‘It was emotional.’ Friends face off with state championship on the line.
North Oldham won and lost in the final round of the KHSAA State Tennis Championships.
Reagan Mangan and Willow Renton defeated teammates Emma and Katie Beavin, 6-4, 6-0, to win their first girls’ double state title at Top Seed Tennis Club on Thursday. It was North Oldham’s second in school history; the Beavin twins won the first as eighth-graders in 2017 before embarking on solo tours the next two seasons.
Mangan and Renton reached the state finals as middle-schoolers in 2019, the last KHSAA tournament played before this year. They fell to a duo from Ryle after a grueling semifinals victory.
They cruised to this year’s finals. The pair dropped just one set through the first three rounds of play, and lost just two games each in the quarterfinals and semifinals (both times in set one).
Their teammates proved to be their toughest opponents. After Mangan-Renton went up 3-1 in championship set one, the Beavin twins battled back for a 4-3 advantage in games. A lengthy exchange in the next game ended in favor of the younger Mustangs, and seemed spirit-breaking for the seniors — it was the first of nine straight game wins to settle the finals.
“It was emotional,” said Mangan, a sophomore. “They were seniors, so it’s like, you wanna win but I just feel bad. They’re seniors and it was their last match ever.”
“They played a great match, especially that first set, so I was happy for them,” Renton, a freshman, added.
The Beavin twins will play for Butler University. They took the loss hard, but found some solace in seeing North Oldham holding the winner’s trophy.
“I’d rather have to play my friends than go out any other way,” Emma Beavin said.
Other results
▪ St. Xavier’s tandem of Ty Bush and Patrick Johnson defeated South Oldham’s Jordan Cordrey and Matthew Thomas (6-4, 6-1) for the boys’ doubles championship. It was St. Xavier’s fourth doubles title in the last five opportunities (Trinity won in 2019), but this duo’s first.
▪ Tigers sophomore Eli Stephenson defeated Greenwood junior Jacks Lancaster (6-3, 6-3) to win his first title. “At the end I just got the momentum swinging my way,” Stephenson said. “I was down 2-0 in the first (set), came back and fought back. I had my team behind me cheering me on.”
▪ Sacred Heart’s Carrie Beckman defeated teammate Ellie Eades (6-1, 6-1) for the girls’ singles crown, her third in a row. It was the second time that Beckman, who was named Miss Tennis following the tournament, topped Eades in the final match; she won the 2018 title over her when they were both freshmen.
▪ St. Xavier added team title No. 28 to its state-record total; next closest is rival Trinity, which won its sixth in 2019. Sacred Heart won its 12th girls’ team championship, putting it alone at the top of the list; the Valkyries coming into 2021 were tied with Lone Oak with 11 each.
Lone Oak’s final operating school year was 2012-13. It was one of three schools that consolidated to form McCracken County, which has won three girls’ team titles since opening.
Henry Clay (boys) and North Oldham (girls) were the respective team runners-up.
