The Basalt Longhorn purple.
For the first time in its program’s history, Basalt boys tennis had representatives at the state level, as freshmen Taylor Hays and Elias Schendler qualified at the No. 4 doubles position.
It was an accomplishment four years in the making, after the program was started in 2017 as part of a capstone project by a former player and student. Now, in his first year as head coach, Chris Kilgore’s team of 11 freshmen has made its mark on the state stage.
“It was fun, we’re kind of like the underdog because no one knows us” Hays said about their time at the tournament.
“It was cool because we were the only guys from Basalt here,” Schendler added. “We didn’t have a full team, so it’s been fun representing Basalt.”
However, just playing in the tournament was not good enough for this squad of youngsters. In a marathon first round match with Pueblo West on Thursday morning, the duo came out on top in come-from-behind fashion, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6.
“It was great, we had an amazing comeback after we had a very slim chance of winning,” Schendler said. “And then we won which made us top-eight, which was pretty cool.”
Basalt proceeded to drop matches to Cheyenne Mountain, who is now in the No. 4 doubles finals, as well as their playback match against University. Despite the outcomes, Kilgore is excited about the future of the program after this experience.
“I think these guys being young and being able to go back and tell the team what it’s like coming to state, which is a different level of competition, that’s what we will take away from this experience. What we want to do on a consistent basis is play the best, and that’s what we got to do this week.”
“It was great to be here with freshmen,” Kilgore added. “And hopefully we can make a habit out of it.”