 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Title another first for SpartanBy STEVE LEE
© St. Petersburg Times,
There was one goal left for the Saddlebrook senior -- win a state high school championship. For five years, she completed in the USTA's Easter Bowl, held annually in April in Palm Springs, Calif. But McCain, the nation's top-ranked player in 18s, made the most of her first and last high school season by leading Saddlebrook to its first-ever state championship. "She knew the girls on the team and it was kind of a last-ditch effort. She thought it would be fun," said Dave McCain, Kelly's father and Saddlebrook girls coach. Additionally, McCain teamed with No. 1 doubles partner Emily Sechaud to win a state title in a match that lasted three hours, 15 minutes. That came after McCain lost in the Class A singles final to Boca Raton St. Andrews' Courtney Bergman in a match that took nearly four hours. Settling for No. 1 singles runner-up, McCain said, "was not what I particularly wanted, but I can't look back and be disappointed because we won the (team) title and I won in No. 1 doubles." Being part of a team as a senior enabled McCain to "feel the school spirit. I think the team thing really is important." With her mission accomplished, McCain can focus her attention on the USTA circuit and prepare for her freshman season at Duke. McCain has a solid relationship with her parents. Her father is her coach and her mother, Sue, was one of the primary organizers of the Class A state tournament, hosted by Saddlebrook at Hillsborough Community College. Still, McCain said she looks forward to "leaving the nest. I want to start a new part of my life." McCain capped a 9-2 season with district championships in No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. She handily defeated Tampa Prep's Saras Arasu, who won district and state titles in 2000. McCain, who played for Canterbury as a seventh-grader before moving to Saddlebrook, bowed out of the regional tournament against her former school. Trailing Natalie Tirapelli 1-0, McCain defaulted with strep throat. At Saddlebrook's awards banquet Tuesday, McCain accepted the school's girls player of the year award. "It was really kind of neat being the coach and having your daughter play for you," Dave McCain said. With her high school tennis career over and a break between tournament play, McCain did something Thursday she always wanted to do but never had the chance: She attended her first prom. That makes two firsts for McCain.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From today's Pasco Times |
