News

*MANCHESTER, MA — * MAC Tennis Academy had an unprecedented 34 tennis players competing in this year’s New England Junior Section Championships — including the Girls 16 Champion.

The tournament, which was held at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA, invites the top 32 players in New England from the 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-year-old age groups to compete for a championship. This year, the MAC Tennis Academy program, which is run out of Manchester Athletic Club, has trained one of the tournament’s champions as well as two finalists and three additional semifinalists.

In the Girls 16s singles, the top spot was taken by Julia Newman of Natick, winner of the New England championship. Topsfield resident, Sasha Wood, bested almost everyone in her age group, making it to the finals of the Girls 14s event. Semifinalists included Ray Boppana of Boxborough who took 3rd place in the Boys 16s as well as Emily Parkerson of West Roxbury and Charles Shewalter of Winchester who each placed 4th in the Girls 12s and Boys 18s respectively. In the backdraw, MAC Tennis Academy players won both the Girls and Boys 14s with Brendan Jimenez of Lynn and Eleanor Schulson of Newburyport. Backdraw finalists included Bedford’s Ben Biswas in the Boys 18s and Winchester’s Sydney Weinberg in the Girls 16s who was also the recipient of the well-respected sportsmanship award.

“This year we were represented at sectionals by more players than ever before,” said Todd Carpenter, Director of Tennis at Manchester Athletic Club. “It’s a testament to our growing program and a direct result of the commitment of our players, parents and coaches.” The academy is helmed by Director Francisco Montoya and Manager Celeste Frey.

Manchester Athletic Club is a Regional Training Center of New England and one of 12 Certified Regional training centers in the country. It is home to MAC Tennis Academy, a tournament-training program for high-performance juniors, as well as a nationally-recognized 10-and-under program.