Gustafson enjoys experience at championship

The luck of the draw presented quite the challenge for Kathryn Gustafson.

The Del Norte High sophomore was competing at the girls tennis Northcoast Section singles championship in Santa Rosa on Tuesday and did not find out until that morning who she would play  a short time later.

The top four seeds were already decided, with the rest chosen randomly from the remaining 12 girls.

As luck would have it, Gustafson drew Brooke Irish of Amador Valley, the No. 1 seed.

While Gustafson lost 6-0, 6-0,   she was pleased with how things turned out.

“It was a good experience for me,” Gustafson said during a phone interview on her way home Tuesday afternoon. “It gave me more of a challenge. I enjoyed playing a higher level of player.”

Gustafson was the first Warrior to make the NCS singles championship since Emma Wilson in 2006. Del Norte went to the NCS team championship in 2007 and the doubles championship in 2007 and 2008.

To get to the singles championship, Gustafson won the Humboldt-Del Norte Conference No. 1 singles title. Before Tuesday’s match she had lost only once before this season.

Warrior head coach Trudi  Zottola-Gugliemini said Gusta­fson played well and was able to get the match to deuce a few times.

“I was pretty happy about that,” she said.

Zottola-Gugliemini said Irish was the best player Gustafson had seen by far this year, adding that Irish dedicates herself to the sport year-round and plays top competition all the time.

“It was definitely a different level and style of play,” Zottola-Gugliemini said.

Gustafson said that she hopes to earn a return trip to the singles championship next year as a junior.

“A goal of mine is to come back and do better next year,” she said.