The coastal city of Mobile, Ala., served once again as the Jr. Team Tennis headquarters of the United States as the Mobile Tennis Center played host to the 2009 18-And-Under Jr. Team Tennis National Championships October 30-November 1. Sioux Falls finished ninth in the 18s Advanced tournament, while Mankato was 12th in the Intermediate draw.
Sioux Falls finished third in its round-robin flight. Midwest was first with 162 total games won, followed by Pacific Northwest (154), Northern (126) and Caribbean (67). Sioux Falls then advanced to the 9th-12th place tournament where it defeated Southwest 50-33 in the semifinals and Middle States 48-47 in the ninth-place match. Members of the Sioux Falls team included Jameson Goetz, Brad Entwistle, Theresa Petrasko, Elliott Czarnecki, Joey Bosch, Kevin Rance, Meg Townsend and Mical Johnson. Jeff Nelson was the head coach.
The Mankato Serenas also finished third in their flight. New England was first with 163 total-games won followed by Caribbean at 153, Northern at 127 and Hawaii Pacific at 66. Mankato also played in the 9th-12th place tournament where it lost to Southwest 56-29 and to Midwest 51-32 to place 12th. Mankato advanced after Northern Section champion St. Cloud could not compete at the National Tournament, and so by virtue of placing second at the Section championships, Mankato received the Northern bid to Nationals. The Mankato team is made up of boys from Mankato West High School and girls from Mankato East High School who came together to form a team this summer. Members of the team include Alex Bock, Jake Collins, Reed Covert, Ashley Jensen, Jacob Kaufman, Alexander Kim, Katie King, Tyler Nibbe, Carter Person, Tara Werkmeister and Anna White. Head coach of Mankato is Eric Weisser.
For complete results from the weekend, click here.