It’s not the chance at trophies these two Lexington Catholic tennis players missed
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The Stories of the Spring
High school sports seasons across Kentucky were canceled this spring because of the coronavirus pandemic. This series by the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com is telling some of the best stories of the spring that we were denied from each Lexington high school. Click below to read all the stories published to date.
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After individual success the past two years, the Lexington Catholic girls’ tennis team believed it had a chance at winning the state championship this year.
So when the coronavirus pandemic canceled the spring high school sports season, you’d think potential titles are what the players missed most. You’d be wrong.
“I was most looking forward to Senior Night,” senior Ann Kathryn Shashy said.
“I was just looking forward to the tennis season,” senior Amanda Miller said.
Did we mention both are seniors?
“Coach (Ann Tramontin) Bruggeman does a really good job of making the seniors feel loved and welcomed, especially their senior year,” Miller said. “She really appreciates the seniors.”
And certainly the Lexington Catholic girls’ tennis team had seniors worth appreciating. As a sophomore two years ago, Miller won the state doubles championship with younger sister Madison. Last year, Shashy and partner Jaycie Mair reached the state doubles semifinals.
“We did have a good lineup,” Shashy said. “It’s all speculation, but I think we could have had a good run.”
Born in Rochester, Minn., where her father Dr. Ronald Shashy was a resident at Mayo Clinic, Shashy’s family moved to Lexington at age 4. She began playing competitive tennis at 10. A varsity player at Catholic since her freshman year, Shashy teamed with Mair to come within one win of reaching the state finals before losing to Ryle’s Elizabeth Hamilton and HaliMae Laurino, who went on to win the title.
“We were really excited to play and get far in state (this year),” said Shashy, who expected to be paired with Mair, a sophomore, again this season. “It was really disappointing.”
Lexington Catholic had held tryouts and two practices before the coronavirus shutdown canceled the team’s first scheduled match.
“I thought that we were going to take the two weeks off, or the 14 days, whatever they said initially,” Shashy said. “Then we got the email about not going back. I knew if we weren’t going back to school, then we definitely wouldn’t be playing tennis.”
It wasn’t just the tennis that she has missed.
“I was really disappointed (about tennis) and all the senior traditions along with tennis,” she said. “It’s been really sad and not being able to see our friends. I’m going away to school, so I won’t be able to see them as much. It’s just disappointing to not have those last couple of months together.”
Shashy wil be attending Texas Christian University, where she received a four-year ROTC scholarship. She plans on studying nursing and won’t be playing varsity tennis. So now, looking back, her last competitive match was last year’s semifinal.
“Looking back, I wish I had been more like — I didn’t know that was going to be my last match,” she said.
Meanwhile, Miller will be a freshman on the UK tennis team this fall. Her parents, Dr. Matthew Miller, a gastroenterologist, and Dr. Michelle Morton, a cardiologist, both played tennis. Her mother played collegiately at Cumberland University.
“I think they wanted to get us involved in something that didn’t involve breaking bones,” said Miller, who was given a racket at age 3. “I like the competitiveness. It’s not a team; it’s more like you against someone, so it’s all on you.”
Last year, Miller played singles, where she reached the state quarterfinals before losing. She was going to team with her sister in doubles again this season, “to see if we could pull it out this year.”
Then came COVID-19. With doctors as parents, she knew about the severity of the virus. “They were like, ‘If they don’t take you out of school, we’re going to take you out of school,’” she said.
The hardest part, Miller joked, has been trying to help her father navigate the technology now vital with so many working from and staying home.
“My dad does not know technology,” she said laughing. “I had to teach him Zoom. That was harder than the actual meetings. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is there a video I can show you to make this easier?’ He still texts with one finger, you know what I mean?”
As for school, Miller knew online classes meant no more tennis. More than that, however, she misses the traditions of being a senior.
“I was hoping for graduation,” she said. “The whole process of walking, the caps and the gowns, being with friends and family, the invitations, all that. It’s not really under your control anymore. I think Catholic is still trying to find a way to make it enjoyable with the car parade, at least doing stuff to make it still enjoyable. It’s kind of disappointing. Class of 2020. Worst luck possible, apparently.”
What will these two seniors remember from the experience?
“It will definitely be remembered,” Shashy said. “It’s getting better now but initially it was lonely. You’re spending every day together and then all of a sudden you don’t have that anymore. It was all so unexpected.”
“This is definitely not what I expected,” Miller said. “It kind of teaches you to always be prepared for anything. It teaches you how important to have friends and family. You don’t want to take that for granted. You can only text someone so much.”
This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 7:52 AM.
