Wildcats’ tennis boys’ singles player Alex Benitez broke a long drought Wednesday (April 4) at the District Tennis Tournament in Texarkana when he qualified for the Regional Tennis Tournament. Benitez was scheduled to play Texas High’s top boys’ singles player in the district final Thursday.
One has to go back to 2007 to find when a Wildcats’ boy last qualified for the Regional Tournament. That player was not able to participate. Back in 2007, then Wildcats Tennis Coach Susan Reynolds said she had not taken a boy to the Regional Tournament in ten years. The year before, in 2006, Coach Reynolds took a girls’ singles player and a girls’ doubles team to the Regional Tournament. Senior Cynthia Sanchez played singles at the Regional Tournament. The girls’ doubles team of Ali Jackson and Lauren Longino also qualified for the Regional Tournament.
Benitez will go to this year’s Regional Tournament in Allen on April 18-19. Current Wildcats Tennis Coach Tony Martinez also had a boys double team and girls doubles team in the consolation finals at the District Tournament on Wednesday. Both teams lost in the consolation final. The boys team was made up of Logan Schumacher and Jordan Gonzales. The girls team featured Zoe Wilson and Harleigh Stegient. Coach Martinez said Stegient turned her ankle in the consolation final. He added that despite great pain, Stegient refused to quit and played until the end of the match.
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