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Tanaka Overcomes His Old Rival for WCAC Title
Northern Region Finals
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South County junior Michelle Nguyen defeated Fairfax senior Lauren Palmucci, 6-3, 6-4, to take the Northern Region title on Tuesday, continuing an undefeated season and providing redemption after first-round losses in regionals the past two seasons.
"We had to play indoors and I wasn't really ready for it and Lauren played really well," Nguyen said. "But I was really excited [to win] since the past two years I lost in the first round. I don't really even remember [the championship point], I just wanted to win."
In the boys' bracket, Robinson senior Drew Courtney defended his Northern Region title, downing Fairfax senior Sidarth Balaji.
The four finalists advanced to the Virginia AAA quarterfinals June 5 at Jefferson District Park. Nguyen and Courtney will face the Central Region runners-up, while Palmucci and Balaji take on the Central champions.
Maryland Championships
There is going to be a new champion at the Maryland boys' tournament this weekend at the University of Maryland, and Rockville's Chris Goodwin appears to be the one to beat for that spot.
The field is open now with Churchill's Jared Pinsky, a three-time champion, playing at Duke.
Goodwin had the unfortunate timing of playing in Pinsky's shadow the past three years. But this year, Goodwin has breezed through Montgomery County, claiming the No. 1 singles titles at the county and Region II tournaments. Goodwin advanced to the state final in 2006, when Pinsky was upset by Wilde Lake sophomore David Nguyen, but Goodwin lost to Nguyen in the final. Nguyen is being home-schooled this year and is not eligible for the tournament.
"He's looked at the bracket," Rockville Coach Frank Weaver said of Goodwin, "and he knows he can win this tournament. He knows he had [Nguyen], and it killed him to lose. He wasn't ready for it then, but he's ready now."
In the girls' draw, the changing of the guard happened last year, as Churchill's three-time champion Maggie McKeever moved on to Maryland. That opened the door for Eleanor Roosevelt's Katelyn Stokes, who last year became the state's first freshman champion in six years. This year in College Park, Stokes is the top seed.
The second seed is Linganore senior Katie Schafer, who lost to Stokes in last year's final. Churchill sophomore Liz Kaufman, the No. 3 seed, overcame a loss to Blake's Carmen Jackman in the Montgomery County tournament final to win the Region II title.
