(Harlan, IA) – The Harlan’s boy’s and girl’s tennis teams are showing great numbers already to start the season. The Cyclones feature 30 girls and 14 boys on the tennis team, so many that they are even looking to hire an assistant coach for the first time in Harlan’s tennis program.
With so many athletes out for tennis, the Cyclones have a lot of young inexperienced talent that needs to be taught the basics of the court. Head Coaches Michael Rueschenberg and Dillion Stane have been diving in with the more technical aspects of training to prepare these young athletes for the opening of tennis season next week.
The returnees for the girl’s team this season for the Cyclones feature one of the top players in the area Erica Rust who will be the #1 for Harlan. Alongside Rust will be Scarlett McGuinness who played as the #3 last season and will move up to the #2 on the court. On the boy’s side, Colton Hagle will be the one returnee in his second year of tennis. He will likely be at the top as the #1 this season and will face some tough competition.
Tennis is a sport that you have to develop in high school rather than in middle school or in a club league. Coach Rueschenberg described that tennis is one of those sports that many high schoolers haven’t experienced before and usually have to start with the basics at the early high school level.
One thing that Coach Rueschenberg is looking forward to most is seeing the growth of these athletes this season. As a coach, the most rewarding thing is watching an athlete grow throughout the whole season and only continue to stay motivated to get better.
Harlan swings into the season this coming Thursday, April 4th against Denison-Schleswig. The girls will travel to Denison while the boys host the Monarchs at home. Both start at 4:00 p.m.
(Click below to listen to this article)
