If the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls tennis team is going to fight for a conference title, they will have a tough uphill battle this coming season. Why? The Jacks are looking at a roster of only 12 players this season compared to 25-30 over the last seven years.
"I am not sure if the numbers are down because of the fee we charge to play athletics, or if the girls are going to play other sports or what," said CEC coach Steve Rickstrom. "All I know is we'll have a tough time and I hope we can avoid injuries."
The Jacks have four seniors back and a host of players who had a lot of playing time last season. Look for Kristi Gregory, who played in the top two singles positions last season, to be one of the team's leaders this year.
"Kristi has come a long way and put in a lot of time on the court this summer," mentioned Rickstrom. "We need more players like her to put in time in the summer if we want to be able to compete."
Other keys will be seniors Molly Fistler, Laura Castle and Rakel Bork. Fistler played at No. 1 doubles much of last season and at No. 3 singles, Castle was at No. 2 doubles and No. 3 singles at times, while Bork made a strong push at the end of the season and is expected to be in the top four for singles this year.
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The Jacks will also be counting on Rebecca Lind and Alicen Johnson, who both played quite a bit in doubles last season, as well as two other starters from last year in Sydnee Burud-Erickson and Kelsey Collier.
"I expect us to compete against the teams we should have a chance against," explained Rickstrom. "Unlike past years, we don't have that one stud, but we have a lot of homegrown talent."
The Jacks are also expected to be very competitive against teams like Denfeld, Central, Proctor and others, but they will have trouble against the upper echelon teams like Virginia, Hibbing and Duluth Marshall and East.
"I am still shocked at the lack of numbers and I want to encourage girls to still come out for the team if they are thinking about it," stated Rickstrom. "We'd love to have more girls come out for the team to see if tennis is something they'd like to try."
Students interested in finding out more about the team should contact the school and/or Rickstrom.
