Kim, Luchinski have their eye on state goals
May 4—CHAMPAIGN — Jason Kim felt a tap on his shoulder. It was his coach, who said, "It's time."
Kim was supporting Centennial teammate Charlie Wixson in his No. 5 singles match, the last singles action still in progress during the Chargers' crosstown rivalry match against Champaign Central on Thursday. But once Kim heard his signal, he sprinted toward the other end of the Spalding Park tennis courts, only stopping to drag doubles partner Tyler Luchinski off the ground. The two shared a laugh and a high-five and got back to work.
Of course, work didn't look much different for the Centennial No. 1 doubles team. Instead of laughing together while shooting the breeze off the court, they were laughing together while warming up and hitting tennis balls all over court six.
"We honestly prefer doubles as more of a team opportunity instead of singles where you're by yourself," Luchinski said. "Laughing, having fun, smiling — it brings us together instead of getting mad on misses or bad hits. We make fun of each other. It's just a good friendship we have."
Kim and Luchinski, a junior and senior, respectively, have been at the forefront of the Chargers' short rebuild of the boys' tennis program after placing second as a team in the Class 1A state tournament in 2021. When you watch them, however, they don't play like they have that kind of weight on their shoulders.
Their doubles matchup on Thursday was against the Maroons' Ezra Bernhard, who placed fifth in the 1A singles tournament last year, and very talented Abel Vines. The Centennial duo knew it wasn't likely they'd come out on top, but they approached it with the same fun attitude as everything else.
They'd smile and high-five after just about every point. Early in the second set, after losing the first 6-0, they won a point and started high-pitch giggling and jumping up and down together, happy just to have scored. A little later, Kim mishit a ball, nearly missing it completely. He then took off his glasses and stared at them as if to question whether they were working. He looked up at his partner, and they shared yet another fun moment.
"We knew it was going to be a tough one, so we were trying to prove who would do better between the two of us," Luchinski said with a laugh. "Anytime one of us would mess up, we'd be like, 'Let me show you how it's done.' Whenever we'd whiff a ball, we'd just start laughing at each other because it was really bad or embarrassing."
The Maroons went on to take the second set 6-2 to win the matchup as well as the overall team match by a score of 8-1, and Kim and Luchinski walked off the court with those same smiles with which they entered.
And that chemistry is just as evident during singles play, where they play on the first two courts but can still see each other's matches unfold.
"Sometimes, he'll be down and I'll be up, and we'll just encourage each other to do better, like 'Let's go, Ty. Come on,'" Kim said. "Next thing you know, I'm down and he's up, and we just pick each other up as we go."
Don't let their humorous personalities and entertaining playstyle fool you. This is a doubles team that has realistic goals of making a run at state. They're expecting to be the second seed at worst at sectionals. Kim said just getting to state "would be a huge milestone for us" right before adding that he believes it's "pretty achievable."
"I certainly think we can make a deep run," Centennial coach Jason Zumwalt said. "I don't want to say top 16 is our goal. No, winning it is our goal. For anything. Now, is that going to be extremely difficult with the teams that are up there? Absolutely, but I would never want to put a ceiling on our capabilities."
Zumwalt, an assistant coach in 2022, took over the program last year following the departure of Teri Scaggs and four key players: seniors James Braun, Lino Jo and Ben Kirby and 2021 1A state singles champion Max Braun.
He knew the challenge in front of him, but he was also excited about the young talent on the team, namely Kim and Luchinski. They were the "leftovers" from the varsity squad, going into their sophomore and junior years, and Zumwalt made them the top two singles players and No. 1 doubles team right away.
"They were thrown in the fire last year," Zumwalt said. "Almost every single player on our team was playing out of position, above what they normally would. Tyler and Jason would have probably been comfortable at three or four, not one and two. They're always going to get those best players, but they step up to the challenge. They're never like, 'Oh my gosh' like a deer in headlights freaking out about it. They compete hard."
Last year was a learning experience full of failure and adjustments, but the leaders of the newly budding Chargers viewed the test as an opportunity to grow rather than an impossible task.
"I prefer it," Luchinski said of playing against every team's best. "Yes, we could have stacked this year and put us down in the five or six range to probably take two wins, but that's not who we are. We want to prove that we're a strong one and two that can put up a fight against anybody. Even if the score isn't close, we know we're all going to put up a fight one through six."
Kim echoed his partner, adding that having fun is only one part of the equation. They also have a drive to develop as players and raise the bar.
"It makes us better players," Kim said. "You can't improve by playing people lower or the same skill level. You've got to play someone at a higher level than you to know what's going wrong so you can improve."
Kim and Luchinski are the example for the rest of the team. The Chargers' top two players get the opposing team's best shot every time, and they come out on the winning side plenty.
They ran into a juggernaut on Thursday, as Kim lost to Bernhard 6-0, 6-1 in singles play and Luchinski fell to Vines 6-2, 6-2, but the scores weren't indicative of how they battled. There's no quit in this duo, and they do things the right way. That's why they're responsible for the revival of Centennial boys' tennis.
"If we didn't have those two, I don't know where we'd be," Zumwalt said. "It's not just the players they are, but their character. You see the way they are on the court with sportsmanship. They're high-character players in practice and at matches every day. If we didn't have those two, we'd be in a lot of trouble. They're tremendous kids, we love both of them and they're great players, and they've only gotten better. We've still got a lot of big things to accomplish this season."
