Winning the Foothill League singles title in dramatic fashion against the two-time defending champion and West Ranch teammate Davey Woodland, Parker McBride headlines the 2018 All-Foothill League boys tennis team.
Foothill League singles title in hand, McBride qualified for the 2018 CIF-Southern Section Boys Individual Tennis Sectionals as the No. 1 Foothill League singles representative.
Getting a first-round bye, McBride powered through the second round, only dropping one game in the second set. Losing in the next round on a tie-break, McBride pushed his opponent and gave him everything that he had.
Woodland joins McBride on the First Team, making the individuals tournament as the No. 2 Foothill League singles player. Woodland also made it to the third round and fell on a third set tie-break as well.
Valencia freshman Gabriel Chavez rounds out the First Team after bursting on the scene, giving every opponent a run for their money in every game.
West Ranch’s Hayden Rand, Valencia’s Eduardo Cedeno and Saugus’ Erin Pang all made the Second Team singles list, putting up impressive numbers against their opponents throughout the year.
Pang is the lone senior out of the trio and has cemented his name as one of the league’s toughest and smartest singles players of all time.
Sitting atop the First Team doubles list is Valencia’s No. 1 doubles team of senior Jackson Boxall and sophomore Stephen Thay. The duo won the Foothill League doubles title for the second consecutive year.
Boxall and Thay are the only Foothill League players left in the CIF-SS individual tournament and made it to the Round of 32.
“I’m excited to be a part of league history,” Boxall said. “There have only been two other teams to make it to the Round of 32 and that was about eight to ten years ago.”
Added Thay: “I feel very accomplished and I just want to thank my coaches: Jen, my personal coach Steve Yu, coach Kellogg and coach Greg for pushing us the past two years to play at the level we are at.”
Joining them on the Second Team doubles list are Viking teammates Chan Gi Kim and Ian Cho who constantly competed with Boxall and Thay for Valencia’s No. 1 doubles team.
The teams faced off against each other in league prelims, with Boxall and Thay prevailing.
Seniors Aristo Turalakey and Jake Anderson of West Ranch make the list as the Foothill League’s No. 2 doubles team.
“It’s truly an honor,” Turalakey said via text. “I truly could not put into words how blessed I am for being put into the First Team for four years. It’s surprising to me to make the team because I only see myself as an average player, but being on a team with my close friends from West Ranch and Valencia really makes my high school experience worth it.”
The two defeated Boxall and Thay earlier in the year, but fell to them in the league title match.
Making it to the individual tournament, the Wildcat duo earned a first-round bye and then swept a Rio Mesa doubles team.
Facing off against Harvard-Westlake in the third-round, Turalakey and Anderson we able to steal the first set before dropping the second and losing the tie-break 10-5.
“I would say it was taking that first set off Harvard-Westlake team in the third round of the CIF individuals and seeing the look they had of shock,” Anderson said via text about his most memorable moment of the year.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t close out the rest of the match, but that first set win and their reaction was good to see. It felt good.”
Hart’s Daniel LaForteza and Jeremy Killian, West Ranch’s Robert Kim and Marcel Contin and Valencia’s Sam Kim and Brent Lim make up the Second Team doubles list.
Kim and Lim defeated the Wildcat duo of Kim and Contin in the second round of the Foothill League prelims before falling to Turalakey and Anderson, who defeated LaForteza and Killian in the previous round.
Jeremy Cook (Canyon), Dylan Yu (Golden Valley), Spencer Kline (Hart), Justin Stanford (Saugus), Paul Koh (Valencia) and Adam Lee (West Ranch) were each honorable mentions.
