Jackie Klein could be retired to somewhere warm, kicked back and getting accustomed to a life with few daily obligations. After a long career as a teacher and coach, the leisure of a permanent vacation has certainly been earned.
She could. But she can’t.
Because this is an 83-year-old whose workout routine still includes high-intensity interval training. Her passion for competition is as intense now as it was when she started the girls tennis program at Spackenkill High School in 1980. In fact, a shoulder replacement surgery is the only reason she doesn’t still play the sport regularly.
“I think being around young people keeps me young,” said Klein, who retired from teaching English in 1995 but still coaches. “One of the best things you can do while growing older is to surround yourself with positive, energetic people.”
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The players might say the same of her while attempting to match that energy. And why wouldn’t Klein continue after building and rebuilding many times over one of the better tennis programs in the area?
She hasn’t slowed down and neither have her pupils. The Spartans followed a splendid regular season with a dominant win over Port Jervis, capturing last Friday the Section 9 team championship for a second consecutive year.
“They were so excited,” Klein said of the team, which won four of its five matches at Monticello High School. “They couldn’t wait to take pictures with the bracket and with their medals on. It’s always a wonderful thing because when you achieve something like this, it’s a reward for all the work they’ve put in.”
Spackenkill’s Katie Park defeated Michelle Gimena, 6-0, 6-4, at first singles, beginning a run of four straight victories to win the final.
The Spartans also had four players qualifying for the Section 9 individual tournament, which runs Tuesday to Wednesday at Match Point Tennis in Goshen. Park and Vivian Zanca earned berths to the singles competition and eighth-grader Alison Lee and Thanya Tran will contend for the doubles title. Spackenkill competes again as a team on Nov. 4 in the state regional tournament.
Zanca beat Caroline Centauro, 6-1, 6-0, at second singles and the newly formed doubles tandem of Lee and Qadira Scheidelman swept first doubles against Port Jervis. Tran and Rachel Park were challenged at second doubles but pulled out a 6-2, 1-6, 13-11 victory.
“We typically play three singles and two doubles matches, but we had to play three doubles matches here,” Klein said. “People had new doubles partners, but everyone was willing to play with someone new and adjust.”
Port Jervis won the third doubles match as Grace Cirulli and Kayleigh Wright topped Iman Ali and Abigail Madden, 6-4, 6-2, but that too for Spackenkill was a one-day pairing formed out of necessity.
The Spartans went 9-1 in the regular season and edged Dutchess County rivals Red Hook and Our Lady of Lourdes on a tiebreaker to win the Mid Hudson Athletic League crown. That earned them the meeting with Port Jervis, champion of the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Among their regular season highlights was Lee and Tran going undefeated as a doubles duo and Scheidelman losing only once at third singles. Zanca went 8-2 at second singles.
“It’s not because of me,” Klein said of her team’s success. “I’ve been fortunate to get good players with supportive parents. As proud as I am of them for their skills and accomplishments, I’m even prouder of the young women they are. I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Once again, the players might say the same of her.
Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Girls tennis: Spackenkill tops Port Jervis to repeat as section champ
