First place winners in the 8-9 age group, Giovanni Casillas, left and Sierra Madden advance to the Rapid Rally Tennis Junior Olympic regional qualifier, July 7 in West Sacramento. Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch In the 10-11 age group, from left, Tory Spence (second place), Kelsey McGrath (third), Steven Casillas (second), Justin Maciel (first) and Sarah Daly (first), show their Rapid Rally Tennis ribbons after the May 19 competition. Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch Age 12-13, from left, Allison Bergson took second place, Meghan Daly and Lindsey McGrath tied for first place in their Rapid Rally Tennis age group and Erinn Madden took first in boys. Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger Dispatch

On May 19, the Amador Tennis Club hosted the second annual Rapid Rally tennis competition, with the first place winners in each division advancing to regional competition.

Benita Asher of the Amador Tennis Club said "a dozen budding tennis stars" turned out to try their hand at Rapid Rally Tennis, part of the Junior Olympic Skills competition sponsored by Kellogg's. Rapid Rally tests how well children ages 8-13 can serve a low-compression tennis ball and continue to hit it against a wall above the net line as many times as possible in 30 seconds.

"It was obvious that the competitors had been practicing, because scores were high and errors were low," Asher said. "Several children received three bonus points for hitting the bonus target on their serve."

The medal recipients were:

- Boys 8-9: Giovanni Casillas first place

- Girls 8-9: Sierra Madden first place

- Boys 10-11: Justin Maciel first, Steven Casillas second

- Girls 10-11: Sarah Daly first, Tory Spence second, Kelsey McGrath third

- Boys 12-13: Erinn Madden first

- Girls 12-13: Lindsey McGrath and Meghan Daly first (tie), Allison Bergson second

The first place finishers in each category now have until July 7 to sharpen their skills for the regional Rapid Rally competition in West Sacramento, Asher said. Winners at regionals will then have their scores ranked with thousands of competitors from across the nation to determine who will earn an all-expenses paid trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., for the national championships at the Olympic Training Center.

"Last year, Jackson's own Sarah Daly earned a silver medal at nationals and she is on a repeat path this year, earning her second trip to regionals," Asher said.

Amador Tennis Club hosted this year's Rapid Rally Tennis, the second annual competition. For more information on local tennis activities, see the club's Web site at www.amadortennisclub.org or call 257-1208.