Colin Cabrera loves tennis. It is his primary sport in high school, and the one he says he hopes to play in college.
But another sport challenges him more than the one played on a court. That’s biking. Last month, Cabrera completed a one week, 170 mile mountain biking ride that started in Leadville, Colorado – over 10,000 feet above sea level.
“My lungs burned. It’s definitely harder to breathe,” Cabrera said. “Climbing hills doesn’t feel as easy. You need to conserve energy.”
When you spend the summer completing activities like that, tennis feels easy, and Cabrera showed that this season.
The Gainesville High junior didn’t lose to a local opponent all season.
“It felt good to be able to show my skills and play well and prove it,” Cabrera said.
He eventually reached the region final. GHS lost its match, but Cabrera won his. Still, his season ended one short of states, which Cabrera said leaves a taste of revenge in his mouth for his senior season.
“Just keeping training, improving my game, and hopefully I can take down the top guys to make it,” Cabrera said.
As his love of biking indicates, Cabrera enjoys spending time outdoors. In addition to cycling, he swims. He says both makes him better at tennis.
“Swimming develops the shoulders, and tennis you use a lot of your shoulders,” Cabrera said. “Biking, you use your legs and tennis you need your legs for bending your knees and footwork.”
After his phenomenal season, Cabrera is our Boys Tennis Player of the Year. He leads a team of 10 players (five first and five second) from four schools across the Gainesville-area.
Congratulations to all those selected!
Gainesville Sun Spring 2026 All-Area Boys Tennis First Team
Asher Case, P.K. Yonge
Barret Mitchell, Buchholz
Colin Cabrera, Gainesville High
Logan Ossi, Gainesville High
Wesson Kail, P.K. Yonge
Gainesville Sun Spring 2026 All-Area Boys Tennis Second Team
Andrew Yan, Gainesville High
Declan Ossi, P.K. Yonge
Jake Taylor, P.K. Yonge
Kevin Liu, Eastside
Sam Dirian, Eastside
Coach of the Year: David Porter, Gainesville High/P.K. Yonge
Porter holds a claim that no other coach of the year for the Spring 2026 season has. No. it’s not that he won a state championship, but instead that he coached two teams this season.
Yes, you read that right. Porter helmed the boys tennis teams at Gainesville High and P.K. Yonge, and he led both to success. The Blue Wave reached states as a team, and the Hurricanes made it to the region final. Seven of the 10 all-area selectees came from the two schools.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram – Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville High’s Colin Cabrera leads the Sun’s All-Area Boys Tennis team
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
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By Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
