Senior Night sweetened with victory over Eisenhower
Colton extends their winning streak to 5 games as seniors celebrate their final home game as Yellowjackets
Colton’s Yellowjacket tennis seniors enjoy their final game before defeating Eisenhower. From left: Kimberly Emilio, Cecilia Flores, Jasmin Almazan, Emily Ramirez, Brenda Salazar, Mariana Villegas.
Colton, CA—Colton’s senior tennis players celebrated Senior Night with their families and teammates last Friday, October 15 before their final home match of the season against the Eisenhower Eagles.
Before the match, Athletics Director Jacob Van Hofwegen hosted the celebration honoring this year’s seniors playing with the tennis team. The 2022-2023 seniors representing the tennis team are: Jasmin Almazan, Emily Ramirez, Kimberly Emilio, Brenda Salazar, Cecilia Flores, and Mariana Villegas.
The event featured a large Yellowjacket banner and a path lined with tennis ball containers. Underclassmen teammates presented their seniors with bouquets and big hugs.
“It’s good to show love to our seniors before we send them off to their next chapter in life,” said Jacob Van Hofwegen.
Shortly after the celebrations, the match started and Colton pushed their winning streak to 5 straight matches, pounding the Eagles 16-2.
The big three of Shantel Marentes, Emily Ramirez, and Kimberly Emilio decimated their singles for the third consecutive match, taking all 9 of their sets.
On the doubles side, two JV players found themselves playing with varsity: Mariana Villegas and Brenda Salazar. “It felt nice to finally challenge myself,” said Villegas. “When I started this year, I had zero experience, but over time I’ve improved.”
For their first time as varsity, Villegas and Salazar scored 14 points. They won 2 of their 3 sets.
Colton’s other doubles teams of Jasmin Almazan/Natalie Diaz, and Cecilia Flores/Emily Melgarejo kept up their strong play, with Almazan/Diaz taking 3 sets, and Flores/Melgarejo taking 2.
With this victory, Colton is now 8-1 in San Andreas league play and 8-5 overall on the season. They play their final match of the season on Wednesday against Jurupa Hills.
Recently, the CHS Publications Department experienced a major theft as over $20,000 in photography equipment was stolen from our studio over Spring Break. This included all cameras. Any amount you donate will help rebuild our program. Thank you!
Tyler Morales is a sophomore attending Colton High School. He writes for the Pepper Bough and involves himself around different activities at the school....