When Ankeny Centennial first opened in 2013, the school opted to hire Collin Daniels–who was then a student at Iowa State University–to coach the boys’ tennis team.
Now, the Jaguars have turned to another Iowa State student to coach the girls’ tennis squad.
Alli Gustafson, a former Centennial standout, has returned to the program as head coach. A junior at Iowa State, the 21-year-old Gustafson might be the state’s youngest varsity coach.
“It is a bit unique to have my assistant coaches being the ones who helped me through the program as a player, and it will be fun to now be coaching against coaches I competed against while playing for Ankeny Centennial,” Gustafson said.
Gustafson was a two-time state placewinner at Centennial who helped the Jaguars to a 25-15 dual record from 2017-19. She teamed up with Alyssa Lewton for a sixth-place finish in the Class 2A state doubles tournament in 2018, then placed fifth in singles as a senior.
At the time, that was the highest finish ever by a player from Ankeny. In 2020, Gustafson was named the No. 1 singles player on Ankeny Fanatic’s all-time Ankeny girls’ tennis team.
Gustafson is studying Elementary Education with a Learning Technologies minor at Iowa State. She plans to student teach next spring and graduate in May of 2023.
“I have always known that I wanted to coach tennis in my future since my playing career ended in high school, but I had thought it would be once I was out of college as a teacher,” Gustafson said. “I definitely did not expect it to happen so soon! However, the opportunity arose, and after finding out that coaching this season would work with my college class schedule, I was very excited and knew I couldn’t pass it up. I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work alongside coach (Chad) Brooks and coach (Larry) Moklestad!”
Gustafson played at Centennial under coaches Emily Phommachack and Ryan Petersen. Petersen replaced Phommachack in 2019, but coached the team for only one season.
Armando Espinosa was hired in the spring of 2020, but that season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Espinosa guided the Jaguars to a 9-3 record in 2021, but then left the program.
Most of the team’s varsity lineup will have to be replaced, including Gustafson’s sister Jordyn, who was a state qualifier in singles.
“We had many seniors graduate from the top of the ladder, so this will be an exciting year of growth and development for the underclassmen in the program,” Gustafson said.
Esther Guan is the Jaguars’ lone varsity returnee. She teamed up with her sister, Claudia, for a sixth-place finish in the Class 2A doubles tournament last season–matching the Gustafson-Lewton duo for the highest doubles finish in school history.
Guan also helped Centennial reach the quarterfinals of the Class 2A state team tournament before the Jaguars dropped a 5-3 decision to Valley.
“Esther will be a very key asset to our team,” Gustafson said. “She is a great leader, and I am looking forward to having her experience at the top of our lineup.”
There are currently 82 girls on the roster. However, that number is still climbing.
“It will most likely be higher than that when the season officially starts,” Gustafson said. “I am very excited about the high interest level for participation in our program at Centennial. It is very exciting to have so many girls going out this spring.”
The Jaguars will open the season on March 31 by hosting Ames in a CIML Iowa Conference dual meet. It will be a rematch of last year’s regional final, which was won by Centennial, 5-0.
Gustafson said she believes her age will be an asset in relating to the team’s players.
“I can relate to most of what they are experiencing since I went through the Centennial program so recently,” she said. “I know the different feelings and emotions that come along with the sport, and I will hopefully be able to help them through those as well.”