The Carmi-White County boys tennis team defeated Marion Thursday afternoon by a final score of 5-4.
On paper, the win might seem like a normal one point win over a much larger school to wrap up the regular season, but for Chris Courty and the Bulldogs, it means much more than just that.
The win improves Carmi’s record to 18-3-1 on the year, which breaks the school record for the most wins in CWCHS history.
In 1997, the Bulldogs went 17-9 under the direction of Jerry Wright.
In 2012, the Courty-led Bulldogs went 17-7.
The mark was something the Bulldogs had their eye on since the beginning of the season.
Carmi got off to a hot start, winning their first 9 matches, including defeating Salem for the 1st time in 4 years.
After a midseason slump, falling to Herrin, Carbondale and Centrailia, 3 much larger schools, the Bulldogs stood at 10-3 with just 2 weeks left in the regular season.
But the Bulldogs got back on the right track, wrapping up the season by winning 8 of their last 9 matches, defeating Teutopolis, Hillsboro, Greenville, Charleston, Fairfield, Mt. Vernon and Marion to end the season with a record 18 wins.
Since the program rebooted in 2017, the boys tennis team has been in a rebuilding stage, since most athletes were playing tennis for the first time.
6 years later, the Bulldogs have made history.
Congratulations to head coach Chris Courty, assistant coach Clint Rawlinson and the entire CWC Boys Tennis Team.
Seniors – Cameron Courty, Gage Atteberry, Conner Colman, Dacin Rudolph, Tyler Goemaat, Warren Legg
Juniors – Joseph Gates, Braydon Smith, Ian Mosier
Sophomores – Kale Wiggins
Freshmen – Madden Anderson, Javan Lucas
The Bulldogs will travel to Centrailia for Sectionals next Friday, May 19th.
