Crawfordsville boys tennis was a young team a season ago, but that didn’t stop the Athenians from having a very successful 2021. CHS placed second in the Sagamore Conference behind county rival Southmont before falling to Parke Heritage in the sectional.
Craig Brainard returns for another year with the Athenians who will bring back mostly everyone from last season’s team. James Murphy returns and Wyatt Motz return for the Athenians at one and two singles. Jude Hutchison makes the jump from two doubles to three singles while his partner a year ago Thomas Bowling moved to one doubles with Rowan Gambrel. Brendan Warren and Nolan Wyatt will man the two doubles spots for CHS this season.
“We’re excited to be returning so many guys from last year,” Brainard said. “I expect nothing but hard work from these guys. It’s a new year and everyone will be doing what they can be do be successful. Our success is going to come from us pushing ourselves to be the best we can be for each match. Our goal is to win more matches than a year ago and make it to October this year.”
CHS has the talent to compete and expects to do just that this season. Craig notes how through the first couple of weeks of the season he’s been impressed with his team’s attitude and focus.
“Our returning guys have really stepped into the leadership roles that we’ve needed them to,” he said. “Even our newer players are working their tails off for a spot on the varsity roster. Everyone is rallying around each other and pushing each other to improve every day. It’s been a great atmosphere to witness so far as the season gets underway.”
