×

Tritons swing into spring tennis slate

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Manuel Roman of Iowa Central competes during the fall season at the Dodger Courts.

When Iowa Central decided to begin a tennis program, they didn’t have to look far to find a more than capable leader.

Todd Redenius has been around the game for well over 30 years, coaching seven state champions and leading the youth program. He has quickly went to work on building Triton tennis from the ground up.

On the men’s side, Iowa Central has seven freshmen and already owns dual wins over Simpson and Buena Vista — both four-year college programs.

Manuel Roman, a native of Venezuela, sports a 10-3 record and won the title at the Aces of Life Tournament held in Des Moines this past fall.

Antony Lekoko, Steven Mears, Nicholas Fifield, Zane Baker, Jacob Martens and Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Coleton Hout round out the roster.

“Our men are competing hard,” Redenius said. “From the beginning of the season, we have talked about controlling the controllable. We have done that well by demonstrating great effort, attitude and focus. Despite our 2-7 record, we are improving every day.

“We have played a tough schedule, highlighted by NAIA national power Doane University and NCAA D3 Iowa Conference powerhouse, Luther. All of our seven losses to date were to four-year schools, five of them NAIA scholarship schools.

“I am excited about the trajectory in which we are heading. We have signed several good players for next year and have everyone coming back, so 2017-18 looks promising. Our biggest challenge right now is depth; we can compete against most everyone we play at No. 1 and No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles, we just need a few more horses at the top of the lineup to give our guys playing three and four a chance to play where they really should be which is five and six.”

“We have been road warriors, and will play every match on the road except the one fall match we had at home back in September against Buena Vista,” Redenius said. “Hopefully we can get a few more home contests next fall; with only two indoor courts, it is next to impossible to get teams to come from long distances in the spring with the inconsistency in weather.”

Redenius is still putting together a complete lineup for the women, who boast three players, one of which is former St. Edmond state qualifier Lily Timmerman. Joining her are Katheryne Campos and Chiaki Masuda.

Campos is unbeaten with a 12-0 combined record in singles and doubles, while Timmerman has won seven consecutive matches and is 9-3 in both singles and doubles.

“I am really proud of Lily; her game has improved tremendously over the course of the year,” Redenius said. “She is playing with confidence and it is so much fun to see someone local have success at the collegiate level.

“No one on our team (men or women) plays harder than Lily. She is really having a solid year.”

On the year, the trio of Iowa Central players have won 20 of 25 matches played.

“We’ve done that against all four-year schools,” Redenius said. “We are looking forward to having a full roster next year which will allow us to play complete dual meets.”

Redenius also wanted to acknowledge the administrators at Iowa Central for allowing him to lead the program.

“The Iowa Central administration — from Dr. (Dan) Kinney to Mr. (Tom) Beneke to coach (Rick) Sandquist, has been so incredibly supportive of our men’s and women’s program,” he said. “I cannot say for sure when, but I do think the Triton tennis teams will be able to compete at the national level and have results commensurate with some of the other top sports programs here on campus — at least that is our goal and we are working tremendously hard to do the little things today that will lead to bigger opportunities and successes down the road.”

The Triton men are back in action this afternoon when they face Seward and Barton in Great Bend, Kan., while the women travel to Central on Thursday.

2017 IOWA CENTRAL TENNIS

Men

Roster

Freshmen

Manuel Roman, Antony Lekoko, Steven Mears, Coleton Hout, Nicholas Fifield, Zane Baker, Jacob Martens.

Schedule

March 28 — at Seward, Barton; 30 — at Central.

April 6 — at Cowley, Seminole State; 7 — at Seminole State, Southwestern Christian; 12 — at Buena Vista; 15 — at Heeston; 27 — at Mount Marty.

May 15 — at NJCAA nationals in Plano, Tex.

Women

Roster

Sophomore

Chiaki Masuda.

Freshmen

Katheryne Campos, Lily Timmerman.

Schedule

March 30 — at Central.

April 1 — at Simpson; 6 — at Cowley; 7 — at Southwestern Christian.

May 15 — at NJCAA nationals in Plano, Tex.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today