By Chris Girandola, Times Correspondent
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
ST. PETERSBURG — Kathryn Komarnicki won the first set of her No. 1 singles final rather easily over Canterbury's Taylor Kreis on Wednesday and seemed to be on her way to capturing the 10th singles match for the Shorecrest girls when her leg cramps began.
"Ugh, I was so upset," Komarnicki said. "It started in my thighs, then went down to my calves, and before you know it, my arms were feeling it. By that point, I was in the third set and pretty much about done."
Komarnicki could not hold on as Kreis rallied 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Kreis' victory was the only final won by a school other than Shorecrest as both the Chargers girls and boys claimed Class A, District 9 team titles at the St. Petersburg Tennis Center.
"I was determined to get the win, and I just made sure to move my feet more in the second set," said Kreis, who qualified for the state tournament for the first time in her career. "I wanted to go undefeated for the season, but that didn't happen. Reaching states, though, is definitely better."
Canterbury and Clearwater Central Catholic's girls tied for second with eight points and will have a playoff today or Friday at a site to be determined.
After resting, Komarnicki teamed with Savana Roy at No. 1 doubles to beat the Marauders' Stephanie Cruz and Meredith Reagin 7-5, 6-3.
At No. 1 singles on the boys side, Shorecrest's Garrett Betsarakis beat CCC's Ricky Symanski 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to avenge last season's district final loss. Betsarakis teamed with Alex Saltiel to win No. 1 doubles over Symanski and Andreas Lazaro.
"I worked hard on my mental game after last year's loss, and it's been very beneficial to my development as a player," Betsarakis said. "I want to start in college (at Florida Atlantic) so I am committed to working hard to get to that point."
The Marauders boys finished second with 10 points.
2A-9: Osceola girls advance as runnerup
The Osceola girls finished as district runnerup to Englewood Lemon Bay at Martha B. King Middle School in Bradenton and will move on to next week's playoffs. In the No. 1 doubles final, Osceola's Jade and Jayla Smith defeated Lemon Bay's Linda Antonova and Anita Vorlicek 6-4, 6-1. The Osceola boys were just a point behind the leaders after Monday's first round, but Bayshore came on strong in the finals to repeat as district champs, scoring 15 points to defeat runnerup Sarasota Booker (10). Bayshore's Pedro Garcia (No. 2) defeated Osceola's Trey Gleim 6-3, 6-1 in the finals.
The Herald