Laramie High School Tennis Hopes for a Big Fall 2024 Season [VIDEO]

Roles are reversed on the Laramie High School tennis teams, as they start the 2024 high school season with a pair of home matches on Monday. Last year, the boys had an experienced roster, and the girls had to replace several players in their line-up. Fast forward to this year, and it is the girls’ team that has experience, and the boys have key players to replace.

The Plainsmen are the defending state champs, and the girls’ squad took third last year. LHS returns six players from the ladies’ varsity line-up at last year’s state tournament. The boys bring back only two players.

Expectations are still high for both teams. Head coach Elizabeth Clower says that is truly the case for the Laramie girls, and she says the team is the one that is setting those goals and expectations.

“They’re hungry. They’re excited. I’ve seen some passion and drive out of them. It’s just kicked up even more than it was last year. I have some great leadership from my two seniors, Makeda (Proctor) and Hannah (Peterson), so things are looking good.”

To rebuild the boys’ squad, Clower again pointed toward great leadership.

“We have Paulo (Mellizo) and Eli (Coulter) back and a couple of others who were alternates last year that are also back, so they’ve at least been to the state tournament and seen what it is like. They are also setting the tone out here (on the courts). We’re working on playing hard and playing to win. Also, showing sportsmanship while we do it. The nice thing about this group of boys is they are very coachable, and they want to be better.”

KOWB’s David Settle caught up with defending No. 2 doubles champions Makeda Proctor and Gracie Smith from the girls’ team, and Mellizo and Coulter from the boys’ team to discuss how practice is going for the team and individually, what they see ahead during the season, and more, in the video interview at the top of the story.

Clower admitted, that setting the line-ups before the season has been challenging.

“We want them to be competitive. We talk about that every day. If you’re not out here bringing your best, you’re letting your teammate down. The only way they’re going to get better is if you get better.”

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Clower is not sure what to expect from around the state in 2024. She knows a lot of seniors departed, especially on the boys’ side.

“It’s a little tough to know who’s going to come with what because there were a lot of seniors last year. We know they are still going to be tough. They’ve been working hard. They’ve got up-and-coming players, too, so we’re just ready for every time we hit the court to bring our best.”

Laramie starts at home against Kelly Walsh and Natrona County on Monday at 10 a.m. at the LHS Tennis courts. Their other home matches will be versus Rawlins on Aug. 23, vs. Cheyenne East on Sept. 3, and Torrington (Senior Day) on Sept. 6. The South Regional Tennis Championships are in Green River on Sept. 20 and 21. The state championships are in Gillette from Sept. 26-28, 2024.