Two students who began their high school athletic careers on the Highland Park High School tennis team and transferred to Plano's Spring Creek Academy recently signed on to play tennis at Division I schools.
Peggy Porter is committed to play tennis at the University of Florida, and John Mee will play for the University of Texas.
Anne-Marie Mee, John's mother, said the two friends and players "made a very large impact at Highland Park, playing line 1 and 2 as freshmen on the high school team." The students have played professional tournaments and participated in the Junior U.S. Open.
Porter moved to Spring Creek Academy from HPHS to play tennis more competitively and recently won the Easter Bowl doubles tournament for girls under 18 as well as the sportsmanship award, her mother Caroline Porter Talbot said.
"In October, [Peggy] played the USTA (United States Tennis Association) Clay Court Collegiate Championship and won singles, beating players from Texas Tech, A&M, Arizona State and the University of Florida," Caroline said.
Additionally, Peggy has been nominated for the Bill Talbert Award, the sportsmanship award for junior tennis in the U.S., and she is currently ranked eighth in the U.S. in her age division. She just signed on with the University of Florida to play tennis on a full scholarship starting this fall.
Now, let's talk about John Mee. A Park Cities native, Mee went all the way through the Highland Park school system, starting at Hyer and transferring from HPHS to Spring Creek Academy his sophomore year so that he could have more flexibility to travel for tennis.
He's been training for tennis since age ten and has found himself at the top of the tennis rankings (that means No. 1!) in Texas "numerous times," his mom tells us.
At Highland Park, he was an integral part of the state championship-winning tennis team, playing alongside his older sister Kristen Mee. His younger sister is continuing the family tradition by playing tennis, too.
"Highland Park has always been his home, though competition has taken him nationwide," John's mother said, and he has trained as far as College Park, Maryland with other top-ranked players across the country.
John and his doubles partner nearly qualified for the U.S. Open but fell just short of making their first major pro debut "at their tender ages of 15 and 18 this past summer," Ann-Marie Mee said.
College visits to Illinois, Oklahoma and Harvard helped John to decide on the University of Texas as the place where he'll begin his athletic career at the college level.
"Dallas has been an incredible stepping stone to the next part of [John's] career, and he will always be happy to return home to the Park Cities," Ann-Marie said.