Thea aims for strong finish

Thea Minor will play her last season with New Mexico Military Institute this spring before moving up to NCAA Division II school Henderson State University. (New Mexico Military Institute)

Former CNMI top junior tennis player Thea Minor wants to go out with a bang as she plays her final season with the New Mexico Military Institute in the Division 1 of the National Junior College Athletics Association.

“I wish that my team will be in the Top 5 in the nationals. That will be a great accomplishment in my last season with the Broncos as the team have never been ranked that high,” said Minor, who will suit up for New Mexico for the last time this spring season as she will be moving up to NCAA Division II next school year after getting a full scholarship from Henderson State University.

Minor and the Broncos will begin their campaign for the spring season on Feb. 12 via the Collin College Super Six at Plano, Texas. The tournament will be played for two weekends with the second week schedule for Feb. 19 and 20.

Next month, Minor will be participating in three tournaments, including the one against her next team. She and teammates Lorraine Banimataku of Vanuatu, Amanda Hawkins of the Federated States of Micronesia, and Lorish Puluspene of Papua New Guinea will compete in the West Texas Shootout that will run from March 9 to 13 in Abilence, Texas.

Then on March 27, Minor will collide with her future teammates at Henderson in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, while on March 31, the Dan O’Connell-coached Broncos will visit Seminole, Oklahoma to challenge Seminole Challenge.

Seminole will also host Minor and company on April 1 and 2 for the SSC Trojan Dual Match Classic, but the Broncos’ foes have yet to be determined, while on April 8, they will duel Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. On April 9, New Mexico will have two games, with the first one against Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, and the second versus Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona.

Minor will see action in one more tournament on April 16 and 17 in Plano Texas before the regionals, which will be hosted by Collin College on April 22 and 23. After the regionals, the Broncos will square off against University of Southeast on May 2 in Hobbs, New Mexico.

If the Broncos make the grade in the regionals and advance to the nationals, they will head to Murphy Tennis Center in Tyler, Texas for the NJCAA D1 Championship that will take place from May 7 to 13.

“I don’t really have a specific tournament I would want to win. Every match is important and I will try to win as many as I can. I would definitely want to do well in regionals and nationals,” Minor said.

The Saipan Southern High School graduate made it to the nationals of both the spring and fall seasons last year. Minor and Banimataku were ranked No. 10 in the doubles in their division and the former finished at No. 26 in the singles last fall season, a big leap from her No. 43 ranking in the spring season last year.

Minor has rejoined the Broncos’ training sessions early last month after spending the yuletide season in Europe and is working doubly hard on her service game to prepare for the upcoming tournaments.

“We are doing more match plays and physical training and my serve is one of the things I have been trying to improve on because it is one of the most important things you need to win a match,” the 20-year old athlete said.