With the smell of spring in the air and the weather starting to warm, tennis season has come to an end. For senior Bryce Easton, this means his last high school tennis meet. Easton and the Indians competed in the state tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Manhattan finished the tournament in 13th place as a team with seven points. Easton competed in singles while sophomore Jack Easton and senior Abdul Naeem competed in doubles.

Bryce finished his Manhattan career with a medal, taking 11th place in singles. He went 4-3 in his matches, beating Chris Gernon of Topeka High in the 11th-place match, finishing his season with a win.

“[Finishing on a win] was awesome,” Bryce said. “When I hit my last shot for a winner I yelled ‘done forever!’. I was relieved since tennis is a difficult sport. I was tired because it had been a long weekend and I really just wanted a nap. I was happy because I was able to go out on a high note and I was sad because it was my final match.”

Coach Brandon Starkey had high praise for Bryce and recognized his importance to the team.

“He has meant a lot to this program, and was the heart and soul of this team this season,” Starkey said. “I have never coached a player with more class or heart than Bryce and it was just really nice to see him end his career with a win, after struggling for much of the day.”

Bryce ends his organized tennis career with his win Saturday, he plans to attend Kansas State University.

“I still plan on playing intramurals at K-State, however it won’t be anything like school tennis,” Bryce said. “I also plan on passing on my knowledge by coaching Parks and Rec tennis this summer.”

Jack and Naeem were eliminated from medal contention on Friday after upsetting Olathe North but falling to teams from Blue Valley and Wichita West.

“Jack and Abdul did more than most people probably thought they would,” Starkey said. “It would have been nice to get them a medal and an opportunity to play day 2, but they still played fantastic and had a great year.”

This is the final meet of the year for the tennis team and the season ends leaving the players with a desire to do better next year. Losing Bryce will hurt the team as they will need players to step up and lead as Bryce did.

“The team showed so much improvement throughout the year,” Bryce said. “They played a lot better in league than regionals. Overall [the improvement] was pretty impressive.”