Northwest Herald Athletes of the Week: Prairie Ridge’s Cole Palese and Tim Jones

Name: Cole Palese, jr., and Tim Jones, so.

School: Prairie Ridge

Sport: Tennis

Why they were selected: Palese and Jones had the best finish in school history at the Class 1A state boys tennis tournament, placing fifth at doubles with a 6-1 record over three days. Palese and Jones defeated Urbana University’s Swapnil Kumar and Mason Maio 6-2, 6-1 in the consolation semifinals to keep their tournament alive and knocked off Herrin’s Michael Cagle and Keegan Weber 6-1, 6-1 in the fifth-place match.

The lone loss for Palese and Jones came in the quarterfinals. The Wolves’ duo became the first from their school to win a state medal in boys tennis. Prairie Ridge took third in the final team standings, adding junior Jacob Kims’ 6-2 performance at singles.

For their performance, Palese and Jones were selected as the Northwest Herald Athletes of the Week in an online vote. Here is their Q&A with sports writer Alex Kantecki.

What will you remember most about the state tournament?

Palese: The experience was amazing, and the atmosphere was super energetic and competitive. I will remember the hard work and dedication that went into the weekend. The best part was accomplishing something we didn’t think was possible. And it was great to have Jacob Kim do so amazing. All three of us got to share the experience.

Jones: The thing I’ll remember most about the state tournament is the award ceremony and ecstasy of receiving the fifth-place medals for doubles and the third-place medal for our team placement.

What does the accomplishment of placing fifth mean to you?

Palese: History, this means history. Our boys tennis program has never had a fifth-place finisher or third place overall as a team. This also means all of our hard work this season has paid off. Doing this with Tim was really special.

Jones: The accomplishment of getting fifth means a lot, but I want more. It was a great season with Cole, but the goal is to do better next year.

How did you improve as a doubles team over the course of the season?

Palese: We improved after a couple of tough losses and would always go find a tennis court and work on what didn’t go well in the match. What makes us a strong doubles team is our ability to play in sync, our aggressiveness and ability to start fast.

Jones: I really refined my volleys and returns and Cole helped me improve my overall doubles play greatly.

Who are some of the professional players you most enjoy watching?

Palese: I enjoy watching Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Jones: I really like watching Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe with the electricity they bring to their matches.

What sport that you don’t play would you be good at?

Palese: I think I would be good at volleyball. A lot of the spiking and serving motions are the same as tennis.

Jones: The rest of my team doesn’t believe me, but I would be a great cross country runner.

What was your favorite class this year?

Palese: My favorite class was U.S. History with Mr. Terharr.

Jones: My favorite class was chemistry because I had many friends in the class and cool teachers.