The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Not only did Steamboat Springs senior Lisa Floyd avoid shedding tears, she smiled as she walked off a high school tennis court for the last time, walking away from the net after shaking her opponent’s hand and into an embrace from her coach, John Aragon.

Maybe she had an idea what he was going to say.

Steamboat won its fourth consecutive regional tennis championship Friday morning, easily rolling to the title by winning six of the seven divisions at the Grand Junction tournament.

The one slot it didn’t win was Floyd’s — No. 1 singles.

“Even though she didn’t qualify, she was instrumental in keeping that four regionals streak alive,” Aragon said.

Aragon should know a little about Floyd and her role in helping his teams win regional titles. Now in his fifth year as the program’s coach, she’s been on all four of his regional championship squads.

This was the first year she didn’t qualify for state, making it as the No. 3 singles player her freshman year, the No. 2 singles player her sophomore year and the No. 1 singles player last season.

Floyd’s loss in the tournament semifinals Thursday to Vail’s Shannon McNamara made her chance at attending state a fourth time distant. She could have won the consolation match and challenged the player who eventually finished second for the final state spot so long as that player wasn’t the one who beat her in the semifinals.

Given that the eventual No. 1 singles champion, May May Vickers of Montrose, entered the tournament with a perfect record, the Friday loss doomed Floyd.

It wouldn’t matter anyway as she lost in two sets to Delta’s Annie Chastain.

Thursday “was kind of de­­pressing because this is my last year,” Floyd said. “It was a tough thing. Then (Friday), it was hard for me to focus because I was reminiscing so much about the last few years. It was good, but it was a little sad, too.

“I was just thinking about what a great time I’ve had over the last four years.”

Neither of the losses were upsets, as Floyd struggled against both Chastain and McNamara throughout her career.

Neither did much to quell her status on the team, either.

“She didn’t play as well as she is capable of playing, but without her, this team would have had a whole different look this season,” Aragon said. “We knew this year in this region it was going to be tough. Some of the girls were thinking ‘Gosh, I don’t want to play there because I might not qualify.’ But Lisa, she’s a senior who has been a leader and has a lot of experience. She came out and stepped up.

“She really grew up a lot this year. That was really special to see.”

Steamboat’s state qualifiers travel this week for the state tournament in Pueblo. The three-day event begins at 9 a.m. Thursday. The tournament brackets will be released at 3 p.m. today.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com