaman, 8-1, while picking up wins over Karen Nichols of Highland Park, 8-3, and Lindsay Roberts of Junction City, 8-1.
EHS boys soccer blasts Junction City, 11-2
Adrian Trujillo led an offensive onslaught for the Emporia High boys soccer team, as he scored five goals in an 11-2 Spartan victory over Junction City Monday night.
The Spartans also got three goals from Alex Guevara, Adam Sanchez scored twice and Gary Rivera scored once.
Emporia led just 3-2 at the half, as a new look on offense caused problems with the Spartans’ rhythm.
“In the first half, my team was scaring me,” Pearson. “We thought we would try to go in offensively heavy, so we moved a defender up the field, because I didn’t expect them (Junction City) to attack back. They did, and that kind of set us back.”
In the second half, the Spartans adjusted by sending a fourth defender back, which opened up the passing lanes for eight second-half EHS goals.
“We put one more guy on defense, and then the offense suddenly worked,” Pearson said. “There were just too many people up front. There was too much passing in the first half, and that slowed us down.”
Trujillo scored his first goal in the 37th minute of the first half and then exploded in the second, adding to his total with goals in the 47th, 50th, 72nd and 75th minutes.
The Spartans are back in action tonight with a matchup against Washburn Rural. Emporia High will be without its best defender, Juan Rangel, as he received a red card in the game against Junction City after the official heard Rangel use inappropriate language to a teammate.
Nichols leads Spartans with 11th-place finish
Tarra Nichols led the Emporia High gymnastics squad on Saturday at Lawrence Free State with her 11th-place finish in the uneven bars.
Nichols scored a 7.85, which was her lowest score of the season.
Hayley Fry turned in a 12th-place performance on the balance beam with a score of 8.1.
No team scores were kept, as some of the teams did not have the required three all-around performance needed to keep team scores,.Nichols, however, was the high finisher for the Spartans in the all-around competition with a score of 30.9. Fry finished with a 30.5 while Libby England finished with a score of 28.25.
The squad’s next meet is at noon on Saturday at Newton.