Saint Joseph Catholic High School girls tennis team wins 2A State Championship

Friday, Oct. 17, 2014

OGDEN — The Saint Joseph Catholic High School girls tennis team won the UHSAA 2A Tennis State Championship Oct. 3 at Liberty Park as a 1A division school. There aren’t enough 1A division teams in Region 17 so SJCHS plays in the 2A division.

This is the fourth tennis state championship in the school’s history, said Alex Salvo SJCHS athletic director and dean of students. “We are so proud of the girls,” he said. 

Amanda Higgs, a senior, placed first in 2nd Singles against Rowland Hall. Christiana Behnken and Ali Koehler, both seniors, placed first in 1st Doubles against Manti High School; and Margy Maher and Kaili Kashiwaeda, both juniors, placed second in 2nd Doubles against Rowland Hall.

The Jayhawks team went into the state finals not expecting to win a championship title because “we were up against some really strong teams who had a lot of depth in their players,” said Cindy Reinhard, who coaches the team with her brother-in-law, Shane Reinhard. They are in their second year with the team.

Going into the state tournament, the team had two goals in mind: secure a win for the doubles team of Behnken and Koehler, who had been gunning for a state title for three years; and take it one match at a time to try to get through to the next round.

Higgs’ match was the last one of the day, and it would determine who would take the state title, although Higgs was unaware of that, said Shane Reinhard.

“I told [the other team members] not to let Amanda know because I didn’t want her to worry, I wanted her to play solid tennis; and she won a state title and so did the team,” added Cindy Reinhard.

The SJCHS girls tennis team won the region last year, but fell short this year.

“We enjoy watching these girls grow as young women and working with them as a community,” said Shane Reinhard.  

“This team is particularly special to us because several of these girls we taught to play tennis,” said Cindy Reinhard. “That was something we thought of during the finals. We started teaching Amanda last summer and Kaili in July. I’ve been teaching Ali for two years, and a few others who made it to state were also new to tennis. This was our team.”

The Reinhards have a unique coaching situation. Cindy Reinhard grew up playing tennis; she played in high school and on leagues. Last summer she taught the sport to Shane Reinhard. 

“The proposal we brought to Alex Salvo last year was that Cindy knows how to play tennis and has the skill dynamics, and I have the coaching experience,” said Shane Reinhard. “It was an experiment.”

“We normally look for experience in our coaches, but we also look for the quality in an individual; is this coach going to teach the young kids more than the sport and something about life skills?” said Salvo. “These two individuals are both strong in their faith and have strong Christian values, and that weighs a lot on our decision in selecting coaches. We are proud of them getting a state championship in such a short time.”

The tennis team has been on an incredible journey, said Patrick Lambert, SJCHS principal. “These coaches coach with absolute love,” he said. “The players have a true sense of team and are so supportive of each other; always building each other up. 

“I feel very fortunate to have these coaches leading this great group of young girls,” Lambert continued.  “It’s fun to know that they went into the state tournament knowing that each one of them was going to need to battle through long matches, and at times be down, and watch them respond to adversity and be able to come through and win.”