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Meet the SJ-R’s 2024 boys tennis player of the year and all-area team

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Meet the SJ-R’s 2024 boys tennis player of the year and all-area team

Here are The State Journal-Register’s boys tennis player of the year and members of the SJ-R’s all-area team. 

The player of the year story is first, followed by the all-area team.

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For Noah Williams, tennis was in his blood

It’s a bloodline that spans three generations.  

Springfield High’s Noah Williams put the family’s name in the history books when he was named The State Journal-Register’s All-Area Boys Tennis Player of the Year for the fourth straight season. Springfield graduate Patrick Gaffigan was the first and the other boys tennis player to accomplish that feat from 2009-12.

Noah’s humble tennis beginnings started with his grandfather, Kevin Gleghorn, who despite not playing in high school or college, became a student of the game and taught his grandson the sport. 

Gleghorn grew up in Centralia, a city known for its great basketball talent. He followed Centralia High School’s Eldo “Dick” Jarrett, who played with Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1969.

“(Jarrett) was into tennis because of (John) McEnroe and (Arthur) Ashe,” Gleghorn said. “He would come home and play tennis, so everybody looked up to him and started playing tennis. My uncle started first and then I was hanging around him and I got to playing because they were playing in the 1970s.” 

Years later, the love for the sport trickled down to Gleghorn’s daughter, Jayda Williams, the mother of Noah. She became a two-time Central State Eight All-Conference pick and was a 2004 graduate at Southeast. Jayda continued tennis in college, playing at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Janique Gleghorn, Noah’s aunt, was a four-time all-conference pick and made the all-state team in doubles in 2010 at Springfield High.      

“I was pretty decent in sports,” Gleghorn said. “Once I got into tennis, I really loved it. When I had my children, I just decided that we were all going to play tennis. With each generation, I learned more, and we passed it on to (Noah).” 

Mom and grandpa passed the baton just fine as Noah won the CS8 singles title twice, reaching the Illinois High School Association state finals as a freshman and a senior. He won the CS8 doubles crown twice with graduate David Lu as a sophomore and a junior, and the duo finished fifth and fourth, respectively, in 2022 and 2023 at state. 

Jayda pointed out some of the differences between then and now. 

“It’s a lot more stressful because it’s harder to be cheering on the sidelines than it is to be out there playing yourself,” she said. “It’s really exciting seeing him grow over the last four years and becoming the player that he is.  

“I could not have ever dreamed that when we had Noah that he would ever take up tennis and this would be the thing that he’d love. Just to see that and the shared experience between our whole entire family through tennis is just a beautiful thing for us.” 

Gleghorn noted that his experience watching Noah on the sidelines has brought him nothing but warmth.  

“It makes me proud; I live vicariously through him,” Gleghorn said. “I wish I had the opportunity (to be better). I did play tournaments once I got older, but it wasn’t like playing in high school and learning from an early age.” 

Noah, the oldest of six children, is going to attend Illinois State University in the fall to major in finance. He said he is going to play club tennis as a freshman and then try to play collegiately as a walk-on during his sophomore year.  

Meanwhile, Gleghorn will continue to teach the Springfield youth the game of tennis. For nearly 30 years, he has helped organize a non-profit tennis camp during the summer months at Southeast High School.  

The camp begins in June and runs through early August with a cost of $25 for the entire session. The lessons are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6-7:30 p.m., that includes a picnic, T-shirts and awards at the end of the camp.     

“It’s a really good deal and some — as I don’t blame them — use it as a babysitting thing,” Gleghorn replied, with laughter. 

However, many are wondering if the Gleghorn-Williams bloodline will produce another athlete for the community to support.

It’s not that easy to predict, said Jayda, mentioning that her other kids are busy with soccer, gymnastics and other activities.

“They would have big shoes to fill with Noah,” Jayda said. “I have always encouraged (my kids) to do the things they would like because all six of them have different personalities. I want them to play (tennis) with us as a family, but that’s not something I’m going to make you do.

“We’ve learned that through Noah — we’ve never forced him to do anything — he’s done that all on his own. And I feel like that is why he takes ownership and loves it so much. He’s put in so many hours and so much work, he’s prepared for this.”

SINGLES

Noah Williams, Springfield High

The four-time SJ-R Boys Tennis Player of the Year and recent graduate led the Senators to their fourth straight Central State Eight Conference tournament title and he won the singles draw with a straight sets win over Rochester’s Paxton Garland-Sutter. Williams finished in second place at the Class 2A O’Fallon Sectional to advance to his fourth state finals — twice in singles and twice in doubles. He won a pair of championship bracket matches at state before falling in the third round and ending the tournament with a 2-2 record. His 30-3 overall record included a 25-0 regular season — and a third-set tiebreak win over Champaign Central’s Ezra Bernhard in the championship match of the J.D. Sinnock Invitational at Washington Park — highlighted the year. Williams also won the singles title at the Cyclone Invite.

Christian Bonner, Jacksonville

His 6-3, 6-2 win over Sacred Heart-Griffin’s Kaden Smith in the quarterfinals of the Class 1A Sacred Heart-Griffin Sectional advanced him to his first state finals tournament. The recent graduate got his first state win with a 6-3, 6-7 (4), (10-5) victory over Taehan Lee of Urbana University in the consolation bracket. Bonner placed eighth in the No. 1 singles flight at the J.D. Sinnock Invitational and accumulated an 18-15 singles record.  

Paxton Garland-Sutter, Rochester 

Garland-Sutter arguably put together his best effort in his senior season. He placed second in both the conference and sectional tournaments and showed some grit at the Class 1A state finals by beating 9-16 seed Yash Kaushik of Chicago Payton 4-6, 6-4, (10-4) in the consolation’s fourth round. Garland-Sutter won a championship bracket match, and three consolation matches to end the tournament 4-2. He placed fifth at both the J.D. Sinnock and Cyclone Invitationals in the No. 1 singles flights and was third at the Purple and Gold Invite to conclude the season with a 26-12 overall mark. 

Ben Loeffler, Chatham Glenwood

After having a disappointing ending in doubles in the Class 1A sectional tournament last year, Loeffler redeemed himself by qualifying for the Class 2A state finals in singles this season. His run at the O’Fallon Sectional culminated with a fourth-place finish, and as a sixth seed, he defeated No. 3 Ethan Moeller of Belleville East 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to advance. Loeffler finished second in the No. 2 singles flight at the J.D. Sinnock, went 0-2 at state and ended the season 24-9.  

Ubaydah Mahmood, Chatham Glenwood 

Mahmood finished his final season with a 17-8 record. He won a consolation bracket match in straight sets at the Class 2A state finals. Mahmood reached state with a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-2 victory over Belleville East’s Mason Ballard in the quarterfinals of the O’Fallon Sectional and eventually finished in third place when teammate Ben Loeffler defaulted. Mahmood placed fourth at both the CS8 meet and J.D. Sinnock Invite.   

Adam Wheeling, Sacred Heart-Griffin

The junior excelled as the top singles player for SHG and reached the Class 1A state finals after placing third at the sectional. Wheeling won his first-round match at state before losing to a pair of 9-16 seeds in the second round and consolation bracket, respectively. He defeated Mahmood for third place at conference, got to the title match and placed second at the Purple and Gold Invitational, took fourth at the Cyclone Invite and was sixth at the J.D. Sinnock for a 24-15 overall record.  

DOUBLES 

Talha Arshad/Will Ehrlich, Chatham Glenwood

In their first season as double partners, the tandem nabbed third place by beating Normal U-High’s Chase Boester and Yajath Narra 6-2, 6-3 at the conference tournament and piled up some wins to finish with a 22-8 overall record. Arshad and Ehrlich reached the semifinals of the J.D. Sinnock Invite and finished third at the top doubles flight. As a No. 5 seed, they were edged in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) to Edwardsville’s Schaefer Bates and Isaac Chleboun in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A sectional tournament to fall short of a trip to the state tournament.  

Luke Harvey/Evan Aleman, Sacred Heart-Griffin

The duo helped lead the Cyclones to the Class 1A sectional championship with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Carter Manhart and Aidan Andris of Greenville in the title match. Harvey and Aleman’s chemistry got them to the fifth round of the consolation bracket at the state finals and the pair finished 3-2 with two wins coming in the championship bracket. The SHG tandem nearly upset 3-4 seed Maurice Neuman and Adam Tang of Chicago University in the third round but lost 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. Harvey and Aleman were second at both the conference tournament and Purple and Gold Invite, fourth at the Cyclone Invite and seventh at the J.D. Sinnock, to end with a 23-10 record. 

Krish Khurana/James Oh, Springfield High

The junior-senior combo won the J.D. Sinnock and the Cyclone Invite and were crowned doubles champs at the CS8 tournament to finish 22-0 during the regular season. They placed fourth at the Class 2A O’Fallon Sectional after having to retire in the semifinals and defaulting the third-place match. Khurana and Oh finished the season with a 26-4 overall mark after winning two matches in the consolation rounds at state.

Contact Trevor Lawrence: 788-1548, trevor.lawrence@sj-r.com.

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