Georgia State Qualifier.

Windward Academy had one of its best weeks at the prestigious state qualifier in Macon. In the Boys 10’s, Michael Kay performed very well winning third place, while the Girls 10’s saw two players feature prominently. Ellen Jang-Milsten took third, and Aryn Greene capped a week of good tennis with a fantastic win in the final over #1 seed Allison Miller. Aryn won 7-5, 6-1 recovering from 0-4 in the first set. Moving up an age group to the 12’s, Windward again featured strongly. Alex Howard was the runner up on the boys side, winning several good matches before falling to Daniel Bruce in the final in three tight sets. Allie Robbins went one better winning the girls 12’s. Allie had a memorable semi-final win over #1 seed Abby Grant in 3 sets and then proceeded to beat Samantha Crawford 6-4, 7-5 to claim the title.

The girls 14’s age group was expected to be our strongest event, and the girls didn’t disappoint. Rachael Hart, Kate Fuller, and Whitney Kay took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Rachael, the #2 seed, defeated close friend Kate, the #1 seed, in the final. It was the first time she had done so, as her 6-3 6-2 win gave her the championship. On the boys side of the age group Henry Jang-Milsten won a great final against Joey Kublanow, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. Henry showed great mental toughness through the tournament, and claimed the 4th singles event for Windward.

In the doubles events our girls participated with various partners to win the 10’s, 12’s and 14’s age groups. Aryn Greene won the girls 10’s with Allison Miller defeating Windward‘s Madison Umbaugh in the final. Allie Robbins also made it two wins for the week, winning the girls 12’s doubles with partner Kourtney Keegan. In the girls 14’s, all four finalists were from Windward, with the team of Rachael Hart and Whitney Kay beating Kate Fuller and Chelsea Stewart 8-6. In the boys 14’s, Henry Jang-Milsten was runner up with partner Trevor Getz. Michael Kay’s good tournament continued as he paired up with Nicolas Boron to take 2nd place.

There were other very good showings from the over 40 academy competitors, and we congratulate all those who took part.