SPRINGFIELD, Mo. • John Burroughs tennis coach Steve Beauchamp admits he's been spoiled in six years heading the girls team.
Since taking over as the Burroughs coach, Beauchamp has had a player step to the top of the awards podium every season. More specifically, he has had a Lehman step up and claim the state tournament first-place medal each of the last six years.
Alex Lehman won state Class 1 singles championships from 2006-08. Her sister, Sydney, won in 2009, '10 and captured a third consecutive title on Saturday.
"I have been lucky," Beauchamp said. "We have really had a great run."
Burroughs' run of championships predates Beauchamp and the Lehman sisters. Susan Sullivan launched the title string by winning singles championships from 2003-05. Burroughs' Annie Truetzel won the Class 1A-3A title in 2001, giving the Bombers 10 titles in 11 years. The only player to break into the Burroughs' run was 2002 champ Amanda Craddock of MICDS.
The Bombers also have a run of at least one singles medalist every year since 1992.
In addition to the state champs, Burroughs' other medalists include:
Allison Flynn (third in 1993, fifth in 1994), Joann Moolsintong (fourth in 1995), Sandhya Gupta (sixth in 1996), Jackie Mendilla (third in 1997), Allison Laycob (fifth in 1998) and Truetzel (fifth in 1999, second in 2000, fourth in 2002).
With the graduation of Lehman -- along with Maddy Smith, Katy Barenholtz and Martha Reis from the top six -- it could be difficult for the Bombers to extend the medalist streak to 20 years.
"This group of seniors have been fantastic," Beauchamp said. "It is just tough that we have not been able to make it as a team the last three years. We have lost to Visitation three years in a row in sectionals. I really feel that we have been one of the top three teams in the state in Class 1 the last three years, but didn't get a chance to play here.
"Next year may be a wake-up call for us, though," he said. "We have some tough streaks to continue. I am not saying that we cannot do it, but it is going to be extremely difficult."
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Nerinx Hall coach Huntley McNab admires the coaching of Rock Bridge's Ben Loeb, a Clayton graduate. But he hopes that he doesn't come up against him again at state for a while.
For the second year in a row, Lauren Jin and Brittany Hausmann of Nerinx lost back-to-back matches against doubles teams from the Class 2 state champion Bruins.
Jin and Hausmann won a first-round match last year, but then lost to Kay Fischer and Sophi Farid of Rock Bridge in the quarterfinals and were sent home when they lost to Rock Bridge's Abby Kaiser and Maddy Kayser in the consolation quarterfinals.
This year, Jin and Hausmann again won their opening-round match against Anna Welsh and Alyson Moore of Lee's Summit North. But they lost in the quarterfinals to Savannah Everett and Allison Baker of Rock Bridge, and were knocked out of the tournament when they fell to Kay Fischer and Phoebe Boeschen of Rock Bridge.
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Hannah Wille's Class 2 state singles championship was the first for Parkway Central since 1997. Aleke Tsoubanos won the Class 4A title in '97 when she defeated Annie Goodrich of Ladue. Tsoubanos lost three-set matches the next two years in classic championship duels with Kiki Stastny of St. Joseph's Academy.
