Orange Grove junior Freitag qualifies for state in tennis, track

Orange Grove junior Rylee Freitag is headed to state in two different sports, a rare run that will send one of Jim Wells County’s top student-athletes from San Antonio to Austin in the span of a week. Freitag qualified for the UIL Class 3A state tennis tournament and the UIL Class 3A state track meet in the same school year, a feat that puts Orange Grove High School on a bigger stage in both tennis and relay racing.

Freitag will open her state stretch at the UIL State Tennis Tournament on Thursday and Friday, May 7-8, at Annemarie Tennis Center in San Antonio. Play begins at 8 a.m. both days. One week later, she will return to Austin for the UIL Track & Field State Meet, set for Thursday through Saturday, May 14-16, at Mike A. Myers Track & Soccer Stadium. For Class 3A and 4A, field events begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, and running events start at 5 p.m.

On the track, Freitag will anchor Orange Grove’s 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams, two squads that broke school records this spring. The Lady Bulldogs posted a 48.99 in the 400 relay and a 1:45.46 in the 800 relay, marks that gave the program a measurable standard as it heads into the state meet. Orange Grove’s 4x200 relay finished eighth at state last year, giving this year’s qualifiers a direct benchmark against the best in Texas.

Freitag also earned high-point individual honors at the area meet while competing in five events, then broke the school record in triple jump during her first season in the event. That kind of workload separates a good athlete from one who can handle the pace of a state-caliber schedule. It also explains why her coach, Virginia Parsons, described Freitag as resilient and phenomenal.

Tennis has offered a different kind of pressure, but the same results. Freitag and partner Lilley Spitzer were alternates a year ago before coming back this season and finishing second at regionals to earn their spot in San Antonio. Freitag said her friendship and chemistry with Spitzer helped them on the court and in practice, a reminder that Orange Grove’s success is built as much on trust and repetition as raw talent.

The University Interscholastic League, created by The University of Texas at Austin in 1910, governs both meets. For Orange Grove, Freitag’s double qualification is more than a personal milestone. It is a sign that a small-town program in Jim Wells County can still produce athletes disciplined enough to compete at state in two very different arenas at once.