The Tribune

BAHAMIAN tennis player Shannon Francis shined bright in the NJCAA tennis play for Prairie State College. 

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is an association of community college and junior college  athletic departments throughout the United States. It is divided into divisions and regions. The current NJCAA holds 24 separate regions. 

Francis and teammates were successful in winning the regional and conference championship.

“My teammates and I had to start our singles with the other team having a 3-0 lead due to the late arrival at the match,” Francis said. “Also we were not allowed to have a warm up so it was a challenge for me because I went down 5-0 in my match.  Then I finally warmed up and won 7 straight games. 

“The second set was a breeze and I am just happy that despite  the other team having a lead my team and I came out with the win.”

Francis’ final singles score was 7-5, 6-1. Francis is a freshman and won the No.3 singles title. On the doubles side, Francis was also instrumental with his teammate Diaz to win 6-2, 6-1.

Also on the tennis beat, Bahamian Dylan Walker, who hails from Eleuthera and attends Missouri Baptist University, was instrumental on his college win in the conference finals. Walker and teammates now head to the Nationals in Alabama, which will be a first in the history of Missouri Baptist University Tennis. 

Walker, a sophomore, had two major comeback wins over Baker.

In the first match Walker dropped the first set 4-6 before coming back to roll 6-0, 6-2.  Picking up his second victory of the day, Walker won 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 . The Bahamian native trailed 2-4 in the third set before coming back to win the final four games.

Walker’s coach said ‘Dylan played like a boss.”

Before this season, Missouri Baptist had only one conference tournament win in programme history. They advanced to the NAIA national tournament for the first time in programme history. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is an athletic association that organises college and university-level athletic programmes among small to mid-size institutions, primarily across the United States but also outside the US. 

As of October 2015, the NAIA reports having 248 member institutions. 

Walker and team are headed to the nationals, which is scheduled for May 17-21 in Mobile, Alabama.

The BLTA and the tennis community congratulate both Francis and Walker, (who have both previously represented their country on a national level), on their excellent tennis play for their respective colleges in conference tournaments and wish them great success as the future looks bright for these two Bahamian tennis athletes.