Aug. 20—JAMESTOWN — On the varsity roster, the Blue Jay tennis team has two major spots to fill.
The Jays' No. 1, Luke LeFevre, graduated in May while the team's No. 2, Braxton Burkett, made the decision to focus on his hockey career.
Burkett and LeFevre were the No. 1 seed in doubles out of the West Region last season. At State, LeFevre and Burkett defeated Arnav Panwalkar and Drew Burris of Fargo North in the doubles championships semifinals to clinch a spot in the state championship match.
In the championship match, the Jamestown duo gave Grand Forks Central's Jason Ling and Rylan Spicer all they could handle but ended up falling 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. It was the first match the duo had lost all season.
"We are getting used to the new look of the team and learning the adjustments some players are going to have to make," Jamestown High School head coach Isaac Mimong said. "Things are going pretty well, all things considered, though."
The Blue Jays began practices on Aug. 10.
Numbers are down slightly for the tennis crew. There are 15 boys out for Mimong's second year as head coach. There are six sophomores on the Blue Jay roster. There are four key returners — Kale Backen, Aden Oettle, Raji Bansal and Josh Sagaser — coming back for the Blue Jays.
"It's still early, but they have kind of shown that they are willing to get out there and work," Mimong said. "They need to make sure that they are putting in the right work to achieve their goals. ... To meet my expectations every day, they will have to come into every practice, every drill, every match and every rep with a positive mindset and a willingness to learn and grow."
The Blue Jays finished the 2025 conference season at 2-5-0 while overall the team was 7-12-0. The team advanced to the West Region Tournament, where they lost to Minot, then defeated Williston and Minot North to advance to the Team State Dual Tournament for the first time since 2020.
At State, Jamestown faced top-seeded West Fargo Sheyenne in the opening round. The Jays fell 5-0 to the Mustangs. Jamestown then faced Bismarck Legacy in the consolation semis, but lost 3-2.
Mimong and his crew are slated to see their first official action of the 2026 season on Friday, Aug. 21. The Jays are scheduled to take on Bismarck Century and Bismarck Legacy. The team's first conference action is scheduled for Sept. 1 at Bismarck Legacy.
"There will be a lot of growing pains that this group will have to overcome," Mimong said. "I don't think qualifying for State is out of the picture, but I think they will have to overcome some challenges that they did not have to face last year ... this team is going to have a new look and a new identity. Right now it's all about figuring out what this new identity is going to be."
Leave a Comment