28 | Saturday, March 28, 2026 Elk River Star News
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Elk River, MN 55330.
Elks look to reload after state tournament run
Graduation losses force Elk River to rely on youth, returning leaders
ERIK NELSON Sports Reporter
The Elk River boys tennis team returns this spring after qualifying for the 2025 state tournament and finishing sixth.
The Elks capped a memorable season by winning the Northwest Suburban Conference and Section 7-2A titles. They were ranked between No. 5 and No. 7 in the state throughout the year.
Head coach Randy Ronning returns for his 18th season. It would have been his 19th, but the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
KEY RETURNERS
Senior Henry Boese brings experience and versatility, with 132 career wins in both singles and doubles. He has qualified for the state tournament three times as an individual and is a five-time all – Northwest Suburban Conference selection.
Senior co-captains Carter Fellows and Zach Hughes also return as multi-time letter winners. The Elks could also see an infusion of youth, with three seventh-graders competing for varsity spots.
KEY DEPARTURES
Jack Gangl, Myles Thompson and Aaron Zoubek each recorded more than 100 career wins.
IMPORTANT MATCHES
March 31 at Coon Rapids; April 8 vs. Osseo; April 13 at Champlin Park; April 18 vs. Becker, Lakeville North and Maple Grove; April 20 vs. Hopkins and Spring Lake Park; April 22 at Andover; April 24 vs. Centennial; April 28 at Rogers; April 30 vs. Grand Rapids and Anoka; May 2 vs. Duluth East, Forest Lake and Minneapolis
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Elk River boys tennis team won its Section 7-2A championship match over Cambridge-Isanti 4-3 on Tuesday, May 27, at Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis, qualifying for the 2025 Class 2A state tournament. The 2026 Elks return only four varsity starters, so the team will be younger this spring. Below: Henry Boese( right) and Elks head coach Randy Ronning after Boese’ s 100th win in 2024( file photo).
Washburn; May 5 vs. Blaine.
COACH’ S OUTLOOK
“ We’ ll be a good team,” Ronning said.“ There are 122 teams in our class. I don’ t know if we’ re a top- 10 team, but I think we’ re somewhere between 10 and 20.
“ Seven of our top 11 starters graduated, so we’ re a young team. We’ ve got four good players back and one exceptional player. There are more than 6,000 boys out for tennis this spring, so to be in the top 20 is amazing.
“ We’ ll have four players on varsity who have never played at that level. Against the top teams, it’ s going to be difficult to compete in a way where we can win.
“ In our conference, Blaine has been very good the last three or four years. We’ ve managed to get by them for the conference and section titles, but this year they’ re really strong. With all the players we graduated, they’ re probably favored in both.”
Ronning said fundamentals will be a focus early in the season.
“ The little things make the difference,” he said.“ Our first day of practice was March 23, and we spent a good part of it on footwork. The top players have great footwork, and that’ s not natural in tennis. It can take athletes two to three years to develop.
“ Competing on JV is one thing. Competing on varsity— especially against top teams— is different. A lot of players also haven’ t put in the time to develop a strong serve, so that’ s another area we’ ll emphasize.”
Ronning added that favorable early-spring weather has helped the team get off to a strong start.
“ We’ ve had years where we couldn’ t get outside for three weeks,” he said.“ This year, the lack of snow has allowed us to get going right away, which should help us early in the season.”