Pictured are members of the Hamilton County West All-District tennis team:: FRONT ROW-Left to right: Addy Yelliott, Noah Samuel, Nathan Short, Taylor Bea Cuthbertson, Ruchika Patel, Sara Beth Smith, Harshitha Karumanchi, James Cuthbertson
BACK ROW-Left to right: Emily RIce, Samuel Spann, Addison MacBride, Aahil Bhaguaraj, Kaden Moses, Lex Burks, Edith Monti-Chapple, Lily Chretien, Scott Blevins, Ben Hendricks
photo by Contributed
Hurricane Helene could not stop the student-athletes of Hamilton County Schools. The rain delay gave the middle school tennis players additional practice time. Over 100 student-athletes gathered at Champions Tennis Center the first week in October for the district tennis tournament. After practicing through the August and September heat, playing at least two matches a week, the Hamilton County middle school tennis players were prepared for the challenge of playing the best of the best in the county.
Signal Mountain dominated the finals having winners in three of the four brackets. In the girl’s singles bracket, Addison Porter of Signal Mountain defeated Taylor Bea Cuthbertson of East Hamilton in the finals with an outstanding match. The players had long rallies and demonstrated their vast and incredible skills on the court. The girl’s doubles bracket was an all-Signal Mountain affair. Bijal Patel and Harlow Holland of Signal Mountain played Eesha Poluarth and Finley Self of Signal Mountain. Playing your friends in a match is always challenging, but the girls from Signal Mountain played great with Patel and Holland perseving with the win.
The boys’ singles bracket finals was a battle. Aahil Bhagyaraj of CSLA was last year’s singles champion. Colton Wood of Soddy Daisy had been preparing for this final all year. The players went back and forth with incredibly long rallies, drop shots, and lobs. Bhaguaraj's serve was outstanding. Wood did what every tennis coach encourages their players to do, just keep the ball in play. Wood was a backboard and in the end that consistency won the match. The boys’ doubles bracket final had Mac Ramsey and Luke Hollingsworth of Signal Mountain against Mark Busher and Preston West of East Hamilton. Busher and West had dominated with their net play throughout the tournament; however, Ramsey and Hollingsworth implemented a strategy to avoid the East Hamilton players at the net. Ramsey and Hollingworth succeeded in defeating East Hamilton.
Members of the Hamilton County Middle School East All-District tennis team are: FRONT ROW-Left to right: Bijal Patel, Addison Porter, Heidi Holland, Harlow Holland, Abigail Basham, Kinsley Jenkins, Mia Suttles, Colten Wood, Liam Patten, Arya Patel, Calla Siler. BACK ROW-Left to right
Simon Snellgrove, Joseph Bastone, Mason Cruise, Luke Hollingsworth, Sawyer Hicks, Hunter Provence, Bubba Barker, Caleb Wright, Lydia Mallette, Jameson Hartman.
photo by Contributed