The Connelly Family Tree…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
It’s finally state tournament weekend for tennis. Whoo hoo, didn’t think it would ever get here.
Bishop McGuinness moved up from Class 4A to 5A, but it doesn’t seem to have posed any problems for the Irish, who are gunning for their 11th team title in a row.
No family has played a bigger role in that than the Connelly group. Being in the Oklahoma City area, think tennis, think the Connelly family and the Villaflor family at Heritage Hall.
Dick Villaflor still has a couple years left with Carissa, but this weekend marks the final time for a Connelly as Katelyn looks to make it four team titles and three individual titles with mother Vicki coaching the squad.
Katelyn is the last of five, so for those that don’t remember, a little trip down memory lane with the family.
Sarah Jane Connelly, 26, won team titles in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Won No. 1 singles titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001. Graduated from University of Notre Dame.
Lauren Connelly, 25, won team titles in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. Won No. 2 singles titles in 1999, 2000, 2001 and No. 1 singles title in 2002. Graduated from University of Notre Dame.
Andy Connelly, 23, won team titles in 2003 and 2004. Won No. 1 singles titles in 2003 and 2004. Graduated from Tulsa.
Morgan Connelly, 22, won team titles 2003 and 2004. Won No. 2 doubles title in 2004. A senior at Oklahoma.
Katelyn Connelly, 18, won team titles in 2006, 2007, 2008. Won No. 1 singles title in 2007 and No. 2 singles in 2008. Will attend OU.
Add it all up, and it’s a whopping 14 team titles and 12 individual titles. But technically, there is even more now.
Andy married former OCS great Brook Buck, who earned four individual titles herself. Brook also graduated from Notre Dame.
So with extended family, it’s 16 individual championships.
Had an opportunity to talk with Jim Connelly, the father of the kids, and he had some interesting little tidbits.
He talked about how Vicki used to drive the kids to school and then play in a tennis match at 8:30 a.m. She doesn’t do that anymore as he said she has found golf instead.
He’s still amazed at how the kids call their own lines. He was a pitcher and said if he was allowed to call his own strikes, yeah, you get the picture. The only pitcher to never throw a ball in his career.
I don’t think I’ve seen a tighter group than last year’s group of Peta Maree Lancaster, Katelyn, Mia Lancaster and Whitney Ritchie, Emily Conrad and Ashleigh Chiaf.
This group is close, though. Ritchie has been dominant at No. 1 singles, same can be said for Mia at No. 2 singles and the Katelyn/Conrad duo at No. 1 doubles.
An injury to Chiaf negated complete and utter domination of the field, but she’s ready to go this weekend.
Katelyn said it’s a sisterhood. They play together during the school year, play together after the school year, practice out at Oak Tree.
So I posed the obvious, don’t cha get sick of each other?
Katelyn said they haven’t reached that point yet. Bad news for the rest of the state.
Look for a Connelly Family story in Friday’s paper as it’s just one of the many storylines to watch for this weekend.
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