Electric Duo On The Court

There is a new era of an elite Lakeland tennis duo after Brady Manko, and Brady Hanna clinched a berth at state last year. This season, Brady Hanna has continued his success alongside his doubles partner, Cole Andres. 

Hanna and Andres have received a lot of positive feedback from the community around Lakeland High School and have the most potential out of anybody on the roster. 

“Cole and I both have a competitive fire to us, and I think we can make a run at districts if not state. It would be nice to make it to state for the second straight year. We have to stay together as a team, and we can beat anyone when we play our hearts out”, said Hanna. 

Both boys stressed the importance of league games vs. Sandpoint and Moscow. “It is going to come down to us beating those two schools and continuing our success through districts,” Hanna added.

Andres mentioned, “It is going to be interesting looking at our district matchups and especially Sandpoint, who has a solid program. I placed fourth last year with my partner Ben Ryan and will look to go to state this year. I feel like we have a pretty good chance of winning the district title this year, and a good portion of the team will have a chance to make it to state.”

“We can hit the ball hard, and that’s pretty much exactly what you need to do in tennis. We’re really building up pretty good chemistry so far this season, and we have been and will continue to play hard. Our signature move is the stanky leg,” Andres included. 

Moving forward, many Lakeland students and fellow tennis teammates all attested to the potential that Hanna and Andres have between themselves. 

“Knowing Cole for a while, seeing how he has moved on from hockey and devoted himself to tennis. The team as a whole is very exciting to watch, and I am fortunate to be on the same team as them,” said Zack Roses, a junior tennis player for the Hawks. 

“I see Brady play tennis, and it is something that he really clearly enjoys. Cole and Brady alone are very talented individual players, so putting them on the same team makes a dangerous partnership, and other teams will have to watch out for the two of them,” Roses added.