HARLINGEN — Harlingen High’s qualifiers will be competing this week at the regional tennis tournament.
At the District 32-6A meet in Brownsville, the city of Harlingen dominated. Harlingen High had six of its athletes qualify for the regional.
Sisters Julia Macmanus and Naomi Macmanus took the girls doubles title. Julia, a senior, is set to be the valedictorian of her class.
“I was blessed to be able to go to regionals last year with my sister, but being able to go as a district champion is really exciting,” Julia Macmanus said.
The sisters said the region in which they compete is the most competitive.
“Being able to play with her is really fun because of the chemistry,” Naomi Macmanus said. “We have really good communication when we need to switch, and we know how far we can push each other.”
The boys doubles team of Stanton Keath and Will Buford lost a really close title match, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) to the team representing Harlingen South.
“It is exciting because we did not make it last year,” Keath said. “Hopefully we can make it the next two years.”
The sophomores know they are going to be up against good teams and players, but they said they have been working hard for the opportunity.
“Stanton has been a friend my whole life,” Buford said. “We started tennis together, we got third in district last year and this year we almost got first. We have a good connection in doubles.”
The mixed doubles team of Victoria Gonzalez and Francisco Buford also lost a close match, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, to their Harlingen South opponent.
“It is pretty awesome to finally make it senior year,” Gonzalez said. “It was a hard battle against South, we just got caught up in winning that we did not pull through all the way.”
Francisco Buford and Gonzalez were up 5-4 in the final set of the title match.
“This is my first time making it to regionals,” he said. “I have been playing mixed doubles with Victoria all year, so I feel pretty strong about it.”
