Jim Thorpe had the best showing in program history in 2019, something the squad hopes to continue this fall.

JIM THORPE

QUARTER CENTURY - Long-time head Olympians tennis coach Norb Lienhard returns for his 25th season at the helm of the ship and hopes to have a great year in 2020. Last season was another strong campaign for the Olympians as they compiled a 14-4 record, marking the program’s best record ever.

GRADUATED GEMS ... Lienhard and assistant coach Brent Reabold are aware of the gaps left in the lineup, due to the graduation losses of Kaitlyn O’Neil (No. 2 singles), Chloe Getz (No. 1 doubles), Evelyn Flores (No. 1 doubles), Taryn Vaughn and Emma Steinmetz. “Coming off our best season ever, we did lose three important people,” Lienhard said. “We do have plenty of great players returning, though and we’re looking forward to seeing how the season shapes up.”

GUESS WHO’S BACK ... The Olympians have Christy McLean “The McLean Cuisine” returning to lead the team at the No. 1 singles position, which she manned a season ago. As a senior, Lienhard hopes she can take what she learned and make the next step.

UNSUNG HEROES ... After spending 2019 at the No. 3 singles slot, senior Trista Gehris is competing with classmate Sophia Samoleski and junior Gabby Nunez for the coveted singles roles behind McLean.

ANOTHER ONE ... Last season, Lienhard saw a promising talent in then freshman Tara McLean go down early on with a season-ending injury. However, the younger sister to Christy is back and primed to make up for missing time.

OTHER HOPEFUL FACTORS ... Juniors Kaylinn Trine and Taylor Saba, sophomores Hailey Trine, Sofia Testa, along with a pair of freshmen in Juila Green and Ashlynn Miller will all be competing for doubles positions.

PLEASANT VALLEY

REBUILDING THE SQUAD - Veteran head coach Mark Allison looks to several capable players to fill the voids left by last year’s graduating class. The Bears, who were an even 8-8 a year ago, return players with little to no playing experience and may take their lumps early on.

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN ... Moving on to the next phases of their lives are recently graduated players Julia Polak, Rebecca Makrides, Riley Wagner, and Hope Hoppe. Wagner was the Times News Player of the Year a season ago and will be sorely missed.

WHO BE THE BEST BEARS? ... Looking at personnel, Allison and assistant coach Laura Ammerman will be looking to a young group of student athletes ready to make their mark. Julia DeYoung and Shylah Healy lead the way with the most playing time from previous seasons, and are ready to spearhead the Bears in 2020.

AIDING THE DEN ... The Bears’ roster is filled with potential as plenty of challenging netters are hoping to crack the lineup and make their name known. Kristin Rakoski, Samantha Zarate, Emily Gately, Ava Horstman, Ashley Kovacs, Briana Noel, McKayla Reese, Jordan Rosenberg, Kassidy Shupp and Molly Schaffner are all hoping to earn playing time.

OUTLOOK ... Allison and Ammerman both are aware of the team’s strength in their troop’s hard work and enthusiasm towards the sport of tennis. However, with the inexperience at all positions, the Bears are hoping their early season lessons won’t dictate the results of the 2020 season.

TAMAQUA

BACK AT THE HELM ... The Blue Raiders see Rich Gibson return to lead the way, as assistant coaches Jim Dean and Jessica Paisley add their voices to guide the 2020 team to improvement on last year’s 1-11 mark.

REGA-GONE ... Graduation saw the Raiders’ Jocelyn Rega depart for the next challenge in life, leaving a wide open roster of positions to fill for Gibson.

THE GOOD NEWS ... All of those positions were already played by returning players to the Raider lineup as Sabrina Prat, Nami Choi, Anjelika Bollentino, Magen Oswald, Emily Hunsicker, and Lesslie Antonio Martinez are being looked at as crucial players coming back this year.

KEEPING IT SIMPLE ... According to Gibson his team’s strength is their veterans, the weaknesses are the young talent and when asked about the outlook, he said, “We want to get more wins and have the new players gain experience.”

PUSHING TO THE TOP ... Emily Antonio, Brooke Williams, Kalla Wall and Julianna Bowmansome are all going to be challenging the returning talent to keep them battle tested and ready to face their next foes.