By David Paulsen
Correspondent
Stephanie Londre will accomplish what few athletes ever accomplish – a trip to state all four years of high school.
Londre, the No. 1 singles player for Burlington High School, is the state’s No. 8 seed at the WIAA Division 1 State Individual Tennis Tournament held this week in Madison. She will go to state with an unblemished 28-0 record, after another stellar season.
This is Londre’s highest seed at state. Last year, she was one of the top 16 seeds.
Londre won all three of her matches at sectionals Oct. 5. She defeated Haley Haumersen of Sun Prairie 6-0, 6-0, Bryanne Blanton of Elkhorn 6-0, 6-2, and Jessie Rodgers of Madison East 6-2, 6-4.
“It was the end to a perfect season so far,” said BHS coach Rose Dolatowski. “She has much more confidence this year.
“Her game has improved, and she’s much more confident because of it,” the coach added. “Even if she gets into a close match, she’s got the confidence in herself to pull it out and win.”
BHS had two other athletes compete at sectionals – Carolyn Smith and Sophie Grandi.
Smith, a senior, finished third in No. 3 singles flight. Grandi, who is just a freshman, lost both of her matches to finish fourth in the No. 4 singles flight.
As the No. 8 seed, Londre has a first-round bye at the state tournament, which starts today at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and will run through Saturday.
Londre’s first match will be against either Morgan Wilson (20-8) of Verona or Rachel Gantz (16-9) of Waukesha West on Friday at 8:30 a.m. She defeated Wilson easily earlier this fall.
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