Kiski School senior is perfect
It didn’t take long for Kiski School tennis coach Colin McGuire to realize Jack Jorges on was the real deal.
A few minutes on the court in September was enough.
“After I stood on the other side of that court, and he hit two balls at me, I was like ‘Yep. This is over,’” McGuire said.
As it turns out, it was over for anyone who opposed Jorgeson this season, as he finished the year without losing a single set.
“To be honest, not to be cocky, but if I did lose a set, I would be pretty disappointed, ”Jorgeson said.
From ages 12-15, Jorgeson attended IMG Academy, a prep school in Bradenton, Fla., which focuses on developing athletes for the next level, and he has been playing tennis since he was 5. That experience gave Jorgeson a leg up this season, McGuire said.
“The whole thing is it’s all based on his previous experience in the game,” McGuire said. “He was in Florida for a while playing tennis at an academy and he grew up playing tennis. So he’s been playing at a very high level for a really long time, and he kind of took his opponents by surprise.”
Jorgeson, whose parents live in Chapel Hill, N.C., graduated from Allendale Academy, a homeschool program in Florida, but decided to do a post-graduate year of high school to boost his academics with the hopes of being accepted into the Naval Academy. He was recently accepted and will continue his tennis career as a Midshipman.
Post-graduate years, essentially a fifth year of high school, are a part of Kiski School’s accreditation. It allows kids to fill in any gaps in their transcript or to take a year to further mature, according to McGuire.
Kiski School has a longstanding relationship with the Navy, with 18 students currently at the Naval Academy who attended Kiski, McGuire said.
“They want to go, they contact these people, these people say ‘Hey, you’re a really good candidate, but I think you need X, Y and Z ,’” McGuire said. “’Here’s a place that can help you with that, if you’re willing to do another year in school.’”
Though Jorgeson, who has won three ITF titles, had opportunities to play tennis in college immediately after his senior year, the wait has been worth it.
“I’m happy I took this extra year,” Jorgeson said. “I could have gone to Ivy League schools last year without doing this post-grad year. But Navy is something I’ve wanted for a while now and I was willing to make the sacrifice to go to Navy.”
It has been his dream partly out of his respect for those in service, but also because he lacked discipline when he was younger and didn’t have the best attitude, he said.
He believes maturity and personal growth have helped him to his undefeated record.
“I think I grew up a lot outside the tennis court over these last couple yearsand I think that’s really the only reason why I haven’t lost a match,” said Jorgeson, who recently won the sportsmanship award at the Hawken Tournament in Cleveland, which had a field of eight public and private schools. “Just maturity, really. Staying focused, not losing your temper, juststuff like that.”