Edina beats Prior Lake for 19th girls' tennis title in a row

As she sat down following her straight-set victory at No. 3 singles, Edina's Hannah Hankinson did exactly what she thought she'd never do.

She cried. No injury, no disappointment. Just emotion, the by-product of the finality of the experience. Edina was in the midst of winning its 19th-consecutive state championship, en route to beating Prior Lake 5-2 for the Class 2A girls' tennis team title.

At that moment when the tears came, Hankinson was a wide-eyed eighth-grader again, taking in the awesomeness of the tournament and amazed at her good fortune.

"I remember when I started, [teammate] Katie Engelking and I were just eighth-graders and we were so happy just to be on the team," Hankinson said. "We looked up to the older girls who were leaders and now, we're the leaders. I told myself I wouldn't cry, but it hit me when it was over: That was my final match."

To the casual observer, Edina is a machine, churning out championships on an assembly line. Hankinson's tears were a reminder that there are humans behind those titles, high school-age girls, none of whom had been born when the first championship in the streak was won.

"I think people do take us for granted sometimes," Hankinson said. "They don't see the hard work and the effort we put in."

With a team loaded with youngsters — only six had ever experienced a state tournament before — Edina's continued success seemed a little less certain than in years past. Their foe in Wednesday's final, Prior Lake, had been the only team to beat Edina during the season. That victory gave the Lakers the No. 1 seed in the tournament and Edina a super-size helping of motivation.

As convincing as Edina's victory appeared, the result was in doubt for a good portion of the match. The Hornets led 3-1, but Prior Lake hung tough in the other three matches. The deciding point came at No. 2 doubles, where Edina's Isabelle Ouyang and Sophie Slattery held off repeated charges from Prior Lake's Charlotte Bowles and Sydney Soeffker for a 7-6, 7-5 victory.

Prior Lake coach P.J. Priest knew his team was the No. 1 seed in name only but was pleased by the fight in his team.

"Until somebody beats them, Edina is absolutely the favorite," said Priest, whose team finished state runners-up for the second year in a row. "But I'm so proud of how these girls hung in there. They played unbelievably well."

Dropping down from Class 2A to Class 1A brought with it a whole new set of issues for Blake to deal with.

Instead of the role of underdog, the Bears were suddenly the favorites to win the Class 1A state championship.

That certainly wasn't the case Wednesday as Blake won its ninth state championship, crushing Crookston 7-0 in the Class 1A team final. The Bears lost just 12 games in seven matches, but Stingley said it was far tougher than is looked.

"Crookston is a very good team," he said. "They made us work for every point. To beat a team like that was hard work."

Was that the best Blake has played all season?