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SPRINGFIELD — Coral Tracy totes an industrial size thermos onto the court with her equipment. It is important to stay hydrated, right?
“I have to have coffee with me at all times, especially during (a match),” said Tracy. “It just calms my nerves. It’s ironic really.”
Ironic is one word to describe how the Kickapoo senior stays sharp while playing tennis. Caffeine plays its role, but her focus also comes from a simple philosophy.
“It doesn’t matter who you are on the tennis court or who you’re playing, you always have the chance of losing. It doesn’t matter if you’re the No. 1 and you’re playing their No. 17.”
That mentality has helped Tracy become the leader on the Kickapoo girls tennis team. With one of the most formidable forehands in the area at her disposal, she produced a 24-7 campaign last year and finished eighth in her first appearance at the Class 2 state tournament.
Her rise is something head coach Eric Wilbur has seen coming for some time. He first noticed her ability in her first varsity season at a tournament in Liberty.
“As a freshman, she was very quiet and unassuming,” said Wilbur, “That is until you saw her out on the court and you saw this beautiful maestro hitting the ball and you’re like ‘whoa’!”
On Tuesday, she led the Lady Chiefs to a romp of their Ozark Conference competition, beating three straight opponents 5-0 to claim the championship.
“You don’t see many girls that hit the ball as hard as she does or with such flair and style. Everywhere we go, all the coaches and parents and coaches want to know where she’s going to play tennis.”
Tracy claims she will be too busy to play in college, given that she plans to double major in chemical engineering and french. What she wants to do with them remains to be seen.
In the meantime, she intends to finish no earlier than the second day of the state tournament and wrap up some unfinished business in regards to team hardware. Central bounced Kickapoo to capture a team district championship last season, and Tracy has no intention for the Lady Chiefs to suffer the same fate.
“So far we’ve had a big year and it’s really been exciting,” said Tracy after the tournament, “But the season is winding down and next week’s district tournament is very important. Today we got to see how we measured up with everybody here. Now we need to spend the next few days working on the things we need to improve on for next week.”
