Two local tennis players chosen for select squad

By By Jeff Byrd / staff writer
Aug. 22, 2002
Meridian tennis standouts David Ray and Wade Covington have been named to play in the 2002 Bullfrog /STA Junior Davis Cup/Junior Federation Cup Championships. The three-member teams were selected by the Mississippi Tennis Association.
The Junior Davis Cup/Junior Federation Cup, which will be for the nine-state Southern States region, will be played on Sept. 13-15 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Covington, who plays for Lamar School, is currently ranked No. 1 in Mississippi for the boys 14-year-old age division. He was the state runner-up in the MPSA AAA boys singles.
Ray, who won the Class 5A Boys singles title back in May for Meridian High, is ranked third in the 18-and-under boys division. Ray, 17, was ranked nationally in the 16-and-under boys last year and also holds a current Southern States ranking.
Mississippi's top two 18-year-old players will not attend the Junior Davis Cup which allowed Ray to move up to the top spot. He will be joined by Christopher Rea and Drew Smith both of Madison.
Covington will be on the 14-year-old team along with William Foreman of Jackson and Elliott Warren of Brookhaven.
The teams will be coached by Walker and Ray Sahag.
The boys 16s team will be made up of Bryan Bankester and Taylor Clemmer of Madison and Will Thames of Laurel.
The girls 18s team will consist of Dominque Bell of Jackson, Ann Fly of Jackson and Kristan Preble of Brandon. The girls 16's team is made up of Kathryn Carroll of Madison, Betsey Sawyer of Gulfport and Alicia Williams of Jackson.
The girls 14s team is made up of Allison Hartman of Brandon, Anna Moak of Brookhaven and Keri Wong of Jackson.