The Fossil Ridge tennis teams complete league play with their first league title in school history.

The Sabercats won six of the seven possible tournaments in first, second, and third singles, and second, third, and fourth doubles. 

One of the most impressive performances came from Fossil’s number one singles player, John Shelby. Shelby is recovering from a back injury, where he had three fractures. 

“I had PT[physical therapy] every day…it was during the summer, so no running or anything, which was brutal cause I couldn’t really do anything…I had to bend down a specific way…it was like having a full body cast without actually wearing one,” Shelby said.

Despite the injury, John Shelby is still working hard and playing his heart out as the top singles player for Fossil. He’s continuing to work towards his goal, winning at state.

Another positive for the Sabercats is their three doubles team, Tyler VanTassel and Grant Samuelson. Samuelson and VanTassel have remained undefeated this season, and won their league championship bracket with relative ease. They spoke about how much their success means to themselves and one another.

“It feels great…a lot of hard work paying off and it’s awesome, because it’s not like we’ve played a weak schedule either, we played some really good teams,” VanTassel said.

In order to be successful as a team, tennis doubles need to be in sync with each other and help one another out, and Tyler and Grant are no exception.

“We have a pretty good relationship. This is Tyler’s first year playing doubles, and this is my third year…I showed him the ropes, and now he’s really kind of taking control…I think we work together really well,” Samuelson said.

This league championship marks a major milestone in the history of boys tennis at Fossil Ridge, as the Sabercats continue to march along this impressive season. Coach Steve Schultz has been very impressed with his team this year.

“It’s been a great season. We’ve done a lot of firsts, a lot of stuff we haven’t done. We finished second in the Cherry Creek Invite…We’re undefeated in conference, that was good…things are looking good,” Schultz said

The Sabercats tennis team will be back in action at regionals on October 6 and 7, here at Fossil Ridge.

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