HARLINGEN — Julia Macmanus loves showing her animals at the livestock show.
(Travis Whitehead | Valley Morning Star)
And winning tennis tournaments while serving as captain of the Harlingen High School Varsity Tennis Team.
And studying her way into the number one spot for this year’s graduating class at HHS.
It’s not official yet, but Julia, 18, may soon be walking across the stage as the school’s valedictorian.
“It’s definitely a challenge to be involved in all of these activities,” said Julia, who is also National Honor Society historian and parliamentarian for the Cameron County 4-H Council.
“I think it’s really advantageous because I’ve been able to learn time management,” she said. “The key thing for me is, whatever I’m doing, I just focus 100 percent on that, and that helps me be most productive and efficient.”
That focus has served her well as a top-ranking tennis player.
At the Harlingen Varsity Invitational Tournament she placed third in girls doubles with freshman Seven Omick.
“My sister was out, so I decided to take up a freshman, and she’s pretty good,” Julia said. “We got to play together, and we had a lot of close matches, split sets and a lot of good comebacks.”
Julia’s coach, Jay Tanamachi, commended his young player’s willingness to work with Seven.
“Julia took her under her wing and helped her to her first varsity level trophy,” he said. “Her sister was nursing tendonitis, so she agreed to play with a freshman to give her some experience. That’s the kind of leader she is.”
Julia spoke with enthusiastic energy about her love of tennis, which she described as a life-long sport.
“I know my grandma played until she was in her 80s,” she said. “It’s just fun, and it keeps me in shape. I like that it’s a lot of strategy and technicality and that you can work with a partner, but you’re also individually responsible.”
She considers herself blessed to have played on the Harlingen High School Varsity Tennis team since her freshman year.
“I personally prefer doubles, but I like singles too,” she said. “I like doubles because you get to work with your partner and there’s a lot of team chemistry and you get to focus on communication, and there’s more strategy in my opinion.”
Going forward, she plans to study business at Texas A&M University, take the LSAT, and hopefully earn a law degree to become a business attorney.
