Sioux Falls Christian is celebrating a state ‘A’ boys tennis championship this week after a fun two-day battle with Rapid City Christian for the top spot in the standings.
This is the second boys tennis title for the Chargers since the two-class split, which occurred four years ago. Sioux Falls Christian won four singles flights and one doubles flight to take five of nine in the tournament.
The Chargers finished atop the rankings with 540.5 team points. Rapid City Christian followed close behind with 528. Aberdeen Roncalli (320), Huron (235), Lennox (231), and Madison (192.5) rounded out the top six placements.
“Completely a team effort. Congratulations to Rapid City Christian for a hard-fought state tennis tournament and just super proud of my boys here,” said Sioux Falls Christian head boys tennis coach John Williams. “We had some tough matches with them. We won some and they won some, and we ended up just having a few more points than them at the end. So, super proud of the boys and how they performed today and yesterday.”
Freshman Mitchell Hofer won in Singles Flight 1, while sophomore Rex Lefever claimed the title in Singles Flight 2. Logan Boyle, another freshman for the Chargers, won in Singles Flight 5, and seventh grader Elijah Lindgren took home the top spot in Singles Flight 6. Jack Squier, a sophomore, finished runner-up in Singles Flight 3, and Jack DeYoung, a sophomore too, placed second in Singles Flight 4.
The team of DeYoung and Lindgren then won in Doubles Flight 3, while Hofer and Squier, and Lefever and Boyle finished runner-up in Doubles Flights 1 and 2 respectively.
“We’ve got a young team. Our team consists of three sophomores, two freshmen, and a seventh grader,” Williams said. “I’m really looking forward to see how they continue to grow and improve and just looking forward to competing at the state tournament for years to come.”
Coach Williams also mentioned how even though some kids didn’t win their singles flight, their effort to bounce back and play hard in doubles played a role in the team reaching their goal at the end.
“It contributes to the team immensely. Every point matters as you saw there where we were in the team standings with Rapid City Christian. Any loss we would have had, it would have been the reverse on us, and so, the boys did great,” exclaimed Williams. “Really proud of the mental toughness of the boys and how they kept going out and playing every time.”
Williams’ first year of head coaching the boys at Sioux Falls Christian was in 2021, the first year of the two-class split, and the first year that the Chargers squad won it. He mentioned that even though the ’21 squad was special, this title feels great too in a different way.
“That first year we won it, we had a bunch of seniors, and it was my first year of coaching, so that made it special. And now, this is a group of boys that I’ve gotten the opportunity to work with since they were seventh graders and now they’re sophomores,” he said. “It’s great to see them grow as not only tennis players, but great young men.”
The Chargers will return their entire varsity roster next season.
