The Timko Sisters of Houston, Pennsylvania became the first girls to win a WPIAL Boys Doubles Tennis Title.
Karli, 17, and Tanya, 16, were students of Chartiers-Houston High School. They became involved in male tennis when the school failed to provide a girls tennis team due to lack of interest.[1] The sisters eventually defeated Tin Chu and Drew Gallatin of Thomas Jefferson (6-2, 6-1) for the title. Tanya, will be competing her senior year against the boys again. This time, without her sister.[2]
Their father, Mike Timko, was quarterback for West Virginia University in the mid-1980s.[3] There he met his wife, Shari Retton, a four-time All-American gymnast, who was later inducted into the WVU Hall of Fame in 2001.[4] Shari’s younger sister, Mary Lou Retton, was the first American woman to win the Olympic all-around gold in gymnastics. Ronnie Retton, the girls’ grandfather, captained West Virginia University’s 1959 NCAA runner-up basketball team, team member of Jerry West, as well as played minor league baseball for the Yankees.