Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Nolan, Weeks wind down a memorable partnership
When Steven Weeks was an eighth-grader, he received a text from Henry Nolan asking him whether he would be interested in being his doubles partner at Little Rock Catholic during their freshman year.
It’s a pairing that’s been dominate from the start.
Win or lose today, Nolan and Weeks will wrap up an impressive high school career at the boys Overall tennis tournament, which is being held at the Burns Park Tennis Complex in North Little Rock.
The two LR Catholic seniors have won the past four state doubles titles and are two victories away from earning their third consecutive Overall title. They are 17-0 for the Rockets this year.
“It’s definitely the easygoing chemistry we have,” said Nolan, explaining why the two have made for such an impressive team. “We don’t get nervous. We never get mad at each other. And we always know what each other is going to do. We’re always in sync.”
“If I’m down, he’s really good at encouraging me,” Weeks said.
“He’s good at keeping our thoughts all tied together. We’ve known each other for 10 years, so we have a good connection.”
As diminutive freshmen, the duo won the 7A-Central Conference title but were forced to face a pair of 6-foot-plus foes from Springdale HarBer in the state quarterfinals. The team from Har-Ber won the first set 7-5 and led in the second set.
“We started talking to each other a little bit more, and after we won a couple of games the confidence just grew,” Weeks said. “It was a very memorable tournament.”
“(Har-Ber) was really good, and it was a really good match,” Nolan said. “They were both close to 6-5, and I was 4-10 and Steven was 5-2. When we shook their hands at the end of the match, I was at their waists looking up at them.”
Two matches later, Nolan and Weeks claimed the first of their four state titles.
“Honestly, we thought we could be partners for a long time,” Weeks said. “We knew then we would stick it out to the very end. Now that it’s actually happened, it’s weird that I saw that my freshman year. It went by fast.”
Nolan and Weeks started their final Overall campaign with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over the team of Chris Carico and A.J. VanLear of Bergman on Monday afternoon. Standing in their way of reaching today’s 1 p.m. finals is a match with rivals Phillip Abston and Zandy Djurica of Little Rock Central, the team Nolan and Weeks defeated in last week’s Class 6A finals.
Jonesboro’s Tristan Cato and Cole Spainhauer, and Pulaski Academy’s Jack Lewis and Tyler Angtuaco will play in the other semifinal.
Weeks, who says he plans to major in business at the University of Arkansas, TCU or the University of Oklahoma, said he considers Nolan the leader of the team.
Nolan, who has listed Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, the University of Virginia and SMU as his top choices for a major in economics, said Weeks is an equal partner.
“Steven keeps me steady, and I keep him pumped up,” Nolan said.
“I have a little more energy, I think. He’s a little more calm. It works both ways for sure. There’s a very good balance between us.”
Defending singles champion Foster Rogers of Pulaski Academy, a 6-0, 6-0 quarterfinal winner over Riverview’s Andrew Hill, will face Hayden Shoemake of Bentonville West in the semifinals. Seth Hernandez of Baptist Prep and Christian Greer of Joe T. Robinson will play in the other semifinal.