Upsets Hit I.E. Tennis

Seeded teams ran into doubles trouble Friday during the opening round of the Inland Empire Tournament at five tennis venues.

North Central’s boys doubles team, University’s girls doubles and Lakeside’s (Nine Mile) mixed doubles pulled upsets to land in today’s semifinals at Central Valley.

The boys and girls singles played out as expected, with the top four seeds qualifying for today’s semis at CV.

The NC team of Gary Lemoine and Mike Fong opened with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 upset of third-seeded Nikhil Ranade and Stephan Minister of Kamiakin. Fong and Lemoine also won in the second round and are in the opposite bracket of top-seeded Jon Wrigley and Eric Donovan of Mead.

Emily Stuenkel and Kiristy Kimbrough of U-Hi came back from a 6-0 loss in a second-round opening set to stun fourth-seeded Ritzville 7-5, 6-2. The Titans meet top-seeded Darcy Ruemping and K.C. Richards of Ferris in the semis.

Lakeside’s Mandy Eastwood and Hutch Goodman made the semis with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 second-round win over third-seeded Walla Walla. They’re in the opposite bracket of top-seeded Dave Farley and Gretchen Davis of Lewis and Clark. Farley and Davis are defending champions.

Boys singles top-seeded Haroon Ullah of Richland and girls singles top-seeded Amy Fong of Mead had no trouble advancing. Fong didn’t lose a game.

Today’s semifinals begin at 10 a.m. The championships are scheduled for 1 p.m.

GSL girls golf

Ferris and Mead advanced five apiece to the second round of the District 8-AAA Tournament.

During the first round at Hangman Valley Golf Course, Ferris led the field with a 348. Mead shot a runner-up 359, including the best individual score, Britney Holt’s 5-over-par 76.

Individual runner-up Jennifer Hatley of Ferris shot a 77, followed by the 81 of Shadle Park’s Megan Ehlert.

Gonzaga Prep advanced four golfers.

The top 25 individuals advanced to the second and final round, Wednesday at Liberty Lake Golf Course. The top 10 after Wednesday qualify for state.