Golf and Tennis Compete at State

Hallie Williams, Layout and Online Editor

This fall, some of the smallest JBS teams, in number of people, performed the greatest. The all female golf and tennis teams worked throughout the months of August, September and October to pull together and accomplish strong finishes at the State Tournaments. While both teams ultimately fell to Pembroke Hill, the Burroughs girls’ teams fought hard and ended with amazing accomplishments.

Golf State
The JBS girls’ golf team placed third in the State Golf Championship on Monday October 9. The tournament was initially scheduled for two days and 36 holes, but, after a day of rain, the competition could not continue. As a team, Burroughs had a score of 358, only three shots behind second-place Pembroke Hill. While state champion Cape Notre Dame came in with a score of 319, Claire Pan ‘20 says, “We did well, but we got third when we could have definitely gotten second. I know we could have came back on the second day [if not for the rain].”
Individually, Lucy Bloomstran ‘19 placed 10th with a score of 85; Claire Pan ‘20 finished 15th with a score of 88; Margaux Ballet ‘19 scoring 92 placed 22nd with a score of 92; Ingrid Keane ‘19 placed 26th with a score of 93, and Ann Zhang placed 43rd with a score of 100.

Lucy Bloomstran, 19’, holds the 3rd place trophy as the Women’s Varsity Golf teams smiles for a picture after an exciting state tournament.

Bloomstran “has always [wanted] to place in the top 10,” so she admits,” finally achieving [that] was very exciting.” Bloomstran also believed she and the team could have improved on the second day. “If we had played, I know I could have moved up on the leaderboard,” she continues, “[last year] we came back after a 10 point deficit after the first day to get 2nd in state, which I’m confident we would have been able to repeat.”
While second place was “oh so close” the golfers enjoyed playing and believe that Burroughs has a great chance of coming back and placing 1st next year. In her closing remarks, Pan declares, “The one thing that I’d like the rest of JBS to know is that GOLF IS A SPORT.”

Tennis State
Burroughs Girls tennis team placed second in the team competition. On the way to the finals, Burroughs swept Springfield Catholic 5-0. In the finals, the competition came down to the final singles match, where Burroughs was represented by Ainsley Heidbreder ‘21. She fended off four match points, and the championship came down to a tie-breaker in the third set. In the end, Burroughs lost 5-4 in a hard fought battle. Captain Maddy Duncan ‘18 says, “It was heartbreaking to lose the championship. The fact that the match was incredibly close made it that much harder because the title was in our reach and we just barely missed it.”

Sami Remis ‘20 says, “Our plan for next season is to continue to work really hard, and end up back in Springfield for state once again. Hopefully, to bring a state title back to JBS!”

The team didn’t give up though. As Duncan says, “Every member of our team knew that we had the talent and tenacity to win state, and I think that knowing that motivated everybody to go out there and give it their all in the individual tournament on Friday and Saturday.”
And that’s exactly what happened. The Bombers certainly made quite the showing on the podiums. Sami Remis ‘20 placed first in singles while Kate Stengel ‘19 placed sixth. Ainsley Heidbreder ‘21 and Lily Walther ‘21 also placed first in doubles, and Maddy Duncan ‘18 and Lexi Young ‘19 placed fourth.
The weekend and preparation up to it was long and exhausting for the team, but as Remis says, it was really rewarding because “the team is more than just a group of girls who play tennis. [Throughout] the season we got really close, and not only is everyone all great at tennis, but they are all great people.”