2000s New Millennium, Continuing Tradition - John Burroughs School

Left: the 2004 tennis
team. From left: Min,
King, Shah (in front),
Sullivan (with baseball
cap), Stroganova,
Coach Heinzel, Coach
Ward.
Right: a celebratory
march. Sullivan carries
King.
238 JOHN BURROUGHS /
It took my brother’s (August Felker ’99) team four years to walk away with a state championship, which was very
similar to my experience. We came in second multiple times, and the losses were devastating, usually coming
down to the last match. Because of the players we had throughout the years—Todd Saligman (’01), Kolby Loft
(’02), Ned Sears (’03), Charlie Howard, Teddy White—our goal every season was always the same—win state.
We were finally able to accomplish that feat my senior year, under the leadership of Coach (Toby) Clark. We
learned from our past losses and became a tougher team mentally, and a lot of that credit goes to Toby. He’s an
incredible motivator, not to mention a fabulous person, making all of us better players and people.
White, the freshman on the championship team, held similar thoughts:
Toby Clark was the most intense and inspiring coach I have ever had. We would not have won the team state
championship without his unbelievable tenacity pushing us along. He commanded our respect because he
cared so much about the team’s success, and he was a terrific person.
girls: it takes a team
The performance of Burroughs girls in state tennis singles, as chronicled
in “Four Girls, Ten Years, Nine State Tennis Crowns,” was unparalleled
in school history. Anne Truetzel ’03, Susan Sullivan ’06, Alex Lehman ’09,
Four girls, eleven Years, ten state tennis croWns
As of the publication of this book, the girls of Burroughs have won the
state tennis crown in singles in ten out of the last eleven years—from
2001 to 2011. For the last nine years, the string has been unbroken;
Sydney Lehman ’12 made sure of that with her third successive title
in the fall of 2011, losing a single set in the course of the year.
Four girls are responsible for this extraordinary run: Anne Truetzel
’03 was the state champion in 2001 (and the runner-up in 2000, the
fourth-place finisher in 2002). Susan Sullivan ’06 was state champion
from 2003 to 2005, and Alex Lehman ’09 won successive titles
from 2006 to 2008. Sydney then captured the title from 2009 through
2011. (In 2003, Charles Howard ’04 added to the Burroughs luster
by winning the singles championship for boys.)
Sydney Lehman’s victory in 2011 created a classic tennis trilogy: three
girls, three years each, three titles each. The threesome lost only four
matches in achieving their remarkable feat. Sullivan lost once in the
regular season as a junior, as did Alex Lehman, and Sydney lost in the
district finals and state finals—both times to her sister—as a freshman
in 2008. (Sidney advanced to state as the district runner-up.)
While proud of their success in singles, the girls have relished the
rewards of high school team tennis. After winning the singles title in
2003, Sullivan was quoted on the subject in the West County Journal:
“We obviously wanted to win as a team, and the team part of
high school tennis is what I like so much. But it was nice to come
back and win individually and do it against a player from Pembroke.”
(Pembroke had won the team title that year.) In Rise Magazine, Alex
Lehman remarked: “Playing as part of a team was something I hadn’t
really done before, and I really enjoyed it. I work so hard on my game
during the off-season and with all the national tournaments in the
summer. The state tournament is a chance for me to relax with my
teammates and just have fun.”
The 2011 team won the district championship for the second year in
a row, with a big assist from four-year standout Katy Barenholtz ’12,
but lost in the sectionals to Visitation, the eventual state champion,
also for the second year in a row.
Of Sullivan, her coach Terry Ward observed in the Post-Dispatch: “Susan
is such a deserving champion, and she is a champ much more
than on a tennis court. She is a champion academically and with her
character.” Coach Steve Beauchamp praised the Lehman sisters: “Alex
Lehman was a relatively reserved person who really led by example.
The way she conducted herself on
the court was a big part of why the
other girls looked up to her. At the
same time, she was very competitive
and would always find a way to
get the best out of herself. Sydney
has followed in her footsteps.”
From left: Susan Sullivan ’06, Alex
Lehman ’09, Sydney Lehman ’12.
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