With spring sports getting under way, one local athlete has a bottle of mixed feelings regarding her last season serving as a captain of the Pine Creek tennis team.
On one hand, No. 1 singles player Ryann Warner knows that it is going to be difficult leaving behind a team that has been like a family to her and a coach who has been like a second father.
On the other hand, Warner is ready to pack her bags, put high school behind her and head off to Eastern Washington University where she will continue playing the game she loves.
“I have a bit of a case of senioritis,” she said with a smile. “I can’t wait to get there.”
Before she bolts for Cheney, Wash., however, the senior still has one more chance at picking up a second state championship for Pine Creek.
Warner, who has made it to state her previous three years with the Eagles, won a championship at No. 2 singles in 4A as a freshman, placed third at No. 2 singles in 5A as a sophomore and just missed out on placing as a junior at No. 1 in 5A.
And despite an extremely strong field returning at No. 1 this year, Warner likes her chances and has her sights set on a top-four finish.
“I think I have gotten a lot better than last year,” she said. “I’ve been working hard; not only with tennis, but with working out and lifting weights too.”
Warner’s work ethic is one of the things that both coach David Lehman and future coach Dale Silha have praised about her.
“I’ve talked with the coach out there a couple times and he sees all the same things I see in Ryann,” Lehman said of Silha. “She’s a wonderful kid, highly motivated and wants to get better all the time. She’s very coachable and that’s what college coaches want.”
That’s what high school coaches want, too, and Lehman, for one, said he is going to hate to lose her.
“She is just such a great motivator for everybody else,” Lehman said. “She understands team. It’s not an individual sport for her, which is great.”
And in the college game, where the team comprises six singles players who also make up the three doubles teams, the team factor becomes even bigger.
Warner had a recent opportunity to catch a glimpse of the world of Division I tennis when her former Pine Creek teammate, Kori Nachbar, returned to Colorado Springs March 2 as a member of Wyoming’s team to face Air Force in a Mountain West battle.
“It made me that much more excited about college and everything it has to offer,” Warner said. “It is so much different than high school, having everyone be there to cheer you, and having your coach there talking to you between points.”
The presence of a year-round coach is one of the many things Warner is looking forward to at the next level.
Outside of having Lehman work with her during the high school season, she has grown used to playing the rest of the year in tournaments without a coach, and knows that having someone to work with consistently is going to help turn her into a stronger player.
When it comes to her final days in high school tennis though, Warner knows she is going to have to play her best to go out on top.
She also knows most of the competition inside and out, having played all of the girls in intermountain tournaments as well as on the high school courts.
“I think it will just be anyone’s day,” she said of the state finals just less than two months away. “If I am playing well it could happen. We’ll just have to wait and see. It’s still a little while off.”
What they are saying about Ryann Warner in Cheney, Wash.
“Initially what attracted us to Ryann was some of her performances in jr. tournaments,” said Eastern Washington associate head coach Dale Silha, “but what made us decide to offer her a scholarship was her personality and work ethic.
“I see her as a top-six type player, and would expect with some good hard work in the fall that she can make an immediate impact on the program.”