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closePeninsula sends two athletes to state tennis tournament
Lance Wilhelm, Lisa Kromholtz fare well at district
Marques Hunter
of the Gateway
SPANAWAY — The Peninsula boys and girls tennis teams advanced one player each to the Class 3A state tournament during last week’s play at the Sprinker Recreation Center.
Peninsula senior Lance Wilhelm and junior Lisa Kromholtz competed at the West Central District III tournament on Thursday and ensured themselves a spot at the state tourney, which will be held Friday and Saturday at the Vancouver Tennis & Recreation Center.
Wilhelm, who won the district championship last year, fell just short of a second consecutive district title when he lost to North Thurston’s David Schuster 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. The match lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes.
Wilhelm beat Schuster earlier this season, but Schuster had a little more to offer this time around.
Going into the district championship match, Wilhelm had lost just one set. It was to Union freshman Alex Wallace, who is ranked 60th nationwide in the 16-and-younger age group, in the semifinals.
Wilhelm won the first set 7-6 with a 7-2 tiebreaker, but he lost the second set 6-4. He led the entire way in the final set and put away Wallace, 6-2.
Wilhelm led Schuster 4-1 in the final set of the championship match, but he said he was simply gassed out from the long-lasting competition.
“It was a taste of what to expect at state,” Wilhem said about district. “He’s (Wallace) one of the top players in our state.”
Kromholtz fifth
Kromholtz, a left-hander, beat Franklin Pierce’s Elise Utterback 6-2, 6-3 and North Thurston’s Andy Solveson 6-0, 6-1 on Thursday to earn her spot at the state tournament.
In the semis, Kromholtz lost to Union junior Christina Le, 6-2, 6-3.
“I was trying to play my game, but my game wasn’t good enough,” Kromholtz said.
She added that it was tough to adjust to Le’s style of play, because she hadn’t been tested in her two wins on Thursday.
Nonetheless, Kromholtz said earning a spot at state for the third straight year was a weight off her shoulders.
“Which is great,” she said.
Peninsula girls coach Linda Lightfeldt said Kromholtz should be proud to have clinched another berth at state, considering she doesn’t play year-round.
“The people who are going to state are club players,” Lightfeldt said. “For Lisa to do this well and not be a club player is amazing.”
Kromholtz had to forfeit a match that would’ve given her a chance for a third-place district finish, because she had a previous family engagement.
Peninsula tennis file
Lance Wilhelm
Was Class 3A state runner-up as a junior and placed seventh as a freshman.
Four-time league champion in three different leagues.
Won district competition as a junior.
Placed third at the district tournament as a freshman and sophomore.
Lisa Kromholtz
Three-time league champion in two different leagues.
Advanced to the Class 3A state tournament three consecutive years.