Doing the most with its talent was Wood River's state tennis motto in 2006.
Hailey's Wood River High School sent only six players to last weekend's State 4A tennis tournament in Caldwell.
But coach Vicki Johnston's Wolverines made the most of their opportunities. They earned the state runner-up trophy by finishing second of 19 teams—the school's best ever finish at the tougher 4A level.
"It was thrilling," said first-year coach Johnston. "I had no idea we'd be in the top four. It was such a surprise that I was almost afraid to go up and get the trophy. So exciting! And it was such a team effort."
Bishop Kelly of Boise, capturing its 16th state tennis championship, tied with Hillcrest of Idaho Falls for first place with 74 points. Bishop Kelly had 14 state qualifiers and Hillcrest sent 13 to state.
Wood River's six players had 40 points, quite an improvement upon last year's 10th place 17-point effort.
Senior Hadley DeBree, wrapping up an outstanding four-year Wolverine career in high style, made Saturday's girls' singles championship match and placed second to Hillcrest soph Brooke Sailer.
"It was the best Hadley has ever done in singles at state. She was thrilled to make it that far. Brooke was flawless. She played some of the best singles tennis I've seen and Hadley was right with her. Brooke just made fewer mistakes," she said.
DeBree won three preliminary matches in straight sets but fell short in her bid to become the first-ever Wood River girls' singles state champ. She won a mixed doubles state title with Dixon Mooseau as a freshman in 2003.
Winning their final match of the spring season and placing third in mixed doubles at Vallivue High School were Wolverine juniors Cory Rutkowski and Whitney DeBree.
They had two match points in their mixed doubles semi-final against eventual champs Kyle Balmer and Cassie Seger of Bishop Kelly. Rutkowski and DeBree (4-1 at state) lost in split sets, but battled back for two more wins and third place.
"Cory and Whitney won the first set from Bishop Kelly (in a tiebreaker) and it was the only set that BK team lost all year," Johnston said.
Relying on their strong returns and net play, Rutkowski and DeBree won their third match of the season over Pocatello's Logan Aytes and Brittany Goodell with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the third-place clash.
Hadley DeBree wasn't Wood River's only singles hope. Sophomore Anna Chrysikopoulos won four of her six state matches for fourth place. She lost only to 2005 state girls' singles champion Anna Marie Gould of Bishop Kelly, a soph.
The girls' doubles team of senior Abby Fairman and junior Kira Gardner won two of their four matches.
In all, Wood River had four entries at state and medaled in three. The Wolverines came away with second-, third- and fourth-places.
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State 4A tennis top placings
Boys singles
Final results
1—Brett Hopkins (Caldwell senior, #2 seed)
2—Bryan Baker (Hillcrest senior, #4 seed)
3—Matt Schaff (Bishop Kelly junior)
4—Alex Miller (Moscow senior)
Championship—Brett Hopkins (Caldwell) 6-4, 6-0 over Bryan Baker (Hillcrest)
Third place—Matt Schaff (Bishop Kelly) 6-1, 6-0 over Alex Miller (Moscow)
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Girls singles
Final results
1—Brooke Sailer (Hillcrest soph, #2 seed)
2—Hadley DeBree (WR senior, #1 seed)
3—Anna Marie Gould (Bishop Kelly soph, #3 seed, defending state champion)
4—Anna Chrysikopoulos (WR soph)
Summary: WR 7-3 match record, 25 points GS
Championship—Brooke Sailer (Hillcrest) 6-3, 6-2 over Hadley DeBree (WR)
Third place—Anna Marie Gould (BK) 6-0, 6-2 over Anna Chrysikopoulos (WR)
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Boys doubles
Final results
1—John Linford-Trenton Baker (Hillcrest seniors, #2 seed)
2—Ian Rasmussen-Nate Toolson (Nampa seniors, #1 seed)
3—Matt Kress-Matt Sutton (Century seniors, #4 seed)
4—Zack Snoderly-Spencer Jahn (Vallivue juniors)
Championship—John Linford-Trenton Baker (Hillcrest) 6-4, 6-1 over Ian Rasmussen-Nate Toolson (Nampa)
Third place—Matt Kress-Matt Sutton (Century) 6-1, 6-4 over Zack Snoderly-Spencer Jahn (Vallivue)
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Girls doubles
Final results
1—Annie Watkins-Kim Clements (Bishop Kelly seniors, #1 seed, defending state champion)
2—Amie Jeffries-Marki Jeffries (Blackfoot seniors, #3 seed)
3—Jessica Steele-Ashley Goodell (Pocatello seniors, #2 seed)
4—Jill Thueson-Olivia Weber (Hillcrest junior, freshman)
Summary: WR 2-2 match record, 3 points GD
Championship—Annie Watkins-Kim Clements (Bishop Kelly) 7-5, 6-3 over Amie Jeffries-Marki Jeffries (Blackfoot)
Third place—Jessica Steele-Ashley Goodell (Pocatello) 6-4, 6-4 over Jill Thueson-Olivia Weber (Hillcrest)
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Mixed doubles
Final results
1—Kyle Balmer-Cassie Seger (Bishop Kelly senior, soph, #1 seed)
2—Derek Wood-Katelin Shannon (Vallivue soph, freshman)
3—Cory Rutkowski-Whitney DeBree (WR juniors, #4 seed)
4—Logan Aytes-Brittany Goodell (Pocatello senior, junior)
Summary: WR 4-1 match record, 12 points MD
Championship—Kyle Balmer-Cassie Seger (Bishop Kelly) 6-1, 6-1 over Derek Wood-Katelin Shannon (Vallivue)
Third place—Cory Rutkowski-Whitney DeBree (WR) 6-4, 6-4 over Logan Aytes-Brittany Goodell (Pocatello)
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Wood River state results
Girls singles
2nd place—Hadley DeBree (WR senior 3-1): Won 6-4, 6-0 over Melissa Rowe (Caldwell senior); won 6-3, 6-3 over Olivia Weitz (Bishop Kelly soph); won 6-2, 6-0 over Janeal James (Century soph). Championship—lost 6-3, 6-2 to Brooke Sailer (Hillcrest soph).
4th place—Anna Chrysikopoulos (WR sophomore 4-2): Won 6-1, 6-1 over Carli Pfeifer (Vallivue soph); lost 6-0, 6-1 to Anna Marie Gould (Bishop Kelly soph); won 7-5, 6-0 over #4-seeded Cody Helander (Sandpoint senior); won 6-2, 6-1 over Maddie Snevily (Moscow senior); won 6-1, 6-1 over Janeal James (Century soph). Third place—lost 6-0, 6-2 to Anna Marie Gould (Bishop Kelly).
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Girls doubles
Abby Fairman-Kira Gardner (WR senior, junior 2-2): Won 6-2, 6-1 over Jana Carson-Danielle Keefe (Bonneville senior, junior); lost 6-4, 6-0 to Annie Watkins-Kim Clements (Bishop Kelly seniors); won 6-3, 6-4 over Ali Lopez-Lindsay Hattenberg (Moscow seniors); lost 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 to Abby Helander-Jessie Novak (Sandpoint juniors).
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Mixed doubles
3rd place—Cory Rutkowski-Whitney DeBree (WR juniors 4-1): Won 6-1, 6-4 over Layne Smith-Lynae Smith (Nampa senior, junior); won 6-4, 6-1 over Clint Anderson-Kylie Crittenden (Madison senior, junior); lost 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 to Kyle Balmer-Cassie Seger (Bishop Kelly senior, soph); won 6-3, 6-2 over Jack Ritter-Sadie Quigley (Hillcrest seniors, #3 seed). Third place—won 6-4, 6-4 over Logan Aytes-Brittany Goodell (Pocatello senior, junior)
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2006 State 4A tennis team results
1—(74 points) Bishop Kelly of Boise 12 BS, 16 GS, 2 BD, 20 GD, 24 MD
1st—GD, MD. 3rd—BS, GS.
1—(74 points) Hillcrest of Idaho Falls 19 BS, 20 GS, 20 BD, 9 GD, 6 MD
1st—GS, BD. 2nd—BS. 4th—GD.
2—(40 points) Wood River 0 BS, 25 GS, 0 BD, 3 GD, 12 MD
2nd—GS. 3rd—MD. 4th—GS.
3—Vallivue (12) 34 points. 4—Caldwell (11) 31. 5—Century (5) 20. 6—Nampa (6) 19. 7 (tie)—Blackfoot (5) and Pocatello (10) 17 points apiece. 9—Moscow (6) 16. 10—Sandpoint (8) 12. 11—Madison (10) 10. 12—Burley (8) 4. 13 (tie)—Bonneville (4), Kuna (3) and Minico (3) 1 point apiece. 16 (tie)—Emmett (2) and Post Falls Christian (2) 0 points apiece.
Points by singles/doubles—
40—Wood River (13-6 all matches)—25 points singles (7-3), 15 points doubles (6-3)
