Year: 2022
Award: Tennis, High School
Location/Affiliation: Boulder High School
- Won her second Class 5A state championship in 2022
- Only lost one set the entire season
- Ranked 5th in the Intermountain Region (5 states)
After becoming a state champion for the first time in 2021, the championship defense began immediately for Boulder’s Lily Chitambar. And it was to be dominant title defense. The defense of said dominant run, however, was a challenging one.
At the 2022 Class 5A state championships, Chitambar was pushed to the brink in the No. 1 singles state title match. Though she lost the first set to Fairview rival Quinn Bernthal, and there were many times throughout the match when Chitambar herself thought she might lose, the Panthers senior battled back and won, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to ensure that she would leave high school as a two-time state champion.
That first-set loss in the state finals was the only set Chitambar lost all season on her way to being named CHSAA 5A Player of the Year for the second year in a row.
