Saturday, May 4, 2024
GHS Tennis Coach Wendell Jones proudly displays the trophy the team received after being named tennis champions during the District 23-4A Varsity Boys Tennis competition.
Tennis practice has already begun for the varsity players who are going through drills at the GHS tennis courts.
During the 2022-2023 season, the Gatesville High School team received many awards and recognition as they pushed their way towards state competition.
The varsity team accumulated twelve pieces of hardware at the Bryan Rudder tournament on March 24 at Bryan-College Station followed by the boys team winning District while the girls captured second place.
In Regionals, the GHS tennis team sent five qualifiers to Regional 4-A. This was followed by Slone Early, Ty Warren, and Alex Scott advancing to UIL Class 4-A State level of competition held in San Antonio on April 25.
Gatesville High School tennis coach, Wendell Jones said “This last year, as a team, we were as strong as we’ve ever been, but I can’t discount the two years previous with Stormy Tatum in the mix. We’ve crossed into new eras – Stormy’s been to state twice from GHS”
“This last year having two entries going to state was a tremendous experience. Just great kids – only the best kids come to tennis,” he said with a smile.
Speaking of the upcoming tennis season, Jones said “The chemistry and personality this year, after losing four seniors, is going to be a little different, but we still have good and talented players.”
As for the goals for this coming year of tennis competition, Jones said “I haven’t spoken with the students yet, but I’m going to. I want them to establish goals, we want to repeat as district champions again for team tennis. It’s going to be a little tougher this year. Last year, we were pushed with Lampasas, but this year Lampasas is down a bit, but in my opinion, Lampasas and Brownwood are the two teams to beat.”
“We’re going to have to win on the girls side and I’m trying to put together a mixed doubles also. The girls are going to have to be the ones who carry it,” he said.
According to Coach Jones, the varsity girls this year will include Callie Smith, Kasey Fitzer, Olivia Walker, London Kizer, Madeline Fast, Ally Nichols, and Carol Marie Szustak. The current top four boys will include Jack Armstrong, Abraham Almendariz, Jahaziel Martinez, and Zach Stevens.
Reflecting on the past tennis season, Jones said “I have had the best parent support – the nucleus is the parents – the parent support has been over-whelming.”
This coming season, Jones will be joined by assistant coaches Brit Campbell and Kim Chaffin who worked with him last year during their trek to the state tournament.
“I’m glad we’ll continue to have some consistency there,” Jones said.
Looking to the upcoming tennis season, Jones said “It’s hard to say that we’re growing, but we’re maintaining – we’re staying steady. We’ll see what happens.”
