Practicing on those weathered down six courts every morning between the softball and baseball fields, there is the MacArthur tennis team. If it feels as though their sport never ends, it’s because it virtually doesn’t. With a four month fall season and a three month spring season, they are competing for most of the school year.
The tennis team finished their spring/individual season last week as the mixed doubles team of Mary Cardone and Eddie Pompa lost in the regional semis and finished fourth in the region.
This part of the year is based on the performance of each individual rather than the overall team. Each singles player or doubles team enters tournaments with other schools allowing them to face most schools and players in the region.
In boys singles, senior Clayton Hernandez proved to be one of the best players in the region as he won two tournaments, came in second in two more, and came in third in the district, narrowly missing the regional tournament. He was accompanied by the quiet but lethal sophomore, Jimmy Berry. Jimmy came in second place in three tournaments, and shows promise for the next two years.
In girls singles, Carly Norment had one second place and one third place finish and lost in the quarterfinals in the district tournament to cap her strong spring season; she will most likely be the number one girl next year. Mary Cardone also stepped in and won two singles tournaments this season.
The two boys doubles teams had solid seasons as Colton Cario and I had a fourth place finish along with a couple consolation championships and lost in the quarterfinals of the district tournament. The second team of Jimmy Wilson and Demetrio Herrera were a terrific tandem as they won two consolation championships and had third and sixth place finishes.
Mixed doubles was also strong as Ian Hansen and Rachel Valdez had a fourth place finish and a consolation championship in their run together. Senior Mary Cardone and paired with freshman stud Eddie Pompa and went on to win two tournaments and came in second in the district before coming in fourth in the regional tournament.
This is one of the deepest and most talented teams that Mac has had in recent years, however they are quite senior heavy as six seniors graduate, including three of the top five boys and the number one girl. Clayton Hernandez is committed to Concordia to play tennis next year, and Mary Cardone is still undecided, but she will play both tennis and soccer in college.
This year’s tennis team showed resilience and togetherness in the fall and an unmatched desire to win in every single tournament that they played in, in the spring. Next year they’ll be younger and could struggle at times, but that just motivates the players and coaches to continue to practice hard in this year around sport. Now, even though their seasons are over, you can still watch them practice early in the morning for most of the remaining year on those courts between the softball and baseball fields.
