Langston Williams Competes in 2015 USTA Junior Team Tennis

Two Mid-Atlantic section teams from the Washington, D.C. area competed in the 2015 USTA Junior Team Tennis 14U National Championships, held at the Cayce Tennis Center in Cayce, S.C. on Dec. 3-6.

The 2015 USTA Junior Team Tennis 14U National Championships brought together the top 32 teams (250 players) at intermediate and advanced levels from various USTA Sections throughout the country.

The Mid-Atlantic Advanced team is coached by Erman Tanjuatco and features Daud Gantt-Bey (Washington, D.C.), Langston Williams (College Park, Md.), Mikeal Carpenter (Suitland, Md.), Mya Spencer (Hillcrest Heights, Md.), Rani Jones (New Market, Md.), Rhajzon Rankins (Washington, D.C.) and Yvonne Lopez (Vienna, Va.).

The Mid-Atlantic Intermediate team is coached by Pam Ryan and features Anastasia Ternovskaia (Silver Spring, Md.), Benjamin Horwhat (Rockville, Md.), Christopher Ryan (Brookeville, Md.), Jax Khademi (Chevy Chase, Md.), Michael Kimack (Ellicott City, Md.), Rachel Russell (Cabin John, Md.) and Rebecca Redlich (Potomac, Md.).

The National Championships serves as the crown jewel of USTA Junior Team Tennis as the nation’s top teams compete for the title. Each year the USTA crowns a national champion in two age divisions (14U and 18U) in both the Intermediate and Advanced play divisions.

“I look at the National Championships as a year-end celebration for teams who battled through local play, and then through area, district and section championships,” said Matt Barnhart, National Manager for USTA Junior Team Tennis. “My goal is that one day every player has that type of experience during their local JTT program – fun team-based competition and memories that are made even beyond the court.”

This is the fourth year the Cayce Tennis Center will host to the USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships. In addition, a second tennis facility, the Lexington County Tennis Complex, also will be utilized to serve the hundreds of players competing each weekend.

“We are thrilled to have so many young people and their families coming to our international award-winning tennis and fitness facility in the city of Cayce again this year,” said Cayce Mayor Elise Partin. “Many of our Cayce residents and residents across the Midlands enjoy this facility, and we couldn’t be more pleased to share it with other families across the nation for these upcoming USTA events.”

Established in 1991, USTA Junior Team Tennis provides youth with all of the health and social benefits of tennis in a coed, fun and competitive team environment – all while allowing participants to compete with and against individuals of similar ages and skill levels.

With more than 99,000 players competing nationwide, USTA Junior Team Tennis brings players together to enjoy camaraderie and teamwork, providing a fun environment for kids to learn that succeeding is really more about how they play the game – win or lose.

Visit the USTA Junior Team Tennis website at ustajtt.com for complete results, stories and photos.

The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.