Corner Canyon tennis charge to third at state

By Catherine Garrett | [email protected]

The Corner Canyon’s girls tennis team entered the 6A state championships Oct. 5 at Liberty Park as one of the favorites to take the top spot. They ended up in third place — all five lineup spots qualified and three of those spots made the semifinal round, with senior Emma Heiden, at No. 2 singles, reaching the finals.

“I kind of walked in thinking our chances were good and we were right there, but some things just didn’t go our way,” head coach Mykel Seeborg said. “I just feel sad for our girls because having been in the toughest region in the state, we knew who we were playing.”

Jane Dorny, who played No. 3 singles, said, “It’s rough going into state with high expectations, but it was a good run. I felt our team left all we had out on the courts.”

“I am so proud of our team this year!” Heiden said. “Every line made it to state and I loved watching them all play!”

Heiden, a two-time state doubles champion, switched to singles this season and defeated Cyprus’ Grace Jenkins 6-0, 6-0, Davis’ Autumn Eaton 6-0, 6-0 and West’s Alexandra Burnett 6-4, 7-5 before losing in the final round to Lone Peak’s Mandi Robbins 6-2, 7-6.

“I am so proud of myself this year during state,” Heiden said. “I had worked so hard for this year switching from doubles to singles and I’m very happy with the way I preformed and how I handled myself through everything that had happened.”

Dorny got past West’s Masha Zaitsev 6-2, 6-0 and Granger’s Natalia Acevedo 6-1, 6-1 and then lost to Skyridge’s Kenadee Armstrong 6-3, 6-3 in the semis.

“I went into the season looking to compete my hardest and have fun and that’s exactly what I did,” Dorny said.

Also at state, the No. 2 doubles team of seniors Hannah Ashton and Grace Poulson defeated Taylorsville’s Syrana Wildey/Kate Fodder 6-1, 6-1 and Copper Hills’ Maggie Colton/Kaitlyn Sosa 6-2, 6-0 and came up short in the semifinals to eventual state champs Lone Peak’s Claire Potts/Sydney Allen 6-3, 6-2. At No. 1 singles, junior Cassidy Rich beat Layton’s Baylee Coleman 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before losing to West’s Riya Soneji 6-2, 6-3. Senior Abby Willes and junior Grace Weichers, playing at No. 1 doubles, defeated Fremont’s Sydney Fuller/Alexa Mattson 6-3, 6-0 and then lost to Bingham’s Abby Degn/Alexia Cox 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.

A highlight of the season for Corner Canyon was defeating Lone Peak, who went on to win their third consecutive state title at this year’s 6A tournament, early on in the season. “They hadn’t lost a region match in years,” Seeborg said. “When we did that, I knew we would be solid this year.”

Also on the 2019-20 varsity and JV squads were Abbey Aamodt, Lauren Ashton, Sydney Astle, Brooke Baugh, Emma Bench, Addie Bethards, Addey Blaser, Bella Boman, Ashley Cloward, Carsyn Cosgrave, Olivia Dider, Emilie Dorny, Megan Eyre, Elle Hagen, Brooklyn Hasleton, Shaye Jackson, Kiara Nelson, Elsely Nestman, Roxie Nielsen, Mikaela Oliphant, Mckinley Pepper, Maddie Ross, Sierra Strong and Audrey Stubbs.

Seeborg was assisted on the coaching staff by Ray Bachiller, Benji Rideout, Allie Rideout, Megan Dorny and Jeff Weichers, with team managers Patrick Mayer, Tristan Buckner and Tyler Easton. 

More than 100 girls tried out for the tennis team this season and, instead of making cuts, Seeborg organized the program into three divisions: varsity, JV and developmental. “My passion is teaching tennis and I don’t want anyone’s experience with tennis to be that they felt they suck and they were cut,” he said. “We just tried to provide a platform for them to get better and give them a sense of camaraderie with other girls that can be huge at this time in their lives.”