Barracudas capture fourth state team tennis crown

By Andrew Greif, Staff Intern
Wednesday, August 16, 2006 3:03 PM PDT

Another trip to the Oregon State Team Tennis Championships, and another state title for the Barracudas.

The local tennis team, part of the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon and coached by Ed Thompson, director of the William J. Sweet Tennis Center, won the state title for the fourth consecutive year this past weekend in Eugene. The 14-and-under team will now advance to the Northwest Sectional tournament held in Lake Oswego, Saturday.

The 18-and-under Sea Lions, a team in its first year, finished fifth out of nine teams, just missing the qualifying standard for sectionals by two games. The sectional tournament extended invitations to teams that finished fourth or higher in the state tournaments, said Thompson.

However, they almost qualified despite losing their girls' singles player to a work commitment, automatically dropping the club in a six game deficit for every match. Thompson was impressed by the first-year team's poise despite the lost points.

“I thought they did absolutely great for the first year,” said Thompson.

The Sea Lions' younger counterpart, the Barracudas, returned all but two players from last year's national runner-up team. With a solid foundation intact, the team cruised through its first three matches, beating teams from Salem, Vancouver, Wash., and Stevenson, Wash., a combined 90-11 games. Each game won in a match equals a point toward the team total.

Entering as the predicted winner, Thompson warned his squad about overconfidence.

“I stressed to these kids not to get cocky about it,” said Thompson.

In the finals, they faced a strong and familiar Eugene team for the third time this summer, winning 28-16. The first three matches proved crucial for both teams, leaving the Barracudas up 18-7. That meant the squad needed only two more points over the next three matches to seal the victory. They got ten.

The mixed doubles team of Jon Massie and Cara Cromwell won 6-1, and the girls doubles team of Callie Cromwell and Brittney Wilson won 6-2. Cara Cromwell then returned in singles play to win 6-1 over a girl that had lost only one game during the entire tournament hosted by the local teams during July. The lone match the team lost was in boys singles, losing 4-6 to a skilled Eugene player.

“They all played pretty close to their ability levels,” said Thompson. “That's pretty phenomenal for a team event.”

Now, only the Northwest Sectional sits between the team and a return trip to the national finals, held in Tucson, Ariz.

“They cannot rest on their laurels,” said Thompson. “They have to gear up, because this one's going to be tougher.”

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