Harlingen High School tennis players receive scholarships

HARLINGEN — She’ll do fine with a little help from her friends.

Ashlynn Burns has quite a few friends and relatives to support her studies in college, but the Jerry Hirst Memorial Scholarship has stepped up in grand fashion to help with expenses.

She and two other Harlingen High School graduates have just received $1,500 Jerry Hirst Memorial Scholarships for their outstanding performance on the tennis courts.

“I was really excited,” said Ashlynn, 18, who was number four in her graduating class this year.

She and the two other recipients, Naomi Macmanus and Charles Hirst, were gathered at the HHS tennis courts to celebrate and talk about their scholarships and their high school careers and their plans for the future. Their white shirts with the words “Harlingen Tennis” and the ever present red cardinal were bright in the sun of late morning and joy filled the air.

The students of HHS Tennis Coach Jay Tanamachi were jubilant over the success of their high school years and their receiving of the scholarships.

Naomi was valedictorian of her senior class and also was grateful for the scholarship money.

“It’s very important to me because it is going to help me with college expenses so I can focus on my studies,” she said. “I am very grateful to the Hirst Foundation for having this scholarship.”

The scholarship is named after Jerry Hirst, who coached generations of tennis players in the Harlingen school district for more than 30 years. This is the fourth year the scholarships have been awarded. The first two years one student received the scholarship. Last year there were two recipients.

Steve Hirst, the son of the late Jerry Hirst who died in 2021, said only three students applied this year for the scholarship. The decision was made to award the scholarship to all three applicants, one of them his own son Charles Hirst, the grandson of Jerry Hirst.

“It’s a little bit emotional to have Charlie to have that experience of play on these tennis courts where my dad coached for over 30 years,” said Steve Hirst.

Ashlynn was a captain of the girls’ team. Charles won district in mixed doubles and was a regional quarterfinalist and a captain for the boys’ team. Naomi was his doubles partner and a team captain.

The poignancy and the legacy of it were quite clear to Charles Hirst, 18, who plans to study economics at the University of Texas – Austin.

“I’m just blessed,” said Charles.

He was living in Dallas until the summer before his junior year when he and the family moved to Harlingen.

He’s grateful to have spent his last two years at HHS, and the scholarship will definitely help in his studies.

“I’m not in the top ten, so its hard for me to get some scholarships,” he said.