Hannelore Sanokklis is shown at the Yarmouth High tennis courts before a match last week. A junior, Sanokklis started playing tennis at age 10 and now plays second singles for the Clippers. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
In early May the Yarmouth girls’ tennis team was muddling along with a 3-3 record. Since then, the Clippers have reeled off seven straight victories, including one Saturday against two-time defending Class B state champion Lincoln Academy.
Junior Hannelore Sanokklis plays No. 2 singles for second-seeded Yarmouth (11-3), which faces top-ranked Cape Elizabeth (12-1) Wednesday afternoon in the B South regional finals at Lewiston High School.
Sanokklis has a variety of interests outside the tennis court, including cybersecurity, robotics and photography that can be seen at her Instagram account, @2lenne_photography.
Q: How long have you played tennis?
A: Since I was 10. I hated tennis when I first started playing. It’s so hard to learn.
Q: What changed your outlook?
A: My brother (Milo, a freshman on the Yarmouth boys’ team) also played with me, so playing with him was fun. Then I did a couple camps and the drills we did were fun games, like King of the Court and stuff like that. I just stuck with it and ended up liking it a lot.
Q: You play No. 2 behind the singles state champion, freshman Sofia Mavor. How did your preseason challenge match go?
A: She’s absolutely amazing. She beat me 8-0.
Q: Did you get any points off her?
A: I did not. The amount of spin and slice she has on the ball is different from anyone else on the team. But it’s really fun to play with her in practice.
Q: What was it about tennis that got you hooked?
A: Running gives me an adrenaline rush and I like to be aggressive and whack the ball as hard as I can. It’s kind of stress-relieving as well.
Q: What’s the etymology of Sanokklis? Is it Greek?
A: No, my dad’s last name is Sanok and my mom’s last name is Klis and they just combined the names.
Q: Many of your photos involve close-ups and interesting perspectives. How did you get involved in photography?
A: I got a new phone last year and it had a really good camera, so I just started taking photos. It’s fun going off into the woods and taking photos. I started doing themed shoots and more self-portraits. I made a flapper dress and did a 1920 photo shoot. That was fun.
Q: Do you dabble in other art forms?
A: I do a lot of drawing and I’ve done a couple of sewing projects. The walls in my room are covered in posters. There’s no untouched space. My favorite is an Elton John painting I did with a rainbow background.
Q: And you’re also involved in robotics, science bowl and quiz bowl competitions?
A: I’d say I have a very logical brain as well as creative. It feels good to figure out something that you (initially) can’t figure out. You finally get it and are like, ‘Oh, that works!’
Q: What prompted the interest in computer science?
A: I was always into shows with hackers and tech. So sophomore year I took a computer class and that kind of sparked it more. I started subscribing to news articles and now I’m taking an independent study course on cybersecurity.
Q: And you already have a career goal, to be a penetration tester?
A: Yes, it’s a white-hat hacker, a good hacker.
Q: How does your summer look?
A: Summer is going to be two jobs and an internship as well. I work at a gas station (in Yarmouth) and at the Old Navy outlet in Freeport. For the internship, I get to work with (two) professors at USM and use the (Maker Innovation Studio) to create my own project.
Q: Have you started to look at colleges?
A: My top is Brandeis right now, because it’s got a big Jewish community and I want to be in touch with that. Then RIT, WPI, RPI and some smaller colleges.
Q: Anti-Semitic hate crimes have reached record levels in recent years. What effect does that have on someone young and Jewish?
A: Honestly, it’s kind of scary. I went to a Jewish day school and when I was in kindergarten someone wrote a swastika on our play shed and wrote slurs. My great-grandparents were Holocaust survivors, so it’s more of a deep connection. I want to share my identity and for people to know I’m Jewish but also there’s this fear that people aren’t going to like me or are going to do something bad. But you’ve got to go on.
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