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Chisago Lakes sophomore Claire Mickelson made the most of her trip to the Class AA state girls tennis tournament on Thursday, October 29, picking up an opening-round victory before falling to one of the tournament's top seeds in the quarterfinals.

Mickelson, who entered the tournament unseeded, opened play at Life Time Fitness in Bloomington against fellow unseeded player Aurora Jacobs of Perham/New York Mills. The Wildcat sophomore was up to the challenge, earning a 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance to the quarterfinal round.

There, Mickelson ran into third-seeded Ellen Davis of Minneapolis Southwest, who ended Mickelson’s tournament run with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Davis went on to finish fourth in Class AA.

Head Coach Jon Erickson praised the sophomore's state tournament showing, saying she was playing great tennis leading up to the tourney and played well against some of Minnesota’s best.

The Wildcats also enjoyed plenty of success as a team this fall, finishing with a 12-8 overall record and collecting several notable victories along the way.

Erickson pointed to signature wins over Champlin Park, Stillwater and Cambridge-Isanti as highlights of a "terrific season" for the Wildcats.

CORRECTION: In last week's edition, the Press incorrectly reported that Claire Mickelson lost to Abby Manger of Mahtomedi in the Section 4AA singles championship match. Mickelson actually defeated Manger 6-3, 6-2 to become the first player in Chisago Lakes girls tennis program history to win a section singles championship. The Press regrets the error.

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