The 1999 season was a very successful one for Metamora tennis.  The Redbirds lost to only two schools (Dunlap and Morton) on their way to an 11-4 overall record.  The best win of the year came against Peoria Woodruff, 5-4, in the last match ever played at the old tennis courts.  Woodruff had five Mid-State Six all conference players, but Metamora was up to the challenge in a very tight contest.

The Redbirds finished second at the Mid-Illini tournament (behind Dunlap and ahead of Morton), with Andy Gravlin third and Chris Marchand fourth in singles, and the doubles team of Blake Stewart and Jason Vanecko third in doubles.  Stewart and Vanecko defeated Jared Kunkle and Shane Fisher of Dunlap for third place, a duo which would wind up in the top 48 at the state tournament.

Metamora also had a great deal of tournament success.  A result of 7th place at the very strong 16-team Bloomington Invitational was exceptional, and that was followed by a third place finish at the Morton Invitational and the 2nd place result at the conference tournament.

The season was capped off with a strong second place showing at the Bloomington Sectional, the second consecutive season Metamora challenged Bloomington High School for the sectional plaque.  The doubles team of Chris Marchand and Jason Vanecko lost in the sectional final 8-6 in the third set, marking the best sectional finish ever by a Metamora doubles team and nearly ending a 25-year reign of Bloomington doubles teams as sectional champions.  Metamora’s other doubles team, Blake Stewart and Andy Gravlin, finished fourth at the sectional, making the semi-finals an all Metamora-Bloomington affair.

Marchand and Vanecko advanced to the state tournament in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, falling in the back draw in three sets to a very good team from Belleville East.  The experiences and memories from the trip, however, will last a lifetime.

Dunlap joined the Mid-Illini Conference in 1999 and, coincidentally, fielded perhaps the finest team to ever play in the Peoria area.  The Eagles were undefeated in dual matches, winning only once by as close as 7-2.  They were 6th in the state tournament, behind five wealthy suburban Chicago schools with 2000+ students.  Dunlap won the Peoria Sectional and Morton was third, giving the Mid-Illini Conference an excellent showing in addition to Metamora’s second place in Bloomington.  The league’s increased strength in 1999 served to continually challenge those at or near the top to improve, so that all successive seasons would be even better for the Mid-Illini as a whole.

Jason Vanecko was named the team’s Most Valuable Player and Most Dedicated Player, while Chad Whittington won the Most Improved award.  The ’99 squad consisted of six seniors (Marchand, Vanecko, Stewart, Steve Peterson, John Kirschbaum, and Jeremy Sutter) whose departures would be greatly felt in 2000.  To this point, the 1999 Metamora tennis team could make a pretty good argument for being the best in school history.  The departing seniors hoped, though, that this would be a distinction which they would not hold for long.