Tri-City Invite hits the courts today
The Tri-City Invite has become so popular over the years that Kamiakin tennis coach Sarah Miller was turning away teams this season.
There will be players from 16 schools on courts throughout the Mid-Columbia this weekend for the 35th annual event, started by former Kamiakin coach George Carlson and the late Jeff Dong of Pasco.
Action gets under way at 3 p.m. today with first-round matches. Play resumes Saturday at 8 a.m. with consolation matches, followed by championship bracket matches.
“We have seven sites for 14 events and 320 kids,” Miller said. “We are thankful to the schools for providing the courts and the teams who come here to compete. It takes a lot of work, but it’s fun.”
Adding a little flavor to the tournament is the mixed doubles event, which is not the norm for Washington schools.
“It’s one of the few times we get to play mixed doubles,” Miller said. “It’s a real treat. It’s fun for the kids.”
The Invite will have seven of the eight Mid-Columbia Conference teams — Kennewick is going to the Bend Invite — along with Wenatchee, Mead, Shadle Park, University, Ferris, Parma (Idaho), Capital (Boise), Timberline (Boise) and Rocky Mountain (Boise).
The Parma boys and girls are the two-time defending Idaho 3A state team champions, with Maddison Beck winning the girls singles title last spring.
Beck lost last year’s No. 1 singles Invite title to Kamiakin’s Kara Newcomb, who is back to defend her title.
Timberline’s Spencer Smith also returns to defend his No. 1 boys singles title, and will get some stiff competition from Hanford junior Will Thompson and Richland’s Nathan Lipton.
Hanford’s Cyrus Stephens will be at No. 2 singles to defend his title.
In boys No. 1 doubles, Wenatchee’s Cameron Mandelis and Toby Butler return to defend their title. In their half of the bracket is the Richland duo of Colton Sowers and Callum Pe.
The No. 1 and 2 girls singles matches will be played at Southridge High School, while the No. 3 and 4 singles will be at Richland High. Girls doubles will be played at Pasco High.
The boys No. 1 and 2 singles will be played at Kamiakin, while the No. 3 and 4 singles will play at Chiawana. The boys doubles will be at Kennewick High, while the mixed doubles will be played at Hanford.
“We don’t seed, so there is a variety,” Miller said. “You will not play someone from your own conference in the first round.”
Pasco at Richland
Boys: Richland 7-0. Singles: Colton Sowers (R) d. Jacob Sandoval 6-1, 6-2; Callum Pe (R) d. Jalen Cantu by default; Alex Tonthat (R) d. Aiden Burrows 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Ian Taylor (R) d. Isai Gutierrez 6-0, 6-4. Doubles: Andrew Um-Ryan Wagar (R) d. Raul Pimentel-Michael Torres 6-2, 6-1; Jack Cook-Tommy Montgomery (R) d. Eli Eloy-Alan Ochoa 4-6, 6-4, 6-3; Ansel Childers-Nathan McDonald (R) d. Eduardo Castro-Luis Velasco 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Girls: Pasco 4-3. Singles: Eden Snider (P) d. Quinci Fisher 4-3, injury forfeit; Chelsea Li (R) d. Kendra Smith 7-5, 6-4; Angelica Guzman (P) d. Cecily Saunders 6-1, 6-1; Camri Iverson (P) d. Katie Rosenthal 6-1, 6-1. Doubles: Brielee Hamm-Alyssa Praga (R) d. Esmeralda Garcilazo-Vanesa Quiroz 6-0, 6-1; Edita Tahiraj-Alli Mendoza (R) d. Maritza Villegas-Mya Ramierez 6-4, 6-3; Ruby Aguilar-Mitsi Robledo (P) d. Carson Vore-Bradyn Nelsen 6-4, 6-2.
SOUTHRIDGE AT HANFORD
Girls: Southridge 5-2. Singles: Grace Hamaker-Teals (S) d. Milena Stankovic 6-4, 6-4; An Wang (H) d. Alani Safford 6-0, 6-2; Devyn Wolfe (S) d. Emily Beattie 6-1, 6-1; Isa Morrison (S) d. Anna Jarman 6-2, 6-4. Doubles: Christine Xantheas-Nancy Shoup (H) d. Kaitlyn Hancock-Brit Hancock 3-6, 6-1, 6-4; Savannah Brown-Taylor Yount (S) d. Katherine Moon-Molly Fleming 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Sydney Tran-Anna Dickin (S) d. Salem Gray-Isabel Rivera 6-4, 7-5.
Boys: Hanford 5-2. Singles: Will Thompson (H) d. Daniel Cancado 6-4, 6-3; Cyrus Stephens (H) d. Charlie Landefeld 6-1, 6-4; Gianni Landby (S) d. William Chiang 6-0, 6-1; Adam Dickman (S) d. Minsu Kim 6-4, 6-1. Doubles: Sterling Skirko-Jonas Richter d. Jacob Adyama-Nathan McClintock 1-6, 6-4, 6-2; Patrick Monahan-Lorenzo Sclafani (H) d. Tanner Merrell-Leo Gottardi 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; Ryan Wang-William Zhang (H) d. Mason Cramer-Kenny Chen 6-2, 6-1.
This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Tri-City Invite hits the courts today."