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Long live county's new queen
By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
The baton was passed at last year's district tournament, when Wesley Chapel's Cristina Lucin, the county's dominant player for four years, beat Hudson freshman Meighan O'Connor for the third time during her senior season. The score was 6-1, 6-1, a typical score for Lucin and likely what will be common for O'Connor, who won her first match this season by the margin. "She said I was one of the only ones who really tested her, and that meant a lot to me," said O'Connor, who inherited the mantel as the county's player to beat, a title she could hold for a few years herself. O'Connor went 15-6 as a freshman, and her only losses came against seniors: three to Lucin, two to Land O'Lakes' Marcella Argollo and one to Central's Jen Ales. Now the path is clear, and O'Connor has her sights set not only on county dominance, but success on a larger level. "I'm looking forward to states this year," said O'Connor, who moved to Florida from Ohio with her mother right before her freshman year with tennis as a main reason. The weather up north hardly encouraged training year-round. And with courts and able challengers hard to find, the family decided her best opportunity came in a state that offers 70-degree weather in February, as she enjoyed Tuesday. "You had to pay so much money to play in clubs and stuff, and there are so many people down there that play," she said. "Up there, it was hard to find people to play with, but down here, everybody and their mother plays tennis." She practiced as much as four hours a day during the summer and trained with a coach in Dade City during the winter. But she also is careful not to make tennis the only thing in her life. She ran cross country last fall and credits it with helping her endurance, better preparing her to play two sets of singles and two sets of doubles during hot Florida afternoons. Even before her second season in the county started, she quickly had built a reputation. She already has earned the respect of other coaches, and, like Lucin, she will have three more years to reinforce that with a steady forehand and a whip-quick backhand she likes even more. "She's unbelievable," Gulf coach Mike Quarto said. "We saw what she did as a freshman, so Lord knows what she'll do now. She doesn't do anything real flashy, but she wins. She should run the table, no problem." The 16-year-old would like to find similar success in doubles. She and junior Rebecca Arico went 11-5 last season. Hudson lost only two seniors from last year's team, making it a contender for a district title. And O'Connor said the best way to go to the state tournament would be with her teammates. But if she does run the table, she will do so with a level of sportsmanship not always seen in talented teenagers. Even when the margin is 6-0, 6-0, as it was Tuesday against Pasco, O'Connor is courteous on the court, careful to dominate without demeaning her opponents. "A lot of times, I think she could destroy someone, but she'll play with them," Cobras coach Doreen Grote said. "It might be a match she could win in 20 minutes, but she won't. She doesn't like to hurt anyone's feelings. She's nice enough that she never wants to make anyone feel bad."
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From today's Pasco Times |
