Karen Boehler
CCSR writer/editor
The general consensus in District 4AAAA tennis is that Goddard is the team to beat.
While new head boys coach Joe Harton shies away from saying exactly that — “I’m not going to say that. We’re probably one of the stronger teams, but we still have to fight ourselves, so we’re going to have to play,” he said — long-time girls coach Becky Joyce doesn’t mind confirming it.
“I think so,” she said.
Both squads do have reason to think positive.
Neither team graduated more than one or two players from last year, and last year those teams both won district and competed well at state, with girls No. 1 Halie Harton losing in the title game.
“We have a lot of depth as far as kids coming up,” Joyce said of the girls squad, which only has two seniors. “We’re kind of young to start out with, but I think they’ll surprise some people. And of course, Halie and Gabby (Joyce), we hope for big things from them this year as far as maybe going to state in doubles possibly.”
While the top of the girls lineup is pretty much set — leb by Harton, Joyce, Suzann Naylor, Catherine Zelkowski and Katie Hillma, Coach Joyce said the some of the other players could battle it out to fill the bottom position.
The boys team is a little more unsettled.
“They’re kind of still mixing around because they have a lot more challenges to go,” Joyce said.
“Going as a team, they got a lot of experience, so they should be ready this year,” coach Harton said.
But asked to name his key players, his response is “All six of them. They’re all going to have to come together as a team.”
Individually, Boby Neel will be No. 1. with Eric Smith at No. 2, but the rest of the top six — Harsh Ganjawalla, Ryan Gass, Andrew Wiser and Tristan Collar — and the four below them will be fighting for position.
“It’s always changing and all that, but right now, top six, that’s who we’re going to focus on,” Harton said.
“The boys team, I think, is going to be real strong,” Joyce said. “They’ve all worked all season, through the summer and into the fall, together, so that should help their cohesiveness as a team. It’ll be kind of interesting, as a team, we’ll just kind of have to see, but we’re looking forward to different things from all the kids.”
Both coaches agree the competition will be tough, starting Friday with the Goddard Invitational and running through District in late April and May.
“It’s going to be tough. Everywhere we go, it’s tough,” Harton said.
The Rockets have tournaments in Carlsbad, two at Roswell at Clovis and at Albuquerque Academy, which coach Joyce said is a good chance for the southern NM teams to see the northern competition.
“The whole reason they put that tournament together is so when you go to state and have to seed people for the individual and team (competitions), you’ve actually seen each other and talked to each other and played each other,” she said. “This way, you’ve actually competed against each other so that’s a really good tournament.”
And of course, with the northern school usually dominating once state rolls around, Joyce said that competition helps.
“Going to those tournaments have really helped us and our kids see the competition that is not in our area. Because we tend to be pretty strong in our area, but when you get up to Albuquerque, it’s sometimes a different thing. And it’s early April, so we still have time to work on things that we need to work on.”
While the Rockets are one of the strongest southern teams, how do they fare statewide?
“It’s always Academy. The Academy’s. Pius. Los Alamos. There’s several great teams, and we’re not the bottom, but we’re not the top,” Harton said. “We’re somewhere in there. We’ll figure it out at the end.”
With both Harton and Joyce memebers of the state champion volleyball team, coach Joyce said the pair are looking to be in that position again.
“I think our team will do fine, and of course we want to qualify as many people as we can individually and hopefully some good things for Hailey and Gabby in volleyball,” she said. “They’ve got great aspirations to do that.”
As far as the boys, coach Harton said the goal is always to get to state.
“Bottom line is, their toughest competition is probably themselves,” he said. “If they can take care of themselves, then the matches will take care of themselves.
“They’re just young. They’re real ambitious. They’re real fun to work with and they’re ready to see what happens this year. They’ve worked hard over the summer and a lot of them took on a whole new thing and they’re ready to go.”
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