Fenwick senior has full weekend slate

Damania set to play in state tennis tourney and graduate from high school.

MIDDLETOWN — It’s been quite a month for Fenwick High School tennis player Rahul Damania.

In the past few weeks, the senior has been named prom king, accepted into an accelerated medical school program and on Friday, May 28, he’ll compete at the state tennis tournament and graduate from Fenwick.

Before he graduates with his classmates Friday night at St. Susanna Church in Mason, Damania will take the court in the morning at the Division II state tennis tournament at Ohio State University’s Stickney Tennis Center in Columbus.

“It’s made senior year end on a really good note,” Damania said Tuesday after wrapping up his last senior exam.

The berth at the state tennis tournament is particularly gratifying to Damania, who finished fourth at last week’s district tournament to earn the trip. The previous three years, his season ended at districts, one step shy of state.

“I’m excited but I’m also a little bit nervous just because I haven’t played on those courts. It might be a little overwhelming,” Damania said. “But I know that a lot of my friends are coming, my parents (Chet and Seema) are coming and my coaches will be there. Hopefully that will ease the nerves of being on the big stage.”

Because he finished fourth at districts, Damania (16-5) will face a district champion — Colin Bernier of Canton Central Catholic — in the first round.

“My expectation is to play every point as hard as I can,” said Damania, a West Chester Twp. resident. “I like to really go down to the smallest aspect of things and tackle it from there. This is my last year so I might as well play every point out as hard as I can and maintain that focus.”

Maintaining focus hasn’t been a problem for Damania, who carries a 4.1 grade-point average while juggling school and athletics.

Damania, who wants to be a doctor, recently was accepted into Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. The program at NEOUCOM combines an undergraduate degree and medical school into six years. Out of 800 applicants, only 35 were accepted into the program, he said.

Damania said the focus needed for academics and tennis is very similar.

“In tennis you have to train your mind to be tough for an extended period of time,” he said. “I just had exams and you have to do the same thing. You can get the first 10 questions right, but if you get the last 30 questions wrong, you still fail. It really translates. I attribute a lot of what I am today to tennis.”