Fillmore, French make state for THS boys tennis

By TRAVIS METCALF

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS May 06, 2008 10:50 am

— Just like last year, the Tahlequah High School boys’ tennis team qualified two people for state.
And just like last year, this year’s participants will be Travis Fillmore and Seth French.
Fillmore won the regional championship on Monday, beating Omar Aly of Jenks in No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2. Fillmore will go into the tournament with a record of 32-4 with one of those losses against Aly earlier in the season.
“We picked up some pointers on Aly’s weaknesses the first time we played him and we exploited them,” THS tennis coach Tyler Ashley said. “It helps that we’ve played him now three times. Aly is a good player.”
Also qualifying was French, who finished third in No. 2 singles after beating Felix Nowakowski of Enid, 6-3, 6-3 in the third-place game.
“I expected Seth to go back again,” Ashley said. “He had been playing doubles, but the doubles teams this year were pretty stacked so I moved him to singles.”
In No. 1 doubles, the team of Nicky Halpern and Brayden Young placed sixth, two spots short of qualifying. They lost their opening-round game to Broken Arrow, 1-6, 2-6, but beat Ponca City, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. They then lost to Enid, 0-6, 2-6, then lost the fifth-place match, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6.
The No. 2 doubles team of Simon Manning and Hugh Purdy finished fifth after beating Ponca City in the fifth-place match, 8-6. They lost their first round match, 0-6, 0-6, advanced by virtue of a second-round bye, then lost in the third round, 0-6, 2-6.
The state tournament is Friday and Saturday in Oklahoma City.