Tennis standout pursues Grand Slam
Tanya Timko is no stranger to playing singles against boys players.
As a sophomore tennis player at Chartiers-Houston, she regularly took the court during the regular season as a singles player before teaming up with her older sister Karli to win the 2009 WPIAL Class AA doubles championship.
Now a senior in pursuit of a possible WPIAL career grand slam, Timko is feeling the weight of being truly alone as the only girl among the boys.
"I played the entire (2009) season with my sister, and I had my feet in the water already, and I'll have that experience for sections, but it's a whole lot different without Karli," Timko said. "With her there was a sense of comfort, but this year is completely different. This team is full of freshmen, and sometimes I feel like I'm alone out there. But it's my senior season, and I owe it to myself to give it the best."
Karli and Tanya won the WPIAL Class AA girls doubles title during the fall of the 2007-08 school year, but a decrease in players forced Chartiers-Houston to disband its girls tennis program the following year. Because of WPIAL and PIAA rules forbidding independent doubles competition, the two joined the Bucs' boys team and became the first girls doubles tandem to win the WPIAL boys championship.
In the fall of her junior year, Timko defeated Logan Antill of Sewickley Academy in three sets to win her third crown and first in singles. If she wins the boys championship this year, she will become the third girl to win the boys Class AA singles title, joining Quaker Valley's Annie Houghton (2006) and defending champion Sarah Shashura of California.
Timko also would become the first to hold all four titles in her career.
Although winning the WPIAL boys championship would be a rare accomplishment, she will get an indicator of just where she stands in her quest Thursday and Friday when she competes in the Section 1-AA singles finals at Greensburg Racquet Club. If she makes it to the finals, there is a good chance she will meet Mt. Pleasant senior David Cenkner.
He is the only semifinalist remaining from the 2010 tournament. Cenkner lost to Shashura, who transferred to Brownsville and played girls singles this school year, in the semifinals before winning a consolation match and earning a spot in the PIAA finals in Hershey. Timko and Cenkner were supposed to play Friday, but the match was postponed because of bad weather.
That means the first time they will see each other could be in the section finals, depending on the seedings.
"I've never played him, so I really don't know his game at all, so it's going to be an experience figuring out how he plays," Timko said. "Mental toughness ... is what I need playing Dave. I have to go out there, give it my all for an hour and a half, and be done with it."
This could be the first of as many as four matches between the two if they meet in the sectionals, two section matches and the WPIAL singles bracket. In addition, there will be other obstacles along the way for Timko.
Still, whether she wins the WPIAL title or not, Timko is taking somewhat of a fatalistic approach to her pursuit.
"It's a goal, and it would be great, but it's not going to be the end of the world if I don't do it," Timko said. "I'm trying not to put pressure on myself because I have nothing else to lose. If I go out and give my best effort, there's nothing else that I can ask for."
