Shorecrest boys tennis takes District 1 3A championship

From left: co-coach Barry Majorowicz; senior Evan Saunders with doubles partner sophomore Nishaant Limaye; junior Andrew Copsey; sophomore Nick North with doubles partner junior Chris Sato. Not pictured: co-coach Suzanne Monson

Shorecrest High School claimed the Northwest District 1 3A Boys Tennis championship in Stanwood while qualifying four players and one alternate to May 2013's state tournament in Kennewick. After finishing second (10-3) during Wesco's regular league season, the Scots advanced five players through sub-district play to the district competition. Higher individual finishers earned points toward the district title.

The Scots' doubles pairing of junior Chris Sato and sophomore Nick North brought home 2nd place medals after a 3-6, 3-6 finals match against Cameron McDowell and Stuart Schachle of Shorewood. Earlier, McDowell and Schachle bumped Shorecrest teammates sophomore Nishaant Limaye and senior Evan Saunders into consolation play (6-2, 4-6, 4-6) but Limaye and Saunders scrapped back to win two more rounds against Glacier Peak (6-3, 6-0) and Stanwood (6-3, 4-6, 6-2) for 3rd place and the final entry to the state tourney.

The Highlanders' sole singles entry, junior Andrew Copsey, also battled through the consolation bracket to log two match victories, earning a 4th place finish and an alternate slot to Kennewick in the spring. Copsey's wins came over Oak Harbor (6-3, 6-2) and Everett (6-1, 3-0; injury default) before he was stopped by Glacier Peak's Patrick Luangrath (5-7, 2-6).

"Our squad was incredibly fortunate to have a depth of talent all season long," says co-coach Suzanne Monson, who teamed with veteran coach Barry Majorowicz, returning from retirement, to lead the Scots. "Nine of our 14 varsity regular-season players are outstanding seniors who played tennis all four of their high school years - and our younger guys are absolutely tenacious - so the combination was hard to beat."

Seniors Louis Born; Brian Fortney; Julian Frare-Davis; Scott Holmdahl; Brian Hoover; Keilan Lemoine-Kowalski; Andras Szucs and Joe Uchytil added leadership, says Monson. Singles hitter Emahd Kahn, the only freshman on the squad, rounded out the team. Kahn was Shorecrest's other singles sub-district contender, earning a 6th place finish there.