SAN ANGELO, Texas — It has been a fast rise for Cornerstone Christian School junior Grace DeLaughter. Prior to this year, Grace had not played in a singles match up to her junior season.
Her journey to a state championship started out difficult, yet for Grace, even more sacrifice was included in order for her to accomplish a goal she set during her freshman year.
"I did not play basketball this year. I was able to focus specifically on my serve and forehand and backhand and practice more time with tennis, [rather than play] basketball and go straight into it," DeLaughter said.
She is typically a two-sport athlete, but after realizing that for her to be the player she needed to be, it meant going all in. Now, she finds herself ranked within the top 8,000 high school singles players in the nation, after just one year as a full-time tennis athlete.
"I have not been able to play singles [prior to this year]. Then, when I was able to play, I started practicing all year long, I won the Robert Lee tournament, the Big Lake tournament, [en route] then I beat the girl that got second place last year at state," DeLaughter said.
She will now solely focus on improving her game as she approaches her senior year. It is hard to improve much further, coming off a state championship, but she remains determined.
"My plan is to keep practicing hard and keep playing for Jesus," DeLaughter said.
The tennis season may be over for high school students, but young athletes like Grace will look to piggyback off the successes from just one season ago.