PARKLAND - Jamie Thorp of Kennedy Catholic set the pulsating pace for Highline-area West Central/Southwest 3A boys bi-district entrants by storming to a boys singles title in tennis play covering Oct. 25-26 at the Sprinker Recreation Center.
Seamount singles champion Thorp followed his first round bye with a dominating 6-0, 6-0, conquest of Joey Yanello (Lincoln of Tacoma) on Thursday, Oct. 25. This win qualified Thorp to state. Thorp continued his dominating play with a 6-0, 6-0, semifinal win against Peter Koessler (Wilson).
Completing a terrific tournament without the loss of a game, the titanic Thorp won the championship with a 6-0, 6-0, whitewash of Janrick Peros (Mt. Tahoma) to return to state as the No. 1 Class 3A WCD/SW No. 1 singles seed after two previous, consecutive state doubles championships with now-graduated brother Mitch.
Mt. Tahoma's Janrick Peros jolted Brandon Lowry (JFK) in opening round play, but Lowry returned on Thursday afternoon to extinguish Joey Yanello, 6-3, 7-5. Lowry made a courageous comeback to oust Dylan Koester of the Columbia River Chieftains (Vancouver) only to fall to Danny Tran of Mt. Tahoma, 6-4, 7-5, in the fifth seed-alternate 1 match.
Doubles movement showcased excellent tennis teams from the Highline area. Seamount No. 1 Vincent Viloria and Taas Sribhibhadh defeated the dangerous duo of Cooper Eddy and Sean Thomas (Wilson) 6-1, 6-1 after an opening round bye to qualify for state and reach the Friday semifinals. Viloria and Sribhibhadh volleyed past Tyler Sparling and Marcus Kwon of Mountainview (Vancouver) in the semifinals on the way to a dangerous championship encounter against Trevor Jones and Colton Reed (Mountain View).
The Thunder duo flashed lightning against the Lancers and pushed JFK to the limit before Viloria and Sribhibhadh edged out Jones and Reed, 7-5, in the first set. Unleashing their top game, the Lancers rode to a 6-0 second set triumph and the No. 1 doubles seed to state
Seamount No. 2 Justin Vu and David Villegas Prado (Highline) powered past J. Agtarap and G. Rush (North Thurston) 6-4, 6-2 in Thurday's opening round. Trevor Jones then partnered with Colton Reed (Mountainview) to defeat the Pirate duo, 6-2, 6-1. Vu and Prado rebounded for a victory against Cooper and David of Columbia River. Joonick Ahn and Scott Vernon of North Thurston (Lacey) took the fifth and final WCD seed to state in a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, three-set match versus Vu and Prado that had both teams strongly scrambling for the coveted state berth. The Highline pair had to settle for the first alternate to state from bi-district.
Kennedy won the team competition, earning 19 points to Mountain View's 12. Other schools in the competition included Auburn Mountainview, Columbia River, Decatur, Highline, Lakes, Mt. Tahoma, North Thurston, Peninsula, Prairie, Shelton and Wilson.
According to John F. Kennedy high school head coach Maryann Thorp the Lancer boys all did a great job.
