Sumner tennis star survives a scare, then wins her second state title in two years

Sumner’s Jade Lancaster said winning a Class 3A girls tennis singles championship last season was a nice challenge.

It paled in comparison to what she accomplished this yaer in 4A.

Marked as a prime target, Lancaster suffered a few setbacks along the way. But in the end, all that mattered was what happened Saturday afternoon — drubbing two-time state champion Hannah Glanan, of Camas, 6-2, 6-0, for the 4A crown at the Columbia Basin Racquet Club in Richland.

“I know she was nervous,” Sumner co-coach Spenser Phelan said. “But a lot of players get timid when they play matches with a lot on the line. Jade plays her hardest on every point.”

One of Lancaster’s most challenging tennis moments of her life came in the state semifinals Saturday morning against SPSL 4A rival Maddie Egan, of Rogers High School.

Egan handed Lancaster a loss at Sumner earlier in the regular season — and lost two close matches to the reigning state chanpion later in the year.

And in the first set Saturday, Egan won all six games.

“I was shocked,” Lancaster said. “I would be up 40-15, and I could not win the final points because I was tight.”

But Lancaster battled back, eventually taking a grueling 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in a match that took two hours and 20 minutes to play.

Fortunately, Lancaster had a 3 1/2-hour break before the championship match to rest and refocus.

And when she took the court against Glanan, she controlled the action from the get-go.

“I had a lot of time to think about what I was getting into,” Lancaster said. “But all the pressure was off because no matter what, I was in the finals.

“Hannah is a very good player. She has every game style in the book, and she will play whichever style against a particular opponent, But I played a lot looser. It worked out.”

For Lancaster, it’s been two years in high school — with a pair of state titles to her name.

“This was a big step,” Lancaster said. “There were so many good players (in 4A), and at state.”

CLASS 1A, 2B, 1B TRACK AND FIELD

A handful of local athletes came back to Tacoma from Eastern Washington University sporting first place finishes from the 2017 state track meet that wrapped up on Saturday.

Morgan Schepker of Cascade Christian came in first in the girls 1A 400 meter dash with a time of 57.44, out racing Andee Kimes of Cashmere.

The senior Cougar finished fourth her junior year at the state finals, definitely stepping up her game. Schepker also took home fourth in the 1A 200 meter race with a time of 25.49, finishing .09 seconds behind Lynden Christian’s Hannah Rusnak.

Ryan Circelli is also bringing home some hardware as he came in first in the 1B boys shot put finals, edging out Wyatt McNeese from Crescent.

Circelli came into the finals having just set a personal record at the 1B Tri-District Championships. At state, he set another. His winning throw was his first on the day, a 47 foot and one quarter inch toss. That was a bar that nobody could catch up with.

The Northwest Christian girls also come home with the 2B state championship as well. Leading them was Heidi Sowers, winning the 100 hurdles at 15.43 and the 300 hurdles at 45.95.

Eliana Summers also took the 3200 meter run at a time of 11:54.55. Megan McSheffery won in the 400 with a time of 1:00.14.

Water polo

Gig Harbor High School’s girl's water polo team edged Curtis, 7-5, for the state championship at the Curtis Aquatic Center.

Kelli Craft scored four goals for the Tides and Emily Van Zonneveld and Willow Lopez-Silvers each had two goals for Curtis.

This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Sumner tennis star survives a scare, then wins her second state title in two years."