By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

Hays High School girls' tennis coach Chris Channell has a varsity roster that goes eight players deep, a lineup he calls "by far" the most depth the Indians have enjoyed in his four-year tenure. The stocked roster produced a second-place finish at the season-opening Cimarron tournament last week and another fine finish at the Hays High Invitational on Thursday.

Norton, which earned championships at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, won the team crown with 42 points, while Colby took second with 33 points. The Hays Gold squad finished third, one point behind Colby, and Hays Maroon (the Indians' JV team) was fourth with 20 points.

"They are all very similar abilities and it is just who is playing better that day," Channell said. "It's really tough to decide who is playing what at what meets. This was nice because it kind of played out and they can't argue with who is playing what for the next meet."

Norton sophomore Tawni Griffey delivered the biggest win in the singles' final when she defeated Colby senior Caitlyn Wark, 8-0. Wark won the Class 4A doubles state title as a sophomore and earned the singles' crown last season with a 36-0 record -- the only Kansas player to have a perfect mark in 2009.

"I know she hits the ball really hard and she is a great player, but I just had to get as many balls back as I could and be as aggressive as I could," Griffey said.

Griffey, who moved from Wichita to Norton during the offseason, has played well in state and regional tournaments. She won the Bluejays' season-opening tournament at WaKeeney-Trego before she dominated the bracket on Thursday, winning three matches by a combined score of 24-1. Wark, who collected the HHS tournament title in 2009, has revamped her game in the offseason. She had a first-round bye and then won her semifinal match 8-3 before the loss.

"She was playing well," Wark said. "I didn't play all that well. My mental game is all (messed) up."

Norton's Meaghan Peterson and Rachel Shepard won No. 1 doubles, while Hays High sophomore Shelby Dinkel won the No. 2 singles title for Hays Gold. In one match, Dinkel trailed Norton's Morgan Baumann, but came back to win.

"Tied it up, pulled ahead, just right at the end and won," Channell said. "Real impressive fashion."

At No. 2 doubles, sophomores Megan Bird and Janae Gagnon of the Gold squad defeated Indian juniors Katelyn Hecker and Naomi Basgall, competing for the Maroon team, in the championship. Hecker and Basgall hadn't played together until this week.

"Just shows you how deep my team is and how even they are," Channell said.

Junior Hanna Pfannenstiel took fourth at No. 1 singles in a deep field that included Griffey, Wark and Victoria's Desirae Karlin, last year's runner-up to Wark at the Hays High Invitational.

"Shelby has just really played well," Channell said. "Has earned that spot in the singles. Hanna is probably my most athletic player. Her play is continuing to improve each time she plays. I know she doesn't feel that way because she lost a couple matches today, but she is improving, and the more time she sees at this level, the better she is going to be."

In doubles, Channell has three teams competing for two spots for Tuesday's tournament at Great Bend. Personnel decisions were made easier after Thursday's results. Bird and Gagnon secured a place on the varsity with their title Thursday.

At No. 1 doubles, the Maroon duo of senior Abbey Homburg and junior Jill Taylor finished third. The Gold No. 1 doubles squad of senior Whitney Hickert and junior Bonnie McRae was fourth.

Channell said Homburg/Taylor would likely play at Great Bend, a tournament that includes Dodge City, and two strong teams in Larned and Sterling.

"My No. 1 doubles team (Hickert/McRae) will be staying home because they were outplayed by the other two," Channell said.