By Jay Neal
sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com
Far away from the carnival-like atmosphere of the Tomato Bowl area, a group of athletes are celebrating the annual Tomato Fest in a different way — by playing the game they love, tennis.
A large field of participants from across the region are competing in 17 divisions of the Tomato Fest Open which began Saturday morning and wraps up today at the Jacksonville High School Tennis complex.
According to Jacksonville High School head tennis coach David Hanna, the tournament got off to a smooth start Saturday and an abundance of competitive matches continued to take place throughout the warm-summer day.
Many familiar names, such as Mercer Day, Katy Day, Dylan Hanna and Sam Hopkins could be found on the various tournament brackets as the local tennis community, as well as participants from afar who centered their weekend around the tournament.
A nice size crowd cheered the players on from both sides of the courts at the JHS tennis courts.
Local Sports
Tomato Fest Open draws large field
- Local Sports
-
-
17-3A All-District softball team filled with familiar names
Local softball fans will find plenty of well-known names on this year's 17-3A All-District softball team, as players from Rusk and Bullard High School comprised a large portion of the prestigious squad.
-
Lady 'Cat soccer adds height in the net by adding Marshall goalkeeper, Emerson
The Lon Morris College Lady Bearcat soccer team addressed one of its greatest needs when it signed Stephanie Emerson of Marshall (Texas) High School to a National Letter of Intent (NLI) last week.
-
Men’s Junior college hoops: Lon Morris College’s Jurkovic signs letter with Florida International
Florida International University (FIU) has swooped down and hooked yet another player that played his final year of junior college basketball in Jacksonville this past season.
-
Top-ranked Robinson wins regional series over Panthers
After upsetting top-ranked Waco Robinson 1-0 in the first game of a best-of-three series on Friday night, the Bullard Panthers needed just one win on Saturday to advance into the Class 3A, Region III semi-final round.
-
Troup's historic playoff run ends with loss to Linden-Kildare
For six innings Troup held a precarious 1-0 lead over Linden-Kildare on Saturday afternoon at Lady Maverick Field in Marshall in what was a must-win game for Troup.
-
Years of hard work pay dividends for Bullard's Holcomb
A student-athletic trainer's days are long and arduous, with little day-to-day reward, aside from an occasional 'atta girl.
-
Bullard shocks top-ranked Robinson 1-0 in Game 1
The Bullard High School baseball team followed down a trail that the Panther football squad forged out late last year in pulling off a major upset of a team from Waco Robinson High.
-
Linden-Kildare trips up Troup in regional semi-final opener
One big inning was enough to enable Linden-Kildare to defeat Troup 5-0 in Game 1 of a best-of-three Class 2A Region III semi-final series, that took place in front of a crowd estimated to number 700 at Marshall's Lady Maverick Field on Friday afternoon.
-
Guard's Langemeier to play football at Wheaton College
After four years of reaping numerous awards in a four-sport career at The Brook Hill School, Austin Langemeier put the icing on his laureled-high school stint Thursday, inking to play football at Wheaton College.
-
Rusk’s Arthur loses Bellator 69 MMA bout
Rusk’s Booker Arthur lost in a unanimous decision to Shanon Slack of Orange County, Calif. on Friday night in lake Charles, La.
- More Local Sports Headlines
-
17-3A All-District softball team filled with familiar names

