George Crowder won two titles during the annual Juneau-Douglas High School tennis team doubles tournament recently held at the Alaska Club.
The annual tournament is a fundraiser for the Crimson Bears for team expenses while also providing JDHS team members with invaluable match experience against local adult players.
The tournament drew over 35 junior and adult competitors and featured over 30 matches.
Crowder partnered with Mike Duby to defeat Jim Bowman and Preecha “Nick” Pongphai 6-0, 6-1 in the championship of the Men’s Upper Division.
Crowder also teamed up with Anne Kincheloe to defeat Erica Hurtte and Randy Hurtte 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in the Mixed Doubles championship.
In the Men’s Lower Division semifinals, Nathan Graves and Kolby Hoover defeated Dangeli/Nguyen 9-8 while Randy Hurtte and Mike Stekoll defeated Wolf Dostal and Alan Fisher 8-3. In the Men’s Lower championship final, Hurtte and Stekoll topped Graves and Hoover 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
In the Women’s round-robin portion of the tourney, Anne Kincheloe and Mona Yarnall had two wins and one loss.
The JDHS tennis team is now preparing for the state high school tennis championship in Anchorage on Oct. 9-10.
According to coach Kurt Dzinich, this season is a transition year due to the loss of court space at the Alaska Club and a smaller team size.
The smaller numbers have allowed for practice times to be split to accommodate the lack of court space, while also providing the benefit of more focused instruction on individual players.
The JDHS tennis team consists of seniors Anton Rieselbach and Derek Dzinich; juniors Gabby Hebert, Katherine Kane, Camerone Jardell, Kelson Rounds McPherson, Reuben MacNaughton and Sami Good; sophomore’s Kolby Hoover and Tristan Walker Andrews; and freshmen Erica Hurtte, Wolf Dostal, River Reyes and Sahil Bathija.
Mixed Doubles finalists Randy Hurtte and JDHS player Erica Hurtte, and Anne Kincheloe and George Crowder. Kincheloe and Crowder won the title.
The Juneau-Douglas High School tennis team.
