Wellington hosted their Tennis Regional this Friday at the 9th Street Courts.  The seedings for the Crusaders were as follows:

#1 Seed Singles - Jax Cornejo (Jr)

#5 Seed Singles - Hunter Worley (So)

#2 Seed Doubles - Carson Rademacher/Justin Norris (Srs)

#5 Seed Doubles - Banks Hinshaw/Jack Wright (Jrs)

It turned out to be lovely weather throughout the day, and unlike nearly every home meet this season, the players didn't have to fight against high winds.  Wellington's goal at the outset was a three-peat as Regional Champs, having taken the title as a team in 2021 and 2019 (the 2020 season was canceled as a result of the suspension of in-person learning in the state of Kansas).  They were darn close!  Wellington and WInfield tied in points totals, but WInfield's players all finished Top-4 or better, which put Winfield over the top in tiebreaker criteria.  Every Crusader took home an individual medal, in addition to being Regional Runner-Up as a team.  Hunter Worley and doubles partners Banks Hinshaw and Jack Wright placed 5th, and Jax Cornejo and doubles Carson Rademacher and Justin Norris were Singles and Doubles Regional Champions! 

Jax and Carson became the second and third players in Wellington Tennis history to win back-to-back regional championships, and Jax was the first to win back-to-back SINGLES regional championship and Carson was the first to win back to back DOUBLES regional championships.  

In addition to individual medals and a 2nd place finish as a team, Head Coach Chad Whaley was named Regional Coach of the Year!  

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Hunter Worley 3-1 - 5TH PLACE

WIN v. Flores (Ulysses) 6-0, 6-0

Loss v. Ignacio (Augusta) 4-6, 3-6

WIN v. Bushnell (Pratt) 6-3, 6-0

WIN v. Webb (Circle) 6-2, 6-2

Hinshaw/Wright 3-1 5TH PLACE

WIN v. Mader/Martinez (Ulysses) 6-0, 6-0

Loss v. Morris/Heger (Winfield) 2-6, 6-1, 10-4 (super tiebreak)

WIN v. Thompson/Hopkins (Pratt) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

WIN v. Pfeifer/Riddle (Augusta) 6-1, 6-2

Jax Cornejo 3-0 1ST PLACE

BYE

WIN v. Bushnell (Pratt) 6-0, 6-0

WIN v. Ignacio (Augusta) 6-0, 6-1

WIN v. Low (Winfield) 6-4, 4-6, 6-0

Rademacher/Norris 3-0 1ST PLACE

BYE

WIN v. Bleich/Foes (Circle) 6-3, 6-1

WIN v. Davis/Everett (Winfield) 6-7, 6-0, 6-1

WIN v. Metzger/Middleton (Circle) 7-5, 3-0 (injury)

TEAM RESULTS

1 - Winfield 20 

2 - Wellington 20 REGIONAL RUNNER-UP

3 - Circle 9

4 - Augusta 6

5 - Pratt 3

6 - Ulysses 0

Congratulations to the team, Coach Whaley, and assistant coaches Branden Starkey and Adrian Young!  

4A State Tennis will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 13 and 14, hosted at Winfield.

Sidenote: If you aren't following Wellington Tennis yet on facebook yet, it's worth your while!  Coach Starkey was on the spot with updates throughout the day and has been great at apprising fans of the record book status of each varsity player.  We're also occasionally treated to decade-old gems like this: 

Tennis Regionals 050622