Kayla Harger was an all-state runner at Henry County but decided to switch to tennis even though the school did not have tennis courts or a team. (Centre College Photo)
Kayla Harger was a two-time regional semifinalist at Henry County High School as well as the top student in her graduating class and class president. Centre College seemed like a perfect fit athletically and academically for her for a lot of reasons.
“I knew the level (of tennis) I could play at and was very interested in pre-med and grad school,” said Harger. “I knew Centre would have the academics to prepare me and picking Centre definitely was more about academics initially but I also love being part of the tennis program. When I visited everyone was really nice. It was just different from other places. Others wanted to just sell the school. The girls on the team here were a lot more genuine.”
Of course, a few years ago no one probably expected Harger to be a collegiate tennis player. She was an all-state long distance runner who got tired of battling injuries and switched to tennis.
“I did run for a long time competitively and only really started taking tennis seriously two or three years ago. I had played since I was 8 years old but I was a runner. I finally felt I had accomplished all I could with running and I did not need to pursue that any longer. Running kind of got to be a chore. I missed running for fun,” the Centre freshman said.
She was an all-state cross country runner who ended up injured too often during track season. She said her body was not made for the “wear and tear” of constant distant training.
“I loved running but it was hard. Tennis is not easy but there is less repetition (of motion) that can cause injury,” she said. “I went against better judgment and tried to run through injuries and made it worse.”
Still, becoming a tennis player at Henry County High School was not easy because there was no team. Harger decided to start a team her sophomore year. She got enough friends interested to have a team and talked her father into coaching — he had a friend who coached at another school and also watched YouTube videos. He’s a saddle bred trainer — she used to ride regularly when she was younger — but was eager to coach the team.
“I knew there had to be a team for me to be able to compete in regional and have a chance at state,” she said. “But my sophomore season was the COVID year. Junior and senior years I qualified for state and had successful seasons.
“I absolutely loved the sport. I did not dread playing tennis as much as running four or five miles a day.’
Getting her father to coach was not that hard. He had put Kayla and her younger sister into a summer park tennis program. When she got more serious, she started taking private lessons and playing at Louisville Tennis Club and Top Seed Tennis Club outside Lexington.
She also had to travel for high school matches because “there were no courts in Henry County anywhere” when she organized the team. Her team would travel to nearby Shelby County to practice after teams from Collins and Eminence high schools finished their practices.
“We had some late practices but it was either that or not practice,” the Centre freshman said. “We just had a girls team that was mainly my friends who were willing to try something new. A few friends even quit softball to play tennis.”
Harger admits life at Centre was “overwhelming” and she felt “intrinsic” pressure to prove she belonged on the team. Once she relaxed, her play improved.
She was recruited by coach Currie Martin but now he is coaching only the men’s team while Morgan Cook took over the women’s program.
“When I first heard about it, I was pretty frustrated. I am not going to lie,” Harger said about the coaching change. “But I love Morgan. She has been super. Morale on our team is great. I think it is very helpful for us to have a female coach. It brings a different dynamic to our team that is really good. We have a great freshman class and the older girls have been great to all of us.”
Harger has also adjusted to the academic challenges at Centre. She actually called her mother early in the fall semester and told her she was not sure she could make it.
“I had kind of psyched myself out. Once I put the hours in, it got easier,” she said. “I didn’t feel 100 percent prepared when I came here compared to some classmates. I was from a rural school that was not real big. I had to do extra work, especially for my chemistry class. Centre is tough but once I learned to manage my time, it got better.”
She even still manages to find time for regular “fun” runs.
“I still run a lot during the week. It helps me when I get stressed out with school,” she said. “During finals week I ran every day. Sometimes I do miss the racing part of running but I no longer try to hit a certain pace or keep my heart level at a certain spot. I just start my music, zone out and enjoy running.”
