Utah State freshman sets tennis record
Utah State men’s tennis success this year can be partially credited to an unlikely source, true freshman Jaime Barajas.
The Utah State men’s tennis team is ranked No. 66 in the nation and first in the Mountain West. The Aggies have a 16-7 record and are 4-1 in conference play.
Jaime Barajas attended high school at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California.
According to Barajas’ high school coach Mike Lannom, the one thing that set Barajas aside from others on his team was his leadership.
“He’s very generous about sharing his talents with the younger players,” Lannom said. “He was like an assistant coach to me. He was an awesome kid, and he’s been missed.”
Barajas occupied the Conquistadors’ number one spot in the line up all four years of high school.
“He’s just a real competitor,” Lannom said. “He doesn’t lose. He just fights.”
In 2013, Barajas won the City singles championship. Barajas followed up his championship season with an undefeated regular season his senior year.
Barajas is only a freshman, but what he lacks in experience, he makes up for with success. On March 20, Barajas won his 23rd match of the season against San Fransisco, breaking the school record for wins in a single season.
Utah State head coach Clancy Shields credits Barajas’ success to his work ethic.
“He’s the ultimate competitor,” Shields said. “The day he got here, he was 8 or 9 in the lineup. He worked his tail off every single day. He listens to the coaches. He does exactly what we tell him to do, and now he’s the winningest player in Utah State history.”
Shields views Barajas’ record-breaking year as motivation for his teammates to improve.
“He has set the bar this year, and next year everybody is going to try to knock that off,” Shields said. “That’s something that we really encourage, being competitive and being competitive with each other. It’s great for the program.”
With Barajas leading the way, the future of Utah State tennis looks promising.
“We’re going to have a good team,” Barajas said. “We’re young. We’re still getting better, and we haven’t reached the level that we want to be yet.”
With the exception of seniors Marcus Fritz and Matt Sweet, the roster is comprised solely of freshman and sophomores.
“There’s a bright future for the program,” Shields said. “Anytime you have somebody who is that successful as a freshman, you start to think that this program can be really good in the future.
“We beat the No. 42 team in the country, and we’re all freshman and sophomores. So think of how good we will be in 2 to 3 years when they’re all juniors and seniors. Having a young guy lead the team like that is awesome, but in the whole scheme of things we’re all young.”
Barajas is currently sitting on a 24-8 record for the year. With three more matches and the Mountain West tournament ahead of him, Barajas looks to improve his historic first season at Utah State.
— joebaraiolo@gmail.com
Twitter: @joefish_2