WINTHROP – With much of the high school tennis world so intently focused on Lewiston in recent years, one smaller school just to the north has quietly gone about its business – winning.

This year, senior Nick Ochtman and sophomore Elaine Theriault are helping the Ramblers continue that winning tradition, and they’ve also come into some pretty nice individual accolades as well.

Ochtman and Theriault have qualified for the state singles tournament round of 40 at Bates College, which begins Friday, May 30.

“It’s just amazing to be there already,” Theriault said. “(Coach Louis Gingras) told me he’d never had anyone make it to the round of 40 in so many years of coaching. I never made it past the first preliminary round last year, so it’s exciting to be in the top 40 now, and seeded. It was a shock, it definitely was.”

Amazingly enough, getting bounced in the first round last year actually helped.

“When I was a freshman, I got there and found all these girls who had gone to Massachusetts and played in a lot of tournaments,” Theriault said. “I hadn’t done any of that at all. It was really kind of intimidating, especially since it was my first year competing at that level.”

Theriault was seeded 16th in the West Region qualifying bracket. Ochtman was 10th in the boys’ draw. Both won two matches to advance in their respective brackets, with Ochtman taking out MVC rival Kaile Underwood of Dirigo in three sets.

“Just to make it to the round of 40 means a lot,” Ochtman said. “It’s just something that I’d never done before, and I’ve worked so hard for it. That’s really the individual aspect of my tennis career. And there’s two totally different aspects, too. There’s the team side of things, too, and it would be great if we could succeed at both.”

The Ramblers have certainly laid the groundwork for that side of things, too. Ochtman and the Winthrop boys are 7-1 (according to Tuesday’s Heal Points), and just two points behind Waynflete for the top spot in Western Class C. In the MVC, the Ramblers trail only 9-0 Mountain Valley. The Falcons host the Ramblers on Wednesday.

On the girls’ side, Theriault and her team sit at 7-1 also, and fourth in the latest Heal Points. In the MVC, Boothbay leads with an 8-0 mark, with Winthrop right behind.

That the program has been successful is no accident, either.

“We’ve had coaches that worked very hard, not only during the season, but in the off-season, too,” Ochtman said. “And not just with the kids who are on the team, but the kids who are upcoming. Instead of rebuilding, we’re always reloading.

“The former coach, Wilbur Shardlow, invited us to practice with the varsity team,” Ochtman continued. “That gave me a good chance early, and it let me be ready to play when I got to the high school.”

“I started that way, too,” Theriault said. “I knew (Shardlow) had a great reputation, so it was great he was able to spend time with us to get us into the game.

“It’s still just a little grassroots thing, but I know there are some middle school students who still do that. It gets them more familiar with the game, too, right down to how to hold the racket properly.”

The extra attention has paid off, both for the team, and for the team’s top players, and a new coach doesn’t seem to be slowing the Ramblers down.

“It’s definitely different going from one coach to another,” Ochtman said, “but they’re both great coaches. They just have different styles. It took some adjustments, but they both have a lot to offer.”

And the player pool? Still as deep as ever.

“We have a lot of new players coming, too,” Theriault said. “We have just two seniors and a lot of sophomores. If we’re this good now, we know it’s going to keep on improving in the next years.”