Marble Falls, Burnet earn 3 tennis district championships

CAPTION: Marble Falls freshman Cooper Womack wears the gold medal signifying being the District 24-4A boys singles champion. Courtesy photo

The District 24-4A tennis tournament was dominated by Burnet and Marble Falls high school athletes March 29 and 31.

Marble Falls freshman Cooper Womack won the boys singles championship in a match that lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes, while the Burnet girls doubles team of Tatum Salinas and Aly Van Zandt is the district champion and the Burnet mixed doubles team of Christina Graves and Cameron Stires is the district runner-up.

All will compete at the Class 4A Region III tournament April 11-12 at Bryan High School, 3450 Campus Drive in Bryan.

“Cooper’s great at being coachable,” head coach Sam Whitley said. “He has a lot of tools in his belt. He doesn’t just focus on one thing. He’s a hard-working kid.”

The Marble Falls mixed doubles team of Mackenzie Farmer and Hayden Gasaway finished third and is the first alternate.

Womack, who was seeded No. 2, has two keys to success, Whitley said.

“First of all, he’s a hustler,” he said. “He doesn’t give up on any points. If you hit the ball, he’s going to go get it. That frustrates his opponents because they hit shots that should be winners. He finds a way to hit the ball back across the net.”

That’s how Womack won the first point of the district championship match against James Vasquez of Lampasas, seeded No. 1 in boys singles.

“This guy hit a shot and begins walking back because he hit a winner,” Whitley recalled. “All the sudden, the ball comes back. (Vasquez’s) jaw drops. You can’t coach that (effort). He’s a kid who goes after every shot. He either wants it or he doesn’t it.”

If Womack is winning, Whitley leaves him alone and instead takes notes on what the opponent is doing. If the opponent makes a comeback, the coach will tell the Mustang what he sees and how to turn the momentum.

“He doesn’t have one style of play,” he said. “Once he figures out the guy’s weaknesses, he attacks it. He can change his game. And it may not work the first time. But he continues to do it and do it. And eventually, the shots start to fall in place.”

Womack has been steady in earning his spot on the Marble Falls varsity ladder. In the fall at the beginning of the year, he was the No. 5 singles player. He won the junior varsity tournament at Copperas Cove, was third in different varsity tournament, and finished first at the Leander Glenn freshman tournament.

“Lampasas has a good program,” Whitley said. “Burnet and Lago Vista have good programs as well. Truthfully, I’m not totally surprised that Cooper won (the district championship). I felt like he could play. But as a freshman winning it speaks volumes. He’s like an energizer bunny. He never runs out of energy.”

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