Pell City tennis team seniors Nikki Wright, Daniel Ledford and Aaron Bain are heading off to college in the fall and Civic Center tennis director Sarah Stewart says their efforts and help around the tennis court will be missed. “They’re great kids with great parents,” Stewart said. “We may never have another group of three kids accomplish what they did.”

Ledford is the valedictorian of Pell City High School and will attend Emory University in Atlanta. Bain will attend L.S.U. on a ROTC scholarship and Wright has a full academic scholarship to Birmingham Southern.

Ledford has played tennis for the Panthers since ninth grade. He said his best high school tennis memory came during his sophomore season. “In sectionals I beat the number one seed from Hewitt-Trussville,” Ledford recalled. “That was probably my best match in high school.” Ledford plans on playing intramural tennis and said the tennis courts are right beside his dorm at Emory. “I’ll miss my teammates. They were the best you could ask for,” he said.

Bain played five years for the Panthers and said he may initially tryout for the tennis team manager position at L.S.U. before attempting to join the team later in college. “I’m not going to miss high school because I’m ready to leave, but I’ll miss my friends and the tennis center,” Bain said. Bain is an Alabama fan but said that L.S.U. offered a scholarship so he will head to Baton Rouge in the fall. He plans on majoring in computer engineering.

Wright will major in education and minor in Spanish at Birmingham Southern. In the future, she wants to use her skills in the Christian missionary field on national and international levels. “They said I could play tennis there, but I won’t have the time and it’s not a priority for me. I’ll still play recreationally,” Wright said. “I’ll miss Sarah. She’s not only my coach, she’s my friend too.”