This story is part of a Lance and Wired package on Westside coaches winning awards. The Lance portion, which highlights awards won by head varsity football coach Brett Froendt and assistant football coach Craig Secora, is on page 12 of issue 5 of the Lance, which came out today. Make sure to grab a copy of the Lance in any imc today!

Over the past 13 years, Westside tennis has seen a string of success. Both the girls and boys teams are perennial state championship contenders, with the girls team having won the state championship five times during that time period, with the most recent coming in 2012. Besides the numerous first place finishes, the Warriors have racked up top five finishes in all but one year for girls and all but three seasons for the boys.

This success as all come with current head varsity tennis coach Kim Gradoville as a coach, as she has been coaching at Westside for 13 years. Now, Gradoville is being recognized for her efforts.

Gradoville was recently nominated for National Tennis Coach of the Year by the Nebraska Coaches Association. Gradoville was then selected as one of the eight finalists by the national committee.

Athletic Director Tom Kerkman said Gradoville will be attending the award ceremony in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this summer. There she will find out if she is the National Tennis Coach of the Year.

“I’m just very proud of Westside tennis as a whole, what we’ve been able to do,” Gradoville said.

While the award is a major achievement and sign of Gradoville’s success, perhaps even greater is that Gradoville was recently named the head tennis coach at the College of Saint Mary, and will be helping the school start a tennis program.

Gradoville heard about the position from a mutual friend of the College of Saint Mary athletic director, and after talking with the athletic director and students and staff at Saint Mary, put in an application for the position.

With the added coaching responsibility, Gradoville will be stepping down as Westside coach, although she will still teach at the high school.

“Obviously she’s got a good opportunity to coach in college, be able to still teach at Westside and to be able to try to coach and start a program at the college of Saint Mary’s,” Kerkman said. “I know it’s going to be a big challenge, to kind of start your own program, but she knows her tennis, and she knows how to manage a team, coach a team, and I think it’s a good opportunity for her, and just wish her nothing but the best.”

Varsity tennis player senior McKinney Harwood, who came in second at state last year at No. 1 doubles with her partner and sister sophomore Lizzie Harwood, said Gradoville has worked hard at coaching. Harwood said she is happy for her coach. For Harwood, Gradoville has been an encouraging figure.

“For me personally, she’s supported me a lot in my matches, especially last year in the finals at state,” Harwood said. “For our team, she has our best interest [in mind], and always pushes us to keep playing and practice in the offseason.”

While Gradoville said the College of Saint Mary has a strong athletic program, they currently have no tennis team members, as the team is new. Gradoville said recruiting in general will be a challenge, as she has never had to deal with recruiting as a high school coach, but filling the team for next year will be an even bigger challenge, as she will have to build an entire team from scratch.

“Recruiting is something I’ve never done as a high school coach, so that’s definitely the part of college coaching that’s going to be new to me,” Gradoville said.