TOPEKA — The 84th edition of the Jayhawk Open tournament begins on Friday. The annual tennis tournament is held at Kossover Tennis Center and there is a wide variety of talent that will compete for the title.
The championship matches for the Jayhawk Open are slated for Sunday. The women’s open singles final will begin at 11 a.m. and the men’s singles will start at 1 p.m. The men’s open doubles division final has a start time of 3:30 p.m.
There are 40 players entered into the men’s open singles division and eight players in the women’s open division. 10 different states are represented among these 48 players.
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The winner on the men’s side will receive a $1,000 prize and the runner-up will earn $500. Due to the small amount of competitions on the female side, they will be playing for half of the prize money as the men.
Several local Topekans will be playing in this year’s Jayhawk Open. Dylan Dodge, a recent graduate of Washburn Rural, will be a part of the field. Keegan Knutdson, a 2022 Washburn Rural alum, will be joining Dodge.
Four players from Washburn University will be a part of the men’s competition. Mason Fair, Graham Faris and Daniel Harkin will be participating after a successful season with the Ichabods.
Matthew Earle will also be competing this weekend. The rising junior for Washburn was a part of the Ichabods’ roster that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Division II National Championships. Earle, who hails from Dublin, Ireland, will be in the competition for this year’s Jayhawk Open.
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On the women’s side, Maja Jung, a recent graduate of Washburn, will be competing. Jung is the reigning NCAA Central Region Senior Player of the Year. Her production this season helped Washburn reach the NCAA National Championships for a third consecutive season.
Along with Jung, all seven of her competitors in the field are college tennis players. Nebraska’s Maria Taranova, Wichita State’s Ting-Ya Hsu and Theodora Chantava make up the NCAA Division I athletes. Baker’s Dayna Steadman and Barton Community College’s Hailey Vinroe add to the competitive field.
Lastly, 2023 Seaman graduate and current Missouri-St. Louis’ Lauren Sweeney will be in the tournament. Janae Montoya, a recent graduate of Salina Central, will be playing. Montoya will be playing college tennis at Fort Hayes State next season.
Liam Keating covers high school sports for The Topeka Capital-Journal. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka-area talent surrounds the 84th Jayhawk Open this weekend
