On March 5, 2026, the Kennedy Cougars boys’ tennis team played against the West Park Panthers boys’ tennis team, with Kennedy taking the win with the leading score of 5-4.
This game was very close in score, which made the game more intense, competitive, and interesting.
West Park is a really solid team and was in the game all the way. Every time JFK would score, they would send a shot right back, redeeming themselves and gaining a point. It was a back-to-back, but JFK kept their lead and momentum to stay alive and on top.
This is the first game played against each other this season. Their next game against each other will be on March 24, 2026.
#4 on the JFK team, a junior named Graysen Mills, said he was sure he would beat West Park before the game.
“I’m pretty sure we will beat West Park,” Mills said. “And it should be an easy game”.
Graysen Mills has a lot of passion for tennis and says his seniors are what inspires and motivates him. They really inspire him to go hard and put in full effort to give them a good finale of high school tennis.
“We are definitely better than last year,” Mills said. “And we are looking forward to winning metros this year.”
Graysen had taken a loss with the scores of 3-6 for the first set and 4-6 in the second set. This, unfortunately, was not a great game for Graysen because he rolled his ankle giving his opponent the advantage, but is still a very great player. Hopefully, the next time West Park and Kennedy play against each other, Graysen could take the win.
Jack won in three sets. The scores were a 6-6 tie in the first set, a 5-7 tie breaker, a second set 6-0 win and a third set 10-7 win . This game was super entertaining and kept the audience on their toes. Jack Hashimoto stayed strong and positive, striving to win. He has heart and wants it more than the opponent.
Jack Hashimoto has a lot of love for the sport of tennis; he states that his friends and family are his biggest motivators. He likes to play with his team and not let his family down.
He also said that he definitely thinks that his team is better this year.
“I think we’re definitely looking at winning this year,” Hashimoto said. “We’ve got a really stacked team.”
Senior Tony Thao, who plays the number 2 singles, said he also thinks Kennedy will beat West Park and we have a chance. He also says what inspires him most is his family, and his older brother, who also played tennis at JFK.
Tony lost going to 3 sets with the scores of the first set 3-6 loss, second set 6-4 getting another opportunity to win, and in the third set, a tie breaker, he sadly lost the final set 9-11.
Tony put up a good, hard fight. Tony and his opponent put up a good match, giving the audience a show, but sadly, Tony could not secure the win. It is okay, though, because his teammates had his back winning their games.
Anthony Zhao is also really passionate about tennis, as he states, “the environment we have in our team” is what motivates and inspires him. He also believes that although his team has lost 2 players from the previous season they are still better than last year.
During the game Anthony Zhao won the game against his opponents first set 7-5, he lost his second set 4-6, but easily dominated the third set with a score of 10-3 win. This was not a close game as Anthony had dominated the game and kept his momentum. With this work being kept up we will surely make it to the playoffs.
Senior Justin Hayashida and Logan Womack at JFK were able to take the win for the team, securing the last point needed and pushing over the line to get the win. With the last game being relied on them, they surely did not let their team down and we can still call ourselves number 2 in the league.
