Tennis team earns medals at Regional tourney

The South Regional Conference Tournament for tennis saw Green River’s players show off how good they are.

The boys won the tournament with a score of 53, edging out second-place Laramie’s score of 47 and third-place Cheyenne South’s 46. The girls took second with 50 points, falling behind regional champs Cheyenne East, who scored 53 points. Cheyenne Central took third in the girls bracket with 49 points.

An accomplishment head coach Phil Harder was absolutely pleased about was the fact all of his players earned medals during the competition.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “All of us coaches were so excited for them.”

On the boys side, Singles No. 1 player Braxton Cordova was regional runner up while Singles No. 2 player Korbin Arnell secured a third-place finish. In Doubles No. 1, the team of Zach Friel and Taylon Tirrell earned a Regional championship. Doubles No. 2 players Jake Findlow and Jacob Wendel were Regional runners up while the Doubles No. 3 team of Shawn Arellano and David Ross took third.

For the girls, Singles No. 1 player Gabrielle Heiser was the runner up in the division while Singles No. 2 player Megan Counts secured a Regional championship. In Doubles No. 1, Alicia Harrison and Kiley Strange were named Regional runners up. The Doubles No. 2 team of Allison Brown and Brianna Strauss took fourth place at the tournament, while the Doubles No. 3 team of Lillian Travis and Hannah Skinner took third in their division.

Harder himself was voted South Conference Boys Coach of the year. Harder has been nominated several times over the years for his coaching of both the boys and girls teams, though he looks at the award as more of a reflection of the dedication to the sport his assistant coaches Brad Skinner and Andy Trumble have, as well as the players themselves.

“We’ve got some great seeding for State,” Harder said.

Harder said the north has some great teams competing for the state title and believes both teams can make the top four, through that depends on being able to stay healthy and out of quarantine, as well as one other thing.

“We have to take care of business,” he said.