Athletics
Championship Year for Tennis; Girls Win Seventh Straight Title Jackson Academy had a new head girls tennis coach in the 2021-22 season – former JA tennis state champion Mary Rebecca Barry Jeffries ’01 – but the results were the same.
Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Class 6A state tournament. Emily won her fifth state title, two singles and three doubles. Ellie won her second doubles title.
Another state championship.
JA finished with an 11-2 overall record with losses only to Mississippi High School Athletic Association Class 6A state team champion Madison Central and MHSAA Class 6A Tupelo. JA went 5-0 in Class 6A conference play, winning four matches 9-0 and defeating Jackson Prep 5-4.
The JA girls won their seventh consecutive state championship this season. JA won in No. 1 girls singles (junior Emily Buchanan), No. 1 girls doubles (sophomore Lucy Lee and freshman Ellie Hogue), No. 2 girls doubles (sophomore Mary Hampton Walker and sophomore Landry Lester) and mixed doubles (senior Annalee Willson and Drake Lester) and Carolina Walker finished second at No. 2 girls singles in the 26 TRUE BLUE
JA’s 2021-22 team may remind longtime Raider tennis fans of Jeffries’ success when she was playing for JA. She won three consecutive MAIS Overall No. 1 girls singles championships and didn’t lose a match in her final three years of high school from 1999 to 2001. Jeffries, who
