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Shea McGuinness leads Polson to state titles on the Pirates’ home court

Posted at 9:31 PM, May 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-05 15:32:12-04

POLSON – Out of the hundreds of state championships last week, only a select handful got the chance to win a title in their hometown. The Polson girls topped Class A tennis serving on their home court.

Polson junior Shea McGuinness stormed through the bracket to claim the singles crown. She didn’t drop a set in the tournament, although she was taken to 6-4 four times in her last three matches. When McGuinness finished off a 6-4, 6-3 win over Olivia Fehr of Corvallis in the final, she had plenty of reasons to smile and plenty of support.

“I worked really hard. My coach always had me doing things after practice, too, like running for endurance,” said McGuinness after the win. “And I just thought about everything that I had put into this and how much I deserved it and how much I really wanted it.”

“It feels really good, actually, to do it in my hometown, because I had a lot of friends and family that were able to come watch me do it, too,” continued McGuinness, who had the help of a large gallery cheering her on. “So I got a lot of support. It felt like I had a huge family that was helping me out throughout the whole thing.”

The Polson pair of Kyler Lundeen and Berkley Ellis also took fourth place in girls doubles to help the Pirates easily beat out Belgrade and Hardin for the team title. The boys team championship ended up a three-way tie between Corvallis, Whitefish and Hardin.