March 31, 2010 Correction:
According to coach Sharon Rosenburgh, Megan Renninger and Elizabeth Trancik played doubles and were State runners-up in 2009. 

By Andrew Browning
<[email protected]>

Junior Courtney Wild spends two to three hours a day year round working on becoming a better tennis player. Every day of almost every week she is out on the court trying to improve different aspects of her game. In addition, to help her conditioning she said she runs five miles every other day, a habit that sounds more fitting for a track runner than a tennis player.

This is all part of a training regimen for a girl who returns as the Number-1 singles player for the defending State champion CHS women’s tennis team. If the Hounds’ motivation following their State Championship was in question, learning about Wild’s year-round workout plan should quell any doubt that the Hounds are working hard towards a shot at a repeat.

“To be honest, I kind of relaxed after we won,” Wild said. “Then I hit it hard and this year we want another (State title) so hopefully we can win it again this year.”

Head Coach Sharon Rosenburgh said she thinks

the thought of defending last year’s State trophy could motivate the team more than an ordinary season. “Defending a State title is more fun than coming in and trying to take the title away from someone else,” Rosenburgh said via e-mail. “The team will be more determined to keep the title, or go down fighting. We like the ownership.”

The team graduated two seniors from last year’s squad, Elizabeth Trancik and Megan Renninger, who played Number-3 singles and Number-1 doubles, respectively. Wild said last year’s squad achieved success because of a balance of work ethic and natural talent, and she said she hopes this year’s players, even without Trancik and Renninger, are the same way.

“(The team) looks pretty much the same, but it could be different also,” Wild said. “We have different types of players coming in this year. It depends if they can really perform, like my sister (freshman Hayley Wild) sometimes is a little lazy so we’ve got to push her.”

Courtney may give her sister a hard time about not having an equally disciplined work ethic, but Hayley has nothing to be ashamed of. Courtney’s willpower is tough to match, seeing as she had already become the Number-1 singles player for this school and earned a State Championship ring by her sophomore year. However, Courtney said she believes that her work is not over. She said this season she hopes to add an individual State title her to her already impressive résumé.

“I hope I get it this year,” Wild said. “It’s pretty tough because we go pretty far in the team tournament and (to advance) you have to win every single match with your team. It’s a lot of pressure.”

Although Wild said she will work toward the goal of an individual State title this year, and the CHS duo of Renninger and current junior Olivia Trancik won the State doubles title last season, Rosenburgh said that her players still have an incredible passion for the team play aspect of tennis and are truly dedicated to the group as a whole.

“All the players are devoted tennis players, and truly dedicated to our team tennis,” Rosenburgh said. “We succeeded last year as players accepted their roles and worked the best they could with the skills and experiences they had.”

Although all roads ultimately lead to the State tournament for every team in Indiana, Wild said she didn’t want to get too caught up in the talk about June. She said that she thinks the team will play better during the season and eventually peak in the tournament if it approaches each game with an easygoing and optimistic attitude.  “I think we should kind of just go out having fun, then get more competitive as we get into State,” Wild said. “I think we just need to be relaxed going into the tournament.”

Wild said that although she is currently looking into athletic scholarships at schools like Iowa State and Xavier and still has an individual title to push for, she said that at the end of the day what keeps her motivated is the possibility of the Hounds returning as State champions.

“(Individual) high school tennis for me is more of a practice,” Wild said. “I loved winning State, that was awesome. The team thing, that’s what’s most important to me.”