Thursday afternoon, for the first time in her high school career, Free State High senior Lauren Thames qualified for the Class 6A state tennis tournament by finishing in the top four at the regional meet at Lawrence High.Thames finished third, actually, falling in the semifinals to the eventual regional champion and bouncing back in the third-place match to finish the day with a 3-1 record.The scores are great. Her play was even better. But neither even begins to tell the full story about Lauren’s day.It’s five minutes before her last match, one Lauren needs to win to get a better seed at state, the sun is roasting people left and right, including yours truly.I don’t make a habit of talking to athletes during their events. It’s rude, for one. In addition, it might break their concentration or step over the line of what I’m there to do.But because of Mr. Sunshine, high in the sky, I had to talk to Lauren before her third-place match. I approached her quietly, as she covered herself with sunblock behind the bleachers near Court No. 1.Ever-so-gently, I asked if she could spare a little of her sunblock for my head. She laughed, and then drenched my dome with a steady spray of the good stuff. With my mind at ease, knowing that its protective casing was well-guarded, I retook my seat in the bleachers and got ready to enjoy one more match.As she tucked her sunblock back into her bag, Lauren looked my way and told me she understood the importance of shielding the sun. “I’m Irish,” she said. Just looking at her, you could tell. She had probably reapplied her sunblock two or three times throughout the day yet still had a hint of that lobster red.Here’s the deal; this isn’t a story about sunblock and how you should always put some on when you go out in the sun. OK, now that I’ve said that, maybe it is. But it’s also much more.Here was a girl on the verge of one of the biggest matches of her life, yet she had no problem helping me out, a guy she had only met a couple of times before.The amazing thing that I’ve learned about Lauren in the short time I’ve known her is that whether it was me, a teammate or even the girl she was about to play, she gladly would have taken the time to help.She’s a sweet person, with a good heart and a smile that reflects that.As the championship match unfolded on Court No. 1, where tempers got hot and calls were contested loudly, Lauren battled for third place on Court No. 2. It was a big match, one that had plenty of ups and downs, but not once did Lauren look like she was having a bad time. She always looked happy, always looked like she was enjoying herself, always seemed thrilled to be doing what she was doing.”That’s just the way I do things,” Lauren said. “Not only does it keep me in a positive spirit, which usually helps me play better, but sometimes it also ticks off the other girls, which can work to my advantage.”What a wonderful microcosm of who Lauren is — happy and bubbly in appearance and competitive and driven on the inside.Good thing she didn’t have more time between matches. She might have challenged me to a contest to see who could get the sunblock canister to spray farther.