Hayden King, Jack Oakey, Rohan Darsi and Abhi Kumar have covered a lot of ground in four years together at Bloomington High School. Tennis requires that kind of physical investment, running from side to side and baseline to net.
At the same time, King, Oakey, Darsi and Kumar have set a feverish pace away from tennis, chasing excellence in the classroom as well.
King explained.
“I think it’s just been building from freshman year trying to get all good grades. Each year, it’s like, ‘I haven’t gotten a B yet. Might as well keep it up until the end,’” he said.
“I’d say when we’re warming up, we’re always like, ‘Hey, how did you do on that test?’ What answer did you put down? Did we get this right or not?’”
Oh, they got it right.
The quartet accounts for half of the eight valedictorians in BHS’ senior class. Each has a 5.8 grade point average on the school’s 5.0 scale.
“It’s just a cool dynamic,” Darsi said. “We sort of keep pushing each other to do better. We help each other, too. It’s like a team thing.”
They can play tennis, too. Oakey has been at No. 1 singles, Kumar No. 2, King No. 3 and Darsi No. 5 on a team that placed third in last weekend’s Big 12 Conference Tournament, finishing two points out of second.
Coach Megan Rozboril called it “the best we’ve done in many years at Bloomington.” Doing it with four valedictorians in the lineup was … well, historic.
“We’ve had two valedictorians (in tennis) and maybe three if you count both the boys and girls. But we’ve never had four on the same starting rotation,” Rozboril said. “We knew from the start they were all academically driven, just by hearing about the classes they take … even as early as junior high with some of the accelerated math programs that Bloomington allows.
“These guys have been working their butts off both academically and on the court for a long time now.”
King and Kumar, the Big 12 champions at No. 1 doubles, will seek their third straight state tournament berth in this weekend’s Normal Community Sectional. Oakey and freshman Phillip Haning finished second in the Big 12 at No. 2 doubles, as did Darsi and senior Hayden Fraker at No. 3 doubles.
Fraker is no slouch academically, either. An Illinois State Scholar, he fits in well on a team that values learning and friendship.
“It’s really nice because I grew up with these guys,” Oakey said. “We’re in a lot of the same classes and have a lot of the same interests because we’re on that same academic level.
“None of us really made goals to be valedictorians. It just ended up that way. We’ve always been at the top of our classes since elementary school. It’s just a coincidence that we all ended up on the tennis team.”
They have grown together on the court. They had a dual meet record of 1-10 as freshmen, 5-11 as sophomores, 9-6 last year and 10-5-3 this season.
Kumar, who has qualified for a national debate competition in June, attributes part of the tennis success to their mental approach academically.
“It kind of translates a little bit (on the court),” he said. “It definitely keeps us all motivated and working hard. You know how to work hard and stay committed.”
Oakey agreed.
“I wouldn’t say tennis is book smarts, but it’s mental toughness and you can really relate it to school,” he said. “You’ve had to push through these tough classes and manage your time. It takes mental strength and a lot of mental capacity. It’s the same thing on the tennis court.”
None will play tennis in college. Oakey will attend Villanova, Kumar and Darsi are headed to the University of Illinois, and King will enroll at Illinois State.
The plan is to enjoy the postseason and give it their all. It’s what they do. And the bond they’ve formed is victory in itself.
“It’s made the whole experience fun, more fun than I could ever imagine,” Darsi said.
Did they get it right? You bet.
In every way.
