Topeka ? During her first two trips to the Class 4A state tennis championships, De Soto senior Lauren Hampton claimed all the hardware for herself.

On Saturday, she was more than happy to share.

While Hampton won a medal for the third straight year courtesy of her seventh-place finish in singles play, it was the heavy trophy she toted around the Kossover Tennis Center that brought her the most joy.

Such was the reward for the Wildcats’ third-place finish as a team at this year’s event – the first time a De Soto girls tennis team has won a state trophy.

“Awesome. It’s so amazing to have this accomplishment,” Hampton said about her teammates’ ability to help close out her high school career in such fine fashion. “We’ve all worked really hard for it.

“It’s just something I’ll always leave my senior memories with.”

Hampton made a solid contribution to De Soto’s 20-point output by rallying back from a tough loss Saturday morning with a 9-1 victory over Wamego’s Becca Law in the seventh-place match – the second straight year she’s finished in that position.

However, the points that put the Wildcats in the thick of the trophy hunt came in doubles play, where sophomore Rebekah Gulley and freshman Hana Lindbloom bounced back from their own Saturday morning setback in the semifinals to take third place with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Baldwin’s senior duo of Katie Beall and Kristen Ferris.

“It feels pretty good being so young and getting this much accomplished already,” Lindbloom said. “We’re already thinking about next year.”

There won’t be a next year for Beall and Ferris, who struggled to reconcile the emotions of winning coveted state medals with the disappointment of losing both of their matches Saturday.

“It’s bittersweet, because it would have been nice to end our high school tennis careers on a win,” Beall said. “(But) I think it will wear off pretty fast, especially once we get our medals.”

Also joining the medals parade was a second De Soto doubles team of senior Stephanie Hoover and Hannah Konetzni. Unlike their teammates, the pair won their opening match Saturday before falling to Independence’s Jordan Conley and Adriana Moreno, 9-6, in the ninth-place match.

That finish meant two more team points for De Soto – the margin that ultimately separated the Wildcats from fourth-place Larned.

“By qualifying three entries, and everybody placing and medaling, we proved we belong,” said De Soto coach Mike Sullivan. “The girls should be real proud of their effort.”

Parsons won the team title with 30 points, while Topeka Hayden secured runner-up honors with 22.

In the Class 6A state championships held at the same site, Free State walked away with one team point after the Firebirds’ doubles team of senior Andrea Koch and junior Leigh Luina lost, 9-2, Saturday morning to Shawnee Mission East’s Finley Gates and Melissa Lem – the same team that knocked them out in the championship match of the No. 2 doubles flight at the Sunflower League tournament.

Koch and Luina finished 1-3 in the state tourney and did not place in the top 10.

“Picking up a win Friday was a great accomplishment,” Free State coach Jon Renberger said. “You always want to place and finish in the top 10, but they played some tough opponents. The teams they lost to were just very, very good.”

Blue Valley North won the Class 6A team title with 40 points.