Foster Finally Gets in Swim After Switching to Tennis

By the time Michelle Foster was 11, she already had 5 years of competitive swimming experience against local competition such as Olympian Janet Evans of El Dorado High School.

“I was really just a total competitive swimmer, and pretty soon, when I got to be 11, they had me in the water like 5 hours a day,” said Foster, now a senior at Capistrano Valley High School. Foster surmised that by the time she got to high school, she would be spending considerable time in the pool before and after school.

So she hung her bathing suit out to dry--for good.

“My parents said I would have to get into something else so I wouldn’t just sit around and waste time,” Foster said. “They started me in tennis and I really liked it. It’s not as grueling as swimming.”

She learned the game quickly and began playing local tennis tournaments at age 12.

“I kind of like that (tennis) is not a team sport because it’s just all you. You’re competing against yourself,” she said.

She has done well competing against others, too. She plays No. 1 singles for Capistrano Valley, the No. 2-ranked team in the Southern Section 3-A.

Foster, The Times’ athlete of the week, swept her singles matches against Mission Viejo High School last week and is undefeated in South Coast League play. The Southern California Tennis Assn. ranks her 13th among 16-year-old girls.

Her only defeat this year was to Keri Phebus of Corona del Mar in a nonleague match. Phebus is the No. 2-ranked player in the Southern Section 4-A.

Capistrano Valley Coach Kerry Leander describes Foster as “a typical high schooler in that she is involved with school and her social life.” She is the Associated Student Body publicity commissioner and a member of the school’s pep club.

Leander believes Foster’s strengths are her mental attitude in tough situations and her “aggressiveness toward wanting to improve.”

She plays a serve-and-volley style, she said. Her first serve is powerful and her second serve gets a good kick, allowing her to rush the net.

“My net game is my best thing. . . . I can’t stand hanging back on the baseline. It aggravates me. I don’t like sitting back there hitting moon balls,” she said.

Though she detests the baseline game, the professional tennis player she admires most is Chris Evert. “I love her attitude. It’s the best. And her concentration is incredible,” Foster said.

Foster wants to play professionally, after college. She said she is being recruited by San Diego State, Cal State Long Beach and others, but not by the school she wants to attend.

“My goal is to go to USC. That’s my dream school,” she said.

If a college with a competitive Division I tennis program does not offer her a scholarship, Foster said she plans to play open women’s tournaments and train hard until an offer comes . . . or she’s good enough to join the professional ranks.

“I’m going to go for it because I know that I’m not at my full potential,” she said. “Just the experience of playing professional tennis, and the chance to be successful at it would be great.”

TOP PERFORMERS

Tanja Brix of University was timed in 17 minutes 53 seconds to finish a full minute before her closest competitor in University’s 18-37 victory over Saddleback Thursday in a Sea View League cross-country contest at Mason Park.

Fountain Valley junior Reido Matsumoto had 16 kills to help the Barons (9-3, 5-1) defeat Ocean View, 3-1, in a Sunset League match Thursday.

Kim Robinson ran a 3-mile course in 18:04 to lead Newport Harbor (4-0) to a 22-35 victory over Tustin in a cross-country race Thursday. The victory keeps the Sailors in first place in the Sea View League.

Michelle Foster

Capistrano Valley High

Position: Tennis player.

Height, Class: 5-5, Senior.

Last Week: Swept her matches against Mission Viejo, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, to lead the Cougars to a 7-0 record in the South Coast League and a No. 2-ranking in the Southern Section 3-A.

Season: Has won all 15 of her league matches and is 28-1 overall.