Montague County teams competed at regional tennis tournaments on Monday and Tuesday and several players broke through this year.
Five players from 1A schools ended up finishing among the top two in their brackets to qualify for the state meet.
The girl’s doubles team of Kelly Contreras and Shadie Whitaker from Gold-Burg won the region, winning the finals in straight sets. The mixed doubles team of Veronica Gutierrez and Isaac Yeargin from Prairie Valley and girls singles player Jacqueline Hanna from Saint Jo both earned second to advance.
Contreras and Whitaker came into the tournament after earning second place at the district meet. This meant the team had to play other district champions the whole tournament. Despite the odds being stacked against them, the duo dropped only one set all tournament in their second match against a team from Lingleville.
“Kelly was attacking the net and Shadie was playing back,” Coach Cheryl Cromleigh said. “Their serves were clicking and they were hitting beautiful passing shots. We have been working the last two weeks on net strategy, switching and all that and it paid off.”
The pair are the first Gold-Burg tennis players to advance to state since at least the 1980s according Cromleigh.
It has also been a long time for a Prairie Valley tennis player to advance to state (1995) as Yeargin and Gutierrez break that streak. The team lost to fellow district team Midway in the championship game.
The duo were then forced to play a team from Gustine for a chance to go to state.
It took three sets, but the pair closed out the third set in convincing fashion 6-2 to finish second overall.
Coach Stephanie West was proud of the mixed doubles team.
“Words can not describe how proud I am of Isaac and Veronica for qualifying for the state tennis meet,” West said. “Isaac and Veronica put in the extra practice despite their busy schedules and worked hard to earn the chance to qualify for state.”
Hanna finished second in girls singles as Coach Charlie Hamilton was ecstatic for her.
“I am beyond excited for Jacqueline, she has worked very hard for years to get to this point,” Hamilton said. “She is determined and has a good mind set heading to the state tournament.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.