WOODS CROSS ó When Michael Hughs was a junior tennis player for the Woods Cross Wildcats he suffered a serious injury at the state tournament. Diving for a shot, Hughs, one of the stateís top players, landed wrong and tore ligaments in his wrist, which required surgery. ìThat injury put me out and I came back this year with the goal of being state champion,î said Hughs, a recent graduate of Woods Cross High School. ìAt first I was like, ëwhatever happens just happens.íî But after dropping the first match of the season, something snapped in Hughís psyche. ìI knew it was my senior year and I needed to go after it.î##M:MORE##

Hughs did just that, winning the remainder of his pre-season matches, every Region 5 match, tearing through the Region 5 tournament as second singles and battling at state until finally dropping the finals to Cal Larsen of Timpview.

ìMy goal was to win state,î Hughs said. ìI came close, but fell just a little short.î

Hughs, an all-state tennis player, also left his mark on Utah high school state golf as he was a member of the all-state academic team with a GPA of 3.92.

ìAcademics are important to me,î Hughs said. ìBut I also love to compete.î

His tennis coach, Joe Cowley believes Hughís competitive nature is a big part of the reason for his success.

ìMichael was one of our captains and did a great job for us,î Cowley said.

ìWhen he gets on the court he is all business. He is also very complimentary of his opponents and combines good sportsmanship and skills in a great way.î

As he prepared for the Region 5 tournament, Hughs was also in the midst of taking four Advance Placement tests. With exams in English Literature, English Language, Psychology and Statistics, playing tennis was a way for Hughs to get away from the books for a couple of hours a day.

ìIt was a busy week, but I think having tennis was a good way for me to take a break from the studies,î Hughs said. ìIt was a little tiring because I was studying and practicing.î

The results of his exams come in July.

And with his matches, Hughs believes his support system, especially sisters Sarah (16) and Alexy (12), was a big part of the reason he enjoyed the success he did.

ìSarah plays tennis so when I would get stressed weíd go out and hit the ball around. Alexy and Sarah would go to my matches and I could always hear then cheering and chanting.

ìIt was great.î

Hughs will attend the University of Utah this fall where he plans to focus on medicine.

ìThe human body is amazing,î he said.

For Hughs, so is the human brain.



sschulte@davisclipper.com