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Coordinating travel for Lorenzinis quite a chore
Updated: November 12, 2012 10:52AM
CLARENDON HILLS — The four Lorenzini siblings of Clarendon Hills have traveled all over the country in pursuit of tennis excellence.
If you ask any of the children of Ron and Colleen Lorenzini about their favorite place to play a tournament, you will get four different answers. Caroline will tell you San Diego; Ronnie liked San Antonio; Michael puts his chips on Las Vegas; and Isabella warmed up to Belle Glade, Fla.
Caroline (senior), Ronnie (junior) and Michael (sophomore) play tennis for Hinsdale Central. Isabella is an eighth-grader at Clarendon Hills Middle School and just might be the family’s best player with a five-star rating and blue chip designation from tennisrecruiting.net.
Colleen draws most of the responsibilities shuttling the four kids to different tournaments, particularly during the summer. When there is a conflict, Ron steps in to help. He is an Oak Brook attorney and was the first to introduce Caroline to tennis. Ron played at Fenwick and grew up in Hinsdale. Once Caroline started playing, the others quickly joined in.
“It’s not easy. It’s a full-time job and a major time commitment,” Colleen said about the travel. “It’s great when there is a tournament where there is all age groups, but that is a rarity. So we usually split up and juggle it that way.”
In order to compete in national tournaments, the Lorenzini kids have had to miss school while keeping their grades up. For some tournaments, the kids leave school on Thursday and don’t return until Monday or Tuesday.
“It’s a year-round commitment at this level,” Michael said.
The sisters and brothers practice at the Hinsdale Racquet Club and train with Bruce Metcalf of MBC Fitness in Westmont.
“We’ve always been tennis crazy,” Caroline said. “That has always been our main sport.”
All four actually started out as swimmers. The boys also played baseball and the girls played soccer.
Caroline, who verbally committed last month to play at Army, and doubles partner Marika Cusick won the West Suburban Silver’s doubles championship Saturday.
They begin their march on history this weekend at the Lyons sectional. Lorenzini and Cusick hope to become the state’s first three-time doubles champions.
There have been six doubles teams in state history to win back-to-back titles. Two played for Hinsdale Central: Anne Hutchens and Vicki Shields (1979-80) and Courtney Dolehide and Nida Hamilton (2006-07).
Michael also owns a state medal, combining with Chase Hamilton to finish fifth in doubles at last year’s meet.
The tennisrecruiting.net website ranks Isabella No. 23 nationally and No. 2 in Illinois for her class year. She won the Girls 16 singles at the U.S. Tennis Association regional tournament Sept. 1-3 at the University of Minnesota.
With four elite players, the family has accumulated plenty of awards.
“We had shelves built along the walls in the basement,” Ronnie said.
