Juniors battle in tennis tourney

"Compared to the originals, sequels are usually never particularly good.Fortunately, this only applies to the movies. When it comes to sports, the second, third, and even the 100th edition of an event always seems to be bigger and better than the previous year.That was the case on July 20 and 21 at the second annual South Whidbey Parks and Recreation Junior Tennis Tournament.Eighteen girls and 15 boys between the ages of 10 and 18 took the court at South Whidbey High School for the weekend tournament, making for a better turnout than last year. Karyle Kramer, the event's organizer, said the tournament was a family affair. Families with at least two children playing included the Newmans, the Iversens, the Berrys, the Cyrs, the Jolleys and the Smucks.The contestant pool was large enough to hold both singles and doubles matches in most age groups.In girls 12-and-under doubles, four girls played their first match ever. Morgan Smuck of Seattle and Arizona native Jenna Goodrum defeated Aussie Victoria Comfort and Langley's Natalie Wheeler in three sets, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.Moving up an age bracket to the 16-and-under doubles, Freeland's Lindsey Newman won one of her two trophies for the day when she teamed with Janelle Iversen. The pair defeated Lindsey's sisters, Caitie and Jenny, in a 6-2, 7-6 final.Third place went to Megan Roosen-Runge and Sonya Morphew, who defeated Katie Saelens and Anna Gilles in the consolation round.Newman's second win came at singles. In the championship game, she defeated Clinton's Amy Vogt 6-3, 6-2. In earlier rounds, Newman beat Oak Harbor player Dyane Plumly 7-5, 6-1 and Coupeville's Breanne Houlroyd 7-6, 6-1. Iversen won three matches to finish in third place.In the girls' top age bracket, 18-and-under singles, Oak Harbor's Theresa Black was the champion, defeating Lily Dodge of Coupeville 6-1, 6-0 in the finals. The boys' side of the tournament saw mostly singles matches. In the 12-and-under division, Alex Zajac of Mukilteo won three straight matches to claim first place. On his way to the win, he beat Clinton's Jonah Jolley 6-0, 6-1, Freeland's Spencer Cyr 6-0, 6-0, and Freeland's Keith Kinsey in a 6-2, 7-6 final. Jolley won the consolation round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Forest Cyr. Kinsey placed second and Spencer Cyr third.In the 14-and-under division, eight-year-old Riley Newman of Freeland bucked the age categories and won two tough matches against older boys. He defeated Todd Berry 6-2, 6-1 and Jason Craig 6-0, 6-4, losing in the finals to Clinton's Tim Klopfenstein. Jason Craig placed third in the division.In the only boys doubles competition of the day, Klophenstein became the second double winner. He teamed with Jason Craig to defeat Michael Berry and Riley Newman 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. The pair went on to beat Todd Berry and Jacob Iversen 4-6, 6-4, 7-6. Michael Berry and Newman placed second by beating Iverson and Todd Berry 6-2, 6-3.At 16-and-under singles, Bill Scheeman made champion by defeating Cameron Smuck 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 and Michael Berry 6-1, 6-2. Smuck defeated Berry 6-5, 7-5 for second place. "

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