Cary-Grove’s Federighi off to flying start
Chris Federighi enjoyed an outstanding junior boys tennis season for Cary-Grove.
Federighi won the Fox Valley Conference singles championship, claimed top honors in the sectionals and finished in the Top 17 at the state tournament.
Federighi is hoping for even better things in 2011.
The Cary-Grove senior, who will attend Notre Dame and is undecided whether he will walk on for the Fighting Irish, won all 3 matches at Saturday’s Cary-Grove Invitational.
Federighi defeated Ulisses Hernandez of South Elgin 6-1, 6-3, Dan Hegel of Elgin 6-0, 6-0 and DJ Liebert of Lakes 6-0, 6-0.
“It was a good day for me,” said Federighi, a 4-year varsity performer “I played pretty well and both my forehand and backhand were working well. I want to win conference and sectionals again and finish higher at the state meet.”
Cary-Grove coach Amanda Schueltze was pleased with Federighi’s efforts.
“He didn’t face the toughest competition, but he kept his focus,” said the Cary-Grove’s first-year coach. “He is a captain and one of our leaders. He leads by example and his work ethic.”
The Trojans’ No. 2 doubles team of Mike Barrett-Mike Scott also won all 3 matches.
South Elgin, Cary-Grove and Elgin all finished 2-1 in the tournament and all three teams won 10 matches. With the tiebreaker South Elgin claimed first place honors while Elgin was second and Cary-Grove third.
South Elgin, which defeated Elgin 3-2 and Lakes 5-0, lost to Cary-Grove 3-2.
The Storm’s No. 1 doubles team of Colin Ferry-Zach Bollin and the No. 3 doubles team of Rowell Siazan-Devlin McKay all won 3 matches.
“The No. 1 doubles team was absolutely phenomenal,” said South Elgin coach Jennifer Shaughnessy. “They played so well and have played well all season. They delivered today. We have so many great seniors and that is a great asset. We want to play good teams and great competition. I have been very pleased with the way we have played so far this season.”
Elgin, which defeated Cary-Grove 3-2 and Lakes 5-0, lost to South Elgin 3-2.
Eric Chai, at No. 2 singles, was the lone Maroon to post 3 wins.
No. 1 singles player Hegel and the first doubles team if Adam Hong-Reza Khan each posted two wins for Elgin.
“We came into this meet with certain standards and we weren’t worried about wins and losses,” said Elgin coach Larry DeHaan. “We want the kids to reach their potential. I was proud of the way our kids persevered today and worked hard. The kids played focused and made improvements. I like these tournaments where we play a lot of matches. It gives me a lot of data to work with.”