Indians’ Colin Clark named POY
When the 2024 spring boys’ tennis season was about to get under way, Hays HIgh coach Kayla Brown said that her varsity team made a prediction that not only would they win the Western Athletic Conference title, but they set their goal to go undefeated.
Brown, in her fifth year guiding the program, thought it was a lofty goal but didn’t give it a lot of extra thought at the time.
When the WAC had its one day, round-robin championship in early May, however, those predictions came true as the Indians won all 16 of their matches, and senior Colin Clark earned WAC Player of the Year by beating the same opponent he lost to in 2023.
“This group I’ve had all four years and they’ve made great improvements each year,” said Brown, who also earned WAC Coach of the Year honors. “They had been on the losing side, but last year they competed well and were competitive.”
The Indians’ 16-point win easily outdistanced Garden City, which had won the previous five championships, and Dodge City with 8 points each.
“When the boys said they wanted to go undefeated, I just told them “to go for it.’ They didn’t take no for an answer. With the experience of the seniors, it was just really cool to see how their confidence changed.”
In addition to Clark winning at No. 1 singles, teammate Ken Shaffer went 4-0 in No. 2 singles. The No. 1 doubles team was comprised of Xavier Catura and Kale Schwien while the No. 2 doubles squad was Henry Fitzhum and Carsen Riat.
“The seniors spent a lot of time in the summer and offseason practicing and improving,” Brown said. “There was a lot of hard work. Sometimes, on a Friday night at 11 p.m., you might see most of them at the tennis courts.”
The WAC title was a first for Brown, but she hopes the foundation has been laid for future success.
“The younger players know what kind of hard work it takes to compete at this level, so I’m hopeful that we will see more good things in the future,” Brown said.
WAC Player of the Year: Colin Clark, Hays, Sr.
Colin Clark’s success in his final year of high school tennis might well have been predicted a year earlier when he suffered a series of setbacks against his league opponents.
“When you finish fourth in the WAC, you’ve only won one match,” said Clark, who upped his game in 2024 and captured the conference title with a 4-0 record. “A lot of my improvement came from being more consistent, but the biggest thing was the mental side. I did a much better job of letting go of points (lost). I used to get frustrated but this year I was able to continue with a clear head.”
Clark’s season saw him go 27-7 that included a third-place finish in the Class 5A regional. But his final icing on the cake dessert came at the state tournament where he posted a 3-2 record, earned a 12th place medal to become the first HHS boys’ medalist in 40 years.
“Everything just felt really good with each accomplishment,” Clark said. “To go from fourth to first (WAC) was one of my biggest goals of the year.”
Clark said he improved every area of his game, including his big forehand, a backhand that saw steady improvement and a more consistent serve.
“I worked hard on all of those during the offseason,” Clark said. “I’d spend every day at the courts, sometimes just by myself.”
His regional and state performances become even more impressive when one considers he had lost in the first round of regionals in each of his previous three seasons.
“To make that huge jump was maybe the most satisfying part of the season,” Clark said. “I was the only one outside of Kansas City and Wichita to medal.”
Clark said the end of his high school would also close the book on his competitive tennis career as he turned downs several small school offers to play in college and instead will attend Fort Hays State University in the fall and begin his pre-med studies where he hopes to become a Surgical P.A. in the future.
Western Athletic Conference Championship
Team Scores
Hays, 16; T2. Dodge City and Garden City, 8; 4. Liberal, 5; 5. Great Bend, 3.
All-Conference First Team
| NAME | SCHOOL | RECORD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 Singles | Colin Clark | Hays | 4-0 |
| No. 2 Singles | Ken Shaffer | Hays | 4-0 |
| No. 1 Doubles | Xavier Catura/Kale Schwien | Hays | 4-0 |
| No. 2 Doubles | Henry Fitzhum/Carson Riat | Hays | 4-0 |
Coach of the Year – Kayla Brown, Hays
