Will this be the year that someone finally breaks the Mills Godwin-Douglas Freeman grip on the Central Region boys tennis championship? If Deep Run can stay healthy and play up to its considerable potential, that should be the case this spring. The Wildcats came close last year and have five of their top six players returning, including the favorite for the region singles title, No. 1 Hunter Koontz.

Emily Hahn, the reigning All-Metro girls player of the year, and Max Schnur, a member of the 2009 All-Metro boys team, will compete this week in the Winter Super Nationals junior tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. Play begins today. When finished in Scottsdale, Hahn, a sophomore at Douglas Freeman; and Schnur, a junior at Collegiate, will make the short trip to Tucson, Ariz., for another prestigious national competition: the Copper Bowl tournament. That event begins Jan. 2.

Times-Dispatch All-Metro boys tennis team. Evan Charles, Deep Run. Playing No.2 singles and No.1 doubles with Hunter Koontz, Charles helped Deep Run defeat Mills Godwin and win the Colonial District title. He lost just three singles matches and teamed with Koontz to advance to the state tournament in doubles. The Wildcats were the region and state runners-up in team competition.

Dylan Moon performs in theatrical productions at Collegiate School. Moon, a senior, also performs on tennis courts as a member of the Cougars’ boys team. It was appropriate that former head coach and current assistant Wes Atiyeh used an actor’s metaphor—that the tennis court was Moon’s stage—to motivate Moon in his Prep League tournament final match earlier this month.