By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
The Union City girls’ tennis team brought home the top prize from the Jackson Invitational Friday.
The Lady Tornadoes won all three of their matches in the Gold Varsity Division, beating Jackson Christian School, St. Mary’s, and then avenging an earlier loss to Trinity Christian Academy with a victory over the Lions in the championship round.
UC improved to 8-2 with the stellar effort.
Due to the threat of rain on Saturday, the two-day tourney was condensed into one marathon day on Friday. All matches before the finals were played to a set of four.
The UC boys went 1-2 in the competition, beating Brighton in the final round. The Lady Twister jayvee team won one of four matches.
Union City is scheduled to play at USJ on Tuesday.
2025 Jackson Invitational
Union City High School – Girls Gold Division (Varsity)
First Round – Union City 7, Jackson Christian 0
Girls Singles
Davey Frankum (UC) defeated Katie Hooper (JC) 4-2
Dani Frankum (UC) defeated Sara Blankenship (JC) 4-2
Bertie Jenkins (UC) defeated Claire Thomas (JC) 4-2
Allie Vincent (UC) defeated Willow Donavant (JC) 4-2
Lexi Petty (UC) defeated Anniston Vanwynk (JC) 4-2
Josie Ross (UC) defeated Addison Dewitt (JC) 4-0
Girls Doubles
Frankum/Frankum (UC) v Hooper/Vanwynk (JC) – Clinch rule applied/Match not completed
Jenkins/Ross (UC) defeated Blankenship/Dewitt (JC) 4-0
Vincent/Petty (UC) defeated Thomas/Donavant (JC) 4-2
Second Round – Union City 5, St. Mary’s 2
Girls Singles
Davey Frankum (UC) defeated Isabella Tambarrins (SM) 5-4 (tiebreak 7-1)
Dani Frankum (UC) defeated Amreta Patel (SM) 5-3
Bertie Jenkins (UC) lost to Lyla Furlons (SM) 1-4
Allie Vincent (UC) defeated Kylin Menard (SM) 5-4 (tiebreak 7-4)
Lexi Petty (UC) defeated Tracy Zhang (SM) 4-1
Josie Ross (UC) lost to Wallis Rogin (SM) 2-4
Girls Doubles
Frankum/Frankum (UC) defeated Tambarrino/Furlins (SM) 5-3
Jenkins/Ross (UC) lost to Zhang/Rogin (SM) 2-4
Vincent/Petty (UC) defeated Menard/Patel (SM) 5-4 (tiebreak 7-3)
Third Round “Championship Match” – Union City 5, Trinity Christian Academy 2
Girls Singles
Davey Frankum (UC) lost to Tori Robinson (TCA) 1-6
Dani Frankum (UC) defeated Mary Cleek (TCA) 6-4
Bertie Jenkins (UC) defeated Izzie Castles (TCA) 6-0
Allie Vincent (UC) lost to Emma Smith (TCA) 3-6
Lexi Petty (UC) defeated Emma Orr (TCA) 6-0
Josie Ross (UC) defeated Annie Payne (TCA) 6-1
Girls Doubles
Frankum/Frankum (UC) lost to Robinson/Cleek (TCA) 2-6
Jenkins/Ross (UC) defeated Castles/Smith (TCA) 6-1
Vincent/Petty (UC) defeated BK Lovelace/Edie Allen (TCA) 6-3
Union City High School – Girls JV South Division
First Round – St. Mary’s 4, Union City 2
Girls Singles
Briley Kate McKinney (UC) lost to Bela Phillips (SM) 3-5
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Helen Garrett (SM) 4-2
Stella Turner (UC) defeated Lawson Kemmer (SM) 4-0
Maddie Bailey (UC) lost to Margaret Fore (SM) 2-5
Clare Atwill (UC) lost to Asa Lado (SM) 0-4
Girls Doubles
McKinney/Rice (UC) winning against Phillips/Garrett (SM) 3-1 (Match stopped due to clinch rule)
Turner/Bailey (UC) lost to Caroline Wallace/Kemmer (SM) 0-4
Second Round – University School of Nashville 5, Union City 1
Girls Singles
Briley Kate McKinney (UC) lost to Mary Kate Adler (USN) 0-4
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Agnes Mclemore (USN) 4-2
Stella Turner (UC) lost to Yvonne Wong (USN) 4-5 (tiebreak 4-7)
Maddie Bailey (UC) lost to Ave Shah (USN) 1-4
Clare Atwill (UC) lost to Madeline Shinahara (USN) 2-4
Girls Doubles
McKinney/Rice (UC) lost to Adler/Wong (USN) 2-4
Turner/Bailey (UC) lost to Mclemore/Shinahara (USN) 1-4
Third Round – Union City 6, University School of Jackson 0
Girls Singles
Briley Kate McKinney (UC) defeated Diya Petal (USJ) 4-0
Emma Jane Rice (UC) defeated Reese Scott (USJ) 4-1
Stella Turner (UC) defeated Lola AgBetayin (USJ) 4-0
Maddie Bailey (UC) defeated Jill Johnson (USJ) 4-1
Clare Atwill (UC) defeated Elizabeth Barnes (USJ) 5-3
Girls Doubles
McKinney/Rice (UC) defeated Aarna Mehta/Petal (USJ) 4-0
Turner/Bailey (UC) defeated Josie Carney/Scott (USJ) 4-1
Fourth Round – Collierville 6, Union City 0
Girls Singles
Briley Kate McKinney (UC) lost to Lilly VanFleet (C) 0-4
Emma Jane Rice (UC) lost to Paige Devries (C) 0-4
Stella Turner (UC) lost Sarah Stewart (C) 2-4
Maddie Bailey (UC) lost to Cherish Li (C) 1-4
Clare Atwill (UC) lost to Catherine Leslie (C) 0-4
Girls Doubles
McKinney/Rice (UC) lost to VanFleet/ Stewart (C) 1-4
Turner/Bailey (UC) lost to Manasi Lesmai/Celina Xu (C) 1-4
Union City High School – Boys Gold Division (Varsity)
First Round – Collierville 6, Union City 0
Boys Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) lost to Aarush Ravichandran (C) 1-4
Byron Abbott (UC) lost to Shun Hafez (C) 1-4
Foster Rodgers (UC) lost to Justin Tien (C) 1-4
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) lost to Aroon Singha (C) 3-5
Camden Dawkins (UC) lost to Mekhi Blakemore (C) 2-4
Boys Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) lost to Tien/ Singha (C) 2-4
Rodgers/Tohn (UC) lost to Blakemore/Nolan (C) 1-4
–
Second Round – Chester County 5, Union City 1
Boys Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) lost to Lane Paton (CC) 0-4
Byron Abbott (UC) lost to Luke Melton (CC) 0-4
Foster Rodgers (UC) lost to Raiden Harvey (CC) 2-4
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) lost to Brady Wells (CC) 3-5
Camden Dawkins (UC) lost to Jack Rudder (CC) 1-4
Boys Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) defeated Paton/Melton (CC) 4-2
Rodgers/Tohn (UC) defeated Harvey/Wells (CC) 6-5 (7-5)
Third Round – Union City 4, Brighton 2
Boys Singles
Kobe Kirk (UC) lost to Landon Marrs (B) 6-8
Byron Abbott (UC) defeated Brody Ross (B) 8-2
Foster Rodgers (UC) lost to Brady Temple (B) 3-8
Paul Martin Tohn (UC) defeated Jeffery Ni (B) 8-1
Camden Dawkins (UC) defeated Bryan Glass (B) 8-1
Boys Doubles
Kirk/Abbott (UC) defeated Marrs/Ross (B) 6-3
Rodgers/Tohn (UC) defeated Temple/Ni (B) 6-1
HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
UC 5, Dyersburg 2
The Lady Tornadoes ran their winning streak to four in a row and improved to 6-3 on the season with a solid showing at D’burg.
Addison Carr, Hadley Smith, and Kylie Mayes each went 2-for-4 to pace Union City offensively, with Mayes smacking a triple and Car and Smith hitting doubles. Ari Gear knocked in two of the Lady Twisters’ runs, and Mayes scored twice.
Smith picked up her third pitching win in five decisions, going the distance with just five hits and no earned runs allowed. She was backed by solid defense, as UC made just one error in the contest.
Union City swings back into District 14A play on Monday with a home game against Gleason at 5 p.m.
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Carlisle Co. 11, UC 0
A disastrous first inning that saw CC put eight runs ended the Tornadoes’ play in the L.H. Ladd Memorial Tournament on Friday.
The Twisters (9-6) will open a two-game District 14A series against South Fulton on the road on Monday before playing the Red Devils at home on Tuesday.
UC was blanked while collecting just four singles Friday by the Comets.
Sam Jones had two of those knocks, while Troy Joslin and Logan Vincent collected the others.
Ben Howell was the losing pitcher.
MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK
Both Union City teams finished a respectable fifth out of eight schools in Friday’s Calloway County Invitational.
The UC boys totaled 78 points, while the Twister girls accumulated 47.
A number of Tornado boys and girls posted personal-best times, according to head coach Chris Palmer, who deemed himself pleased with the overall effort of his squad.
B.J. Boyd won the 100 meters, while the quartet of Boyd, Kinydee Taylor, Amar McCoy, and Ayden Puckett claimed first in the 4X100 and 4X200 relay races.
Ella Jean Hayes highlighted the Union City girls’ effort with a second-place showing in the discus. Adriee Christ was runner-up in the shot put.
UC will host a Quad Meet on Thursday at 4:15.
Boys:
100M:
1st Place: BJ Boyd 11.71 PR
4th Place: Ayden Puckett 13.29
200M:
5th Place: Ayden Puckett 27.49
Jayce Mitchell 29.57 PR
400M:
5th Place: Matvii Kostanian 1:04.18 PR
Sam Kissell 1:08.48 PR
Kade Clanton 1:08.97 PR
Ricky Pocernich 1:09.75 PR
800M:
4th Place: Matvii Kostanian 2:36.97 PR
Cooper Waggoner 2:43.13 PR
1600M:
Sam Kissell 5:57.50 PR
Ricky Pocernich 6:05.19 PR
4X100M Relay:
1st Place: Kinydee Taylor, Amar McCoy, Ayden Puckett, BJ Boyd 50.24
4X200M Relay:
1st Place: Kinydee Taylor, Amar McCoy, Ayden Puckett, BJ Boyd 1:43.00
3rd Place: Jayce Mitchell, Cooper Waggoner, RJ Wilson, Isaiah Puckett 1:56.15
4X400M Relay:
3rd Place: Cooper Waggoner, Jayce Mitchell, Ricky Pocernich, Matvii Kostanian 11:46.54
Discus:
4th Place: Zaven Thompson 102-03 PR
Shot:
4th Place: Zaven Thompson 37-06.25 PR
5th Place: Keiron Mosley 35-05.25
7th Place: Jorge Escobar 33-07.00
Malakii Bernard 29-11.75 PR
Girls
400M:
McKinley Dean 1:24.42 PR
800M:
Cyler Collier 3:42.33 PR
1600M:
Stella Graham 7:10.94 PR
Discus:
2nd Place: Ella Jean Hayes 68-11 PR
3rd Place: Aubrii Ross 67-10 PR
4th Place KiKi Sneed 62-01 PR
Shot Put:
2nd Place: Adriee Christ 30-02.50 PR
6th Place: Ella Jean Hayes 26-06.00 PR
7th Place: Aubrii Ross 26-01.00 PR