ROCKINGHAM — Having one of the best weeks of her high school playing career, a member of the girls’ tennis team is next up in The Richmond Observer’s weekly feature series of the 2024-25 school year.
Madison Grimes, a senior tennis player at Richmond Senior High School, has been named the Official Richmond County Female Student-Athlete of the Week presented by Rockingham NC Self Storage.
Two home matches for the Lady Raiders last week resulted in a 1-1 record, but Grimes did her part in singles and doubles to contribute to the team’s effort.
With her selection this week, Grimes earned her first career recognition.
Athletic Profile: Madison Grimes
Year: Senior
Fall sport: Tennis
Position: No. 3 Player
Varsity Experience: 4 seasons
Senior Madison Grimes, returning a shot against Southern Lee, was perfect in four matches last week. (Kyle Pillar/The Richmond Observer)
“CLASSROOM CREDITS” MADISON GRIMES
While handing her opponents a lot of zeros in the score column last week, Grimes does the opposite when it comes to her schoolwork.
Nearly a month into her senior year, Grimes is balancing dual enrollment classes while playing tennis.
She’s earned an A average in all of her classes since ninth grade and currently has a 4.59 weighted grade point average.
This semester, Grimes is taking Biology 110 and Psychology 150 at Richmond Community College and three classes at Richmond — Annual Production Honors, Economics and Personal Finance Honors and English IV Honors.
Grimes is involved in the Senior Senate, National Beta Club and National Honor Society.
“UNDEFEATED” WITH MADISON GRIMES
During the Lady Raiders’ two home matches last week, they took one win and suffered one loss. Grimes, however, was the lone member of the team to go undefeated.
Grimes padded her season record with two victories in singles play and two more wins in doubles action with partner Jentry Denson.
Starting with Scotland High School, a 5-4 team win, Grimes earned an 8-3 win over Rhea Truesdell in the No. 3 singles bout.
Grimes’ largest contribution in the match came With Denson in the No. 2 doubles pairing, which ultimately decided the match. Facing Truesdell and Lillie Rankin, the two won 8-2 to ice the win.
Two days later, the Lady Raiders suffered a close 5-4 defeat to Southern Lee High School. Again, with the help of Denson, Grimes notched two more wins.
She started the match as one of just two Richmond players to collect a singles win. No. 3 Grimes defeated Brooke Burris in a close 8-6 contest.
Running away with their doubles match, Grimes and Denson quieted Burris and Quillen Petrarca 8-3 in the No. 2 match.
The Lady Raiders (2-3, 2-3 SAC) play at home three times this week, starting with Pinecrest High School Tuesday at 4 p.m.
“RAPID RESPONSE VIDEO” WITH MADISON GRIMES
The Richmond Observer will publish its Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week soon.
Sports editor’s note: The writer of this article is Grimes’ annual production teacher.
