Gene Scott Scholars Excel at Academies
Published: Tuesday, September 9, 2009

For the past year, the first Gene Scott Scholarship recipients King Koehler and Skylar Morton have been living up to the legend of Gene Scott both on and off the court. At the Evert Academy in Boca Raton, Florida, King Koehler has worked specifically on strength training and match play in preparation for the physical and competitive expectations of a Division I college program. To control tournament travel expenses in excess of his scholarship to the Evert Academy, Koehler has replaced his junior tournament schedule with USTA Men's events held in Florida to include pre-qualifying events for ATP tournaments held in South Florida. Considering the high competitive level of these events, King has done well in progressing through the early rounds of these tournaments. His overall level of competitive play has continued to improve. In addition, King has committed to extra strength training outside of the normal program. This has been approved by Evert's Strength and Conditioning coach, Johnmark Jenkins, as a supplement to his program that would prepare him for physical rigors of playing high level tennis at the collegiate level. The USIC is very excited to report that King has accepted a scholarship to play tennis at Montana State. King is ecstatic about Montana State as it provides him an opportunity to play at a Division I school, but provides a personalized academic program. In addition, Montana State is located very close to home, allowing him to see his family on a regular basis. The tennis coach is very optimistic that King can start as a Freshman in the No. 5 or 6 on the varsity tennis team. The USIC wishes King Koehler much success in the next stage of his college tennis career. Skylar MortonAs a 15 year-old, Skylar Morton enjoyed a highly successful freshman year at the Junior Tennis Champions Center. At JTCC, Skylar has worked with specialized programs and highly qualified coaches in order to improve her tennis skills. Skylar has developed her mental game and expanded her on-court arsenal, becoming an all-court threat and a top national player. These skills were beneficial to her while playing an extensive tournament schedule including Eddie Herr and the Orange Bowl. Over the past year, she has won Mid-Atlantic Championships in three different age groups. She was also the consolation winner in the USTA National Open, as well as the consolation semifinalist for the Easter Bowl Spring National. Due to her talent and commitment, Skylar is ranked #2 in the Mid-Atlantic and #27 in the country for Girls' 16's. Skylar's success and drive extends beyond the court. She continues to excel academically while balancing an arduous training and tournament schedule. During the school year, Skylar was a straight-A student despite a very difficult course schedule, including advanced 10th grade courses in Honors Biology and Honors Geometry. Additionally, she displayed her artistic talent as she was chosen as a finalist in the 2009 Google Design Competition.