CENTERVILLE — Claire Burns won the Division I Sectional tennis tournament Wednesday at Centerville High School.
The Wilmington High School junior defeated Arabelle MacPherson of Centerville 6-1, 6-0 in the title match to earn a top seed in next week’s district tournament.
The sectional championship is the first-ever for Wilmington High School girls tennis.
“What was so satisfying today was the culmination of years of hard work and dedication on Claire’s part,” WHS head coach Doug Cooper said. “She was so focused. Today was a payoff of years of hard work and the discipline required to play and compete with the very best players in Southwest Ohio.”
Burns will play in the district tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center beginning 9 a.m. Thursday. The tournament continues on Saturday.
Burns won her go-to district match 6-1, 6-3 over Carmen Aliaga of Centerville early Wednesday morning.
She then came back to face Amaya Hulbert, the No. 2 seed, who outlasted Julia Peterson of Monroe 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in her district go-to match.
Last season, Hulbert qualified for the district tournament as a freshman and defeated Burns in the first round of the sectional tournament.
So the wily WHS junior was able to exact some revenge on her training partner with the 6-1, 6-3 win in the semifinals.
“I couldn’t be more happy for Claire,” said Cooper. “It was also satisfying to see coach Cathy Fay, Claire’s middle school coach, there to see her win the first WHS girls sectional championship.”
