Oct. 11—RAPID CITY — The Mitchell High School girls’ tennis team closed out the season with a top-five finish at the Class AA state championships.
The Kernels finished the two-day tournament in fifth place with 284 points. Mitchell Tennis also finished second three times in singles, as well as one third place finish. All matches on the second day took place on the Sioux Park tennis courts.
In singles, Elly Clement finished second in Flight 4. Last year’s second-ranked state champion in doubles, Clement beat Aberdeen Central’s Chloe Ladner 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals, but won was beaten by Rapid City. Madison Marsh of Stevens 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
Matteah Graves also reached the final at No. 5 singles, beating Lily Statema of Sioux Falls Lincoln 6-4, 6-3. In the final, Bella Nelson of Stevens beat Graves 6-1, 6-3. At No. 6 singles, Mia Larson knocked off Brooke Cadwallader of Stevens 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals, before losing in the final to Momo Welch Okawa of Lincoln 6-4, 6-4.
In the elite, Carsyn Weich finished third at number two in singles. Falling to eventual Vol 2 finalist Leyla Meester of Watertown, Weich defeated Lucy Koziara of O’Gorman 10-9 (8) in the third-place match. Megan Mastel and Katie Morgan both reached the fifth-place semifinals at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively.
For Kernels doubles, Larson and Morgan finished in fourth place after Watertown’s Jade Smith and Cayda Weiss beat the pair in Flight 3’s third-place match 10-5. Clement and Graves won the fifth-place match at No. 2 doubles 10-6 over Addison Gordon and Paige Mitzel of Yankton. Ranking first in doubles, Mastel and Weich reached the semifinals for fifth place.
Rapid City Stevens won its seventh women’s tennis championship and third in the last four years, finishing with 509 points and winning four singles titles and two doubles titles. Sylvie Mortimer and Ella Potvin won the No. 2 and No. 3 singles titles, respectively, while Arabella Scott and Elena Braun won the No. 2 doubles title. Nelson and Marsh won at No. 3 in doubles.
Sioux Falls Lincoln finished in second place with 366 points, producing a flying champion. Yankton (311.5) finished third, as Nora Krajewski won first place in singles and first place in doubles with Sabrina Krajewski. Watertown (294.5) came in fourth ahead of Mitchell. O’Gorman (270), Aberdeen Central (249), Sioux Falls Jefferson (167), Harrisburg (137) and Brandon Valley (114.5) rounded out the top 10.
