For the fourth year in a row, the Shawnee Mission East girls’ tennis team is once again Kansas Class 6A state champions.

The upshot: The team title came with a notable accomplishment for the senior duo of Bryson Langford and Greta Stechshulte, who won their fourth consecutive doubles title, as well.

• Langford and Stechschulte are the first-ever doubles team to accomplish that feat in Kansas prep tennis history.
• Meanwhile, SM East juniors Abigail Long and Katie Schmidt finished as doubles runners-up to Langford and Stechschulte for the third year in a row.

What they’re saying: Stechschulte told the Post she and Langford began playing doubles together as nine-years-old.

• She said this made winning the fourth consecutive state title alongside Langford that much more special.
• “Just being part of the Shawnee Mission East tennis team is really special,” Stechshulte said. “We just have such a long history of success.”
• Langford, who like Stechschulte picked up a racquet for the first time around the age of 4, said she’s already feeling nostalgic about her time as a Lancer tennis player coming to a close.
• “We work hard everyday, during high school season and outside of high school season,” Langford said. “It’s just a lot of effort and dedication that we put into it.”

What’s next: Both seniors are planning to play tennis at the collegiate level — Langford at Davidson College in North Carolina and Stechschulte at Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Lancer tennis program

Coach Andy Gibbs said it’s gratifying to see student athletes’ hard work pay off and that the program’s winning traditions is a testament to the access kids have to tennis around the northeast Johnson County community.

• Many Lancer tennis players aren’t starting from scratch their freshman year, Gibbs said, but — like Langford and Stechschulte — come with years of experience before they even get to high school.
• Gibbs said this gives SM East “a tremendous head start” not only in numbers — with 120 girls on the roster this season – but also in players who know the game.

Key quote: “When you have that many players with opportunities to play and opportunities to kind of fall in love with the game and then develop those skills through the other phenomenal programs in the area, it really lends itself to having extended periods of success,” Gibbs said.