EVERETT – In most cases, a sprained ankle is bad news. For Jackie Mills, the injury turned out to be a blessing.
Michael O”Leary / The Herald
Mills, a senior co-captain on the Everett High School girls tennis team, hurt her ankle last fall while running for Everett’s cross country squad. She didn’t fully recover until January, forcing her to stay away from her preferred athletic arena – the tennis court.
But after ending her junior season of tennis on the brink of mental and physical exhaustion, Mills realized she desperately needed the extra time off.
“I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the (tennis) season,” Mills said, “but I just went into it thinking I was going to have fun and do the best I can do. So far, it’s been really good.”
Mills then laughed as she realized the enormity of her modesty.
“Really good” hardly scratches the surface as a description of her senior season. Entering the first round of today’s Western Conference South Division tournament, which begins at 3 p.m. at Jackson High School, Mills has compiled a 13-0 record as Everett’s No. 1 singles player. She’s lost only one set all year.
Everett girls tennis coach Tim Boyd said Mills is on the fast track to qualify for the Class 4A state tournament. It would be her second trip. Mills went to state as a sophomore, when she started the season 19-0.
“All of her strokes are really strong,” Boyd said of Mills. “All around, she’s pretty consistent.
“She’s definitely one of the top players we’ve had,” added Boyd, who has coached the Seagulls since the mid-1980s.
Four players from this weekend’s Wesco South tournament advance to districts May 27-28 at Arlington High School, and the top three district finishers qualify for state.
Following her outstanding sophomore season, Mills’ expectations ballooned. So she cranked up the pressure gauge and, in the process, she burned out on the game she’d loved since she started winning tournaments in the eighth grade. The low point came last spring when Mills withdrew halfway through the district tourney with a hurt shoulder and a severely bruised psyche.
Even before she suffered the ankle injury, Mills had decided to step off the court for a while. Her self-imposed goals had made tennis a job instead of a joy. The ensuing ankle injury merely prolonged her much-needed retreat.
But after six months without picking up a racket, something amazing happened. Physically healed and mentally refreshed, Mills felt a surging itch to get back on the court. Her hunger returned.
“When I came back,” Mills said, “I really wanted to play. I missed it a lot. … Now I’m a lot more relaxed.”
Mills has always possessed athletic intangibles, but this spring Boyd noticed her mental game was back.
“She’s come in with a different attitude,” he said, “but she’s still really a fierce competitor and very focused. A lot of the pressure she puts on herself, (but) I’ve seen her be able to deal with that better this year.”
For Mills, tennis is once again a joy, not a job.
“I love it,” said Mills, who plans to attend the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The school doesn’t have a tennis program, but Mills plans to play intramurals and compete in United States Tennis Association events when she returns to Everett in the summer.
“It’s just something that is really relaxing,” Mills said. “I can get out all my energy and it kind of centers me.”
Mills, though, isn’t all smiles in the heat of competition.
“When I’m on the court, I’m really serious,” she said. “I look really mean. … That’s just my style. It focuses me.”
But no matter how intimidating her game face seems, the fact is that behind the menacing grimaces, the rejuvenated Mills is having fun again.
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