Helena Klooster is thinking big.
After finishing sixth in the state as a freshman and fifth as a sophomore, the Marist junior’s goal for this year’s IHSA Class 2A tennis state meet is the top prize.
“I want to get first,” she said. “My goal is to place, but I want to finish first.”
She took that first step by dominating the Sandburg Sectional on Oct. 16-17, including 6-1, 6-0 victory over Sandburg’s Laila Browne.
Klooster’s win, junior Natalie Bridgeman’s third-place singles finish and a third-place doubles finish by juniors Claire Neely and Molly Hayes helped give Marist its second straight sectional title, 28-26 over runner-up Sandburg.
Sandburg’s doubles team of senior Ava Rooks and junior Molly Hardek won the sectional championship.
The three-day state meet opens on Oct. 23 at various sites in the northwest suburbs.
While Klooster is hugely successful on the high-school level, she said that learning from losses on the U.S. Tennis Association circuit during the offseason has made her a better player for the Redhawks.
“USTA has definitely helped me for high school,” she said. “I’ve been through so many losses. You just have to learn to pick yourself back up. You can’t quit. You have to keep going.”
Sandburg’s Browne qualified for state for the third straight year. Last year, she reached the fourth round of the consolation bracket.
She will not be pursuing tennis in college, so this is her last competitive event. She said she wants to attend a big school.
“I like a lot of the warm schools in the South,” she said. “I want to go pre-med, so I want to be a biology major. My mom has been in the healthcare field I want to get into that field as well.”
Ready for regionals
Cross country regionals start on Oct. 25 and a handful of area competitors earned conference titles as a warmup for the postseason.
Stagg’s Jack Krusinski won the Southwest Suburban Conference Meet with a time of 14 minutes, 57.58 seconds and Sandburg won the team title with 45 points.
At the Catholic League Meet, Brother Rice’s Andrew Straley finished first with a 15:23.35.
In the West Suburban Gold Meet, Morton’s Alex Rodriguez took first with s 15:15.40 and the team won with 39 points.
At the South Suburban Red Meet, Reavis’s Santiago Chaves won with a 15:49.56 while Richards was the team champ with 45 points.
In the girls SSC Red Meet, Shepard’s Ayat Tantawi won with an 18:33.49 and the Astros won with 27 points.
Tough go in flag sectionals
The three area flag football teams who won regionals were ousted in sectional play on Oct. 13.
Stagg lost 28-19 to Hillcrest in the Rich Sectional. At the Hinsdale South Sectional, Kenwood beat Lyons 19-0 and King defeated St Laurence 33-13.