The Park Hill boys’ tennis team is going to look significantly different than it did a season ago as the Trojans are tasked with replacing their entire lineup from 2022.
With five graduating and the sixth not coming back out, Park Hill will look to the top guys from last year’s JV squad. While they don’t have a ton of varsity experience, JV was undefeated last spring.
“We lost all six of our top letterwinners from last year, so we’re left promoting our JV squad from last year to varsity this season,” Park Hill boys’ tennis coach Rustin Reys said. “The good news is that we’re coming off a record year last year as conference champs, district champs and a state singles medalist.”
Seniors Connor Dennis and Josh Minder, along with junior Tristan Houchin and freshman Drew Miller, will fill up the top-4 spots for the lineup. Will Pool, Jeremy Hernandez-Mendez and Wesley North will be fighting for the final two roster spots.
“(Tristan) Houchin actually earned a varsity letter at the end of last year. He won two district matches and will now play the number one spot for us this year,” Reys said.
Park Hill had a historical season a year ago, finishing with an impressive 19-3 record – which included a 7-0 finish at home, which was the first time winning every home match since 2011 – and ended with a district title for the first time since 2017. The Trojans won five district championships from 2011-2017, repeating in 2011-2012 and 3-peating from 2015-2017, and will look to use last year’s success as momentum despite having a new lineup.
“Our goals remain unchanged; we want conference and district titles, along with state qualifiers, but we understand that our path will be much more difficult this season. These guys have been stuck behind some very talented players and now is their chance to show what they’ve got,” Reys said.