The LHSAA Division IV state tennis tournament was held at Forsythe Park in Monroe, LA, on April 27th, and with it, local sports history was made. 

When Colton Powell of Quitman High School stepped on the court for his opening round singles match, he became the first ever in Jackson Parish history to compete in a state tennis tournament match as an 8th grader. 

Powell fell to Collin Tullis of First Baptist Christian 6-3, 6-0, but it didn’t put a damper on his history-making season, where he won 6 of the 9 matches he competed in during the regular season that included taking victories over competitors from three schools from higher classifications, including Class 5A West Ouachita. 

Libby Morgan in Division II State Doubles

Jackson Parish has another resident who competed in the LHSAA state tennis tournament, Libby Morgan, who, along with doubles partner Bess Black, reached the quarterfinals of the Division II tournament for Ruston High School. The daughter of Jackson Parish Hospital CEO John Morgan and his wife, Tracey, who is a speech pathologist at Hillcrest Elementary in Ruston, earned the state tournament by finishing as a finalist in the Division II regionals, held in Monroe. 

After winning their first-round match, 6-1, 6-0 against Brown and Bing of St. Scholastica, the duo dispatched Dyson and Thomas of St. Thomas More 6-3, 6-1 to earn the quarterfinal matchup against the #1-ranked doubles team of Capello and Haydel of Vandebilt Catholic, falling 7-6, 6-2 to end their season with a stellar 24-4 record.