More Tennis

Coconut Grove’s Chanelle Van Nguyen, a UCLA tennis player, remained on the West Coast this summer, missing the USTA Florida Section’s annual US Open Playoffs tournament.

But the 19-year-old made her alternate route to possibly qualifying for the US Open main draw count when she won the mixed doubles title at the US Open Playoffs-Southern California tournament in Claremont, Calif.

Partnering 18-year-old Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont, Calif., the duo defeated current USC standout Kaitlyn Christian and 2012 US Open Playoffs-Southern California men’s singles winner Dante Cipulli 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in the final.

Van Nguyen has played in the junior US Open twice and lists playing on stadium court at the US Open as her greatest thrill.

The 5-foot-2 Miami-born rising UCLA junior and her partner will compete at the US Open National Playoffs Mixed Doubles Championships during the WTA New Haven Open at Yale in August. The national mixed doubles champions will receive a main draw wildcard into the 2013 US Open.

The US Open National Playoffs is a series of tournaments that gives any player, 14 or older, who meets the eligibility requirements, the opportunity to qualify for the 2013 US Open. Thirteen USTA sections run Sectional Qualifying Tournaments to include a men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles division between April 1 and July 4.

• Last month the No.7-seeded UCLA women fell in the NCAA Division I semifinals to No.3 Texas A&M, with a cramping Van Nguyen losing a heartbreaking deciding match at No.4 singles in three sets.

Carol City football

Carol City High School edged Miami Jackson High School, 28-21, in a thrilling matchup that featured two of Miami-Dade County’s premier teams to win the sixth annual Miami Dolphins Academy 7-on-7 High School Football Tournament, presented by Under Armour and the National Guard at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.

The Chiefs made a crucial fourth down stop with 47 seconds remaining to win the title and will represent South Florida and the Miami Dolphins in the 2013 HSPD National Championship July 11-14 in Cleveland.

“You talk about a fourth down play, just seconds on the clock and a chance to go to Cleveland. You probably had three or four guys giving a great effort trying to knock the ball down,” first-year Carol City head coach Aubrey Hill said. “Great effort is going to give you a chance to win games, and that was an example on that play.”

Carol City bested a field of more than 50 schools from the tri-county area during the three-day event. Carol City advanced to the championship game after defeating Boyd Anderson in the quarterfinals and Miramar in the semifinals.

“It feels good representing South Florida and putting our school on the map,” Carol City quarterback Trayon Gray said. “We came out on top, and it feels real good.”

The event began with the HSPD Symposium at Nova Southeastern University in Davie. It focused on character development and life skills training. A variety of guest speakers, including Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland, Dolphins Youth Programs Director Twan Russell, Dolphins long snapper John Denney, Dolphins team physician Dr. Gautam Yagnik and Under Armour’s George Hegamin, gave the students practical life lessons and advice aimed to help them as they enter adulthood.