TJC men’s tennis, women’s golf begin national tourneys

Published 12:45 am Monday, May 13, 2019

The Tyler Junior College men’s tennis team and the women’s golf squad begin national championship play on Monday on opposite ends of the country — the Apaches in Arizona and the Apache Ladies in Florida.

TENNIS

The Apache netters, the defending national champions, will be competing in the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Tournament at the Reffkin Tennis Center in Tucson, Arizona. The tourney continues through Friday.

TJC has won 16 national tennis championships, including last year’s title in Plano.

Tyler captured eight of the possible nine championship matches.

The Apaches, under coach Dash Connell who was named Coach of the Tournament in 2018, ran away with the championship by scoring 53 points to runner-up ASA Miami’s 43 in the weeklong tournament held at Collin College.

Entering the tournament, TJC is ranked No. 1, followed by ASA Miami, Seward County (Kansas), Laredo (Texas) and Mesa (Arizona).

Other teams entered include: No. 8 Abraham Baldwin (Georgia), No. 9 Barton (Kansas), No. 12 Collin (Texas), No. 6 Cowley (Kansas), No. 22 East Central (Mississippi), No. 7 Eastern Florida State, Glendale (Arizona), No. 10 Harford (Maryland), No. 15 Hinds (Mississippi), No. 21 Iowa Central, No. 20 Jones (Mississippi), Kaskaskia (Illinois), Lake County (Illinois), No. 14 Mississippi Gulf Coast, Moraine Valley (Illinois), No. 13 New Mexico Military, Pima (Arizona), No. 18 Prairie State (Illinois), No. 11 USC Sumter (South Carolina) and No. 17 Wallace State (Alabama).

TJC team members include: freshman Matthew Beecher (London, England), freshman Jonas Dixon (Stockholm, Sweden), sophomore Alejandro Haven (San Antonio), freshman Carlos Matarredona (Alicante, Spain), sophomore Karl Mosterd (Bahrs Scrub, Australia), sophomore Alex Parker (Rosson-Wye, England), freshman Rohit Patil (Katy), sophomore Luke Simkiss (Birmingham, England), freshman Pol Vega (Barcelona, Spain) and sophomore Marcus Walters (Long Eaton, England).

Walters has signed with Florida State and Parker has inked with Mississippi State.

Kimm Ketelsen is the assistant coach, who is in his 14th year at TJC.

GOLF

The Apache Ladies will be competing in the NJCAA Women’s Golf Championship, scheduled to begin Monday and continue through Thursday at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Joining TJC at the tourney include: Barton (Kansas), Carl Sandburg (Illinois), Central Wyoming, C Chandler-Gilbert (Arizona), Daytona State (Florida), Iowa Lakes, Iowa Western, Jacksonville (Texas), John A. Logan (Illinois), Marion Military (Alabama), McLennan (Texas), Murray State (Oklahoma), Pima (Arizona), Pima (Arizona), Rend Lake (Illinois), Sandhills (North Carolina), Seminole State College of Florida, Wallace State (Alabama) and Western Texas.

TJC is coached by Sandy Terry and team members are Avery Watkins (sophomore, Frisco), Charnay Williams (sophomore, South Africa), Macy Schulze (freshman, Andrews), Marki Kinkade (freshman, Blanket) and Kathryne German (freshman, Mabank). Jess Hamilton is the assistant coach.

Jacksonville is coached by Roy Stephens and team members include: Vanessa Agis (freshman, San Antonio), Kailey Baldree (freshman, Arlington), Mackenzie Doss (sophomore, Rockwall), Lauren Freeman (freshman, Rockwall), Jordan Jeter (sophomore, Huntsville), Hallie Lingle (sophomore, Henderson) and Savannah Raiborn (sophomore, Rusk).

SMOKE SIGNALS: The TJC baseball team will host the Brookhaven College Bears in the District C Super Regional this weekend at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Mike Carter Field in Tyler. TJC (49-17) won the West Divisional Tournament title by going 3-0 in Plano. Brookhaven (37-24) won the East Divisional Tournament crown by going 4-1 and defeating host Coastal Bend College, 8-7, in the championship game on Sunday in Beeville. The Super Regional is a best-of-three series and is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, and, if necessary, Sunday. The winner of the Super Regional advances to the NJCAA Division III World Series in Greeneville, Tennessee, scheduled for May 25-30. … The TJC Apache Ladies softball team begins play in the Region XIV Tournament on Monday in Lufkin. TJC is scheduled to meet Coastal Bend College at 5 p.m. on the Angelina College campus. The top two finishers in the event earn berths in the NJCAA National Tournament May 22-25 in St. George, Utah.