McPherson Boys Take 4th in Highly Competitive Goddard Invitational

By Grant Barrett, Ad Astra Radio

GODDARD, Kan. – The John Markham Spring Classic is one of the most highly touted tennis tournaments in Kansas. Saturday, the Bullpups tested themselves against some of the best teams in all classes, finishing 4th out of 16 teams.

“The John Markham Spring Classic is as tough as a state tournament.” noted Head Coach Tyler Brown, who was extremely proud of his team following Saturday’s matches. He added, “Not only are you playing some of the best players in the state, you are tested physically, playing five matches in a long grueling day.”

Hunter Mendez and Charlie Krug played singles for the Pups; Krug was 1-4 placing 16th, while Mendez finished with a winning-record of 3-2 on the day, and placed 19th. The doubles duo of Alex Berger and Kayden McVicker also went 3-2, where they finished a team-high 7th. Bryson Archer and Ethan Elder went 2-3 to finish 12th.

“To finish fourth out of sixteen teams has to give our players a lot of confidence moving forward.” Coach Brown talked about continuing to keep his team ‘hungry’ mentioning a couple of points slipping away, he said, “As the Head Coach, placing this high feels fantastic, but I know we have so much more room to grow as a team as well. Even with that kind of success we still need to limit double faults and continue to have a higher percentage of getting our first ball in play so our opponents can feel more pressure in matches against us.”

The Bullpup Tennis team will look forward to hosting the Doug Gayer Classic, on Saturday. Matches are set to begin at 10 a.m.

Below are the Team Results from Saturday’s Meet in Goddard:

1.Topeka West 141

2.Maize 126

3.Independence 119

4.McPherson 88

5.Goddard-Eisenhower 87

6.Classical School of Wichita 87

7.Derby 83

8.Wellington 80

9.Garden City 77

10.Campus-Haysville 63