For the second time in the last four years Manhattan High School has shown its true dominance on the tennis courts.

The team competed at the league meet on April 30. A first place finish at the meet marked the fourth straight time they won league, then they followed it up with something special.

For the second time in school history, MHS won league and regionals in the same year. The first time they did it was the 2015 season.

“It felt amazing to see all of our hard work pay off,” junior Mitch Hutchinson said. “To show everyone who didn’t think we would be a competitive team that we’re up there with the best is a great feeling.”

Freshman Dan Harkin and sophomore Robert Zhang dominated the singles tournament, crushing opponents and facing each other in the finals match. Harkin ending up besting Zhang in that match taking the first place prize and Zhang was awarded with second place. Both players are advancing to state and will have first round byes.

Junior Carson Gido and sophomore Jerin Ugrin were one of the two doubles teams. The duo finished the meet with a record of 1-2, eventually losing to Derby to end their season. They finished with a 20-8 record.

Hutchinson competed with junior Jack Easton in doubles. They finished second place, losing to Washburn Rural.

“I think overall I had a pretty good day,” Hutchinson said. “[Easton] and I faced a lot of adversity in our semifinal match. We lost the first set 0-6, then won the second set 6-2, and then we were down 2-5 in the third set and came back to win 7-2 in a tiebreaker. I was just really proud of how we battled back and never gave up throughout the match.”

The duo is the last Manhattan team that will compete at state and they will have a first round bye as well.

“I think we’re all riding a lot of momentum to state,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve won the past two meets we’ve been at and it’s really just been a morale boost for everyone. I definitely think that plays a big part in our confidence going into state this weekend.”