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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
State golf or state tennis? These Cedar Rapids Washington athletes had to make a tough choice
Mya Messenger and Lily Belle Barker chose state golf tournament over state tennis doubles appearance
CEDAR RAPIDS — They knew it could happen.
Cedar Rapids Washington's Mya Messenger and Lily Belle Barker are two of many prep athletes in Iowa who elect to play two sports in the same season. Messenger and Barker are members of the highly-ranked Warriors golf and tennis teams.
Messenger, a junior, and Barker, a freshman, earned a spot as a doubles team in the state tournament on May 10 with a second-place finish behind teammates Katelynn Kock and Kathryn Zylstra. Last week the duo was part of the golf team that took runner-up honors and earned a spot in the Class 4A team competition.
The problem? Both the state individual singles and doubles tennis and state golf tournaments are scheduled for the same days. State golf is Thursday and Friday, tennis Friday and Saturday.
“We kinda had to make a decision going into the season,” Messenger said. “We had to decide and tell our coaches what we would do if it did happen so they would know how to plan things.”
The plan all along was for the duo to withdraw from the tennis doubles draw and compete with the golf team in the meet to be held at the Otter Creek Golf Course in Ankeny. That plan was part of the reason Messenger and Barker were paired together as a doubles team.
“We didn't want to have others besides us affected,” Barker said. “Obviously our coaches (Nina Marquardt in tennis and Dennis Goettel in golf) wanted us to be there for both, but they worked things out so they would work best for everybody.”
According to state rules, the third-place team from Washington's regional meet, Allie Barlow and Olivia Young of Cedar Rapids Jefferson, will replace Messenger and Barker in the draw.
Marquardt said the choice is one no athlete should have to make.
“(The state) has enough dates they should be able to space things out so they can do both,” she said. “There have been plenty of times where people have competed in the state track meet then gone on and participated in the state tennis tournament.”
Marquardt went on to add that boys who play both tennis and golf at Class 4A schools are never forced to make the same decision.
“If you look at the boys, they have the advantage of playing (golf) in the fall,” she said. “There is a ton of tennis and golf overlap among the boys. They could easily put girls’ golf in the fall as well.”
One silver lining in this situation for Messenger and Barker is the fact they will be available for the team tennis competition on May 30. The Warriors are ranked No. 1 in Class 2A and are favored to win a state title.
“That helps some,” Messenger said. “We get a chance to play for two team state championships. That part is exciting.”
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