ALTON - Marquette Catholic tennis player Jonathan Claywell seems to have found the perfect fit for college.
Claywell recently signed a national letter of intent to attend Quincy University.
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Claywell said the tipping point for him to attend Quincy was how comfortable he felt with the coach and other tennis players.
“I am really looking forward to going to school there,” Claywell said. “The school is nice and all the people there are great. It already feels like a second home. I will probably spend some time there this summer getting used to things.”
Tennis will be a year-round commitment for Claywell because Quincy plays fall, winter and spring seasons. The main competition occurs in the spring, he said.
Claywell said he loves the game of tennis and he comes from a tennis family. His father, Jim, and his mother, Kathy, are both players. Jim is also a long-time tennis coach at the high school and college level.
“The game teaches you a lot,” Jon Claywell said about tennis. “It teaches you not just how to become a better player but a lot of things about life. You have to be patient. I really love the game.”
Attending and playing for Marquette Catholic has been a definite plus to his life and teaching him tennis skills, Jon said.
“We have a good team this year, we are 13-0 in dual matches and 14-1, including tournaments,” he said. “We hope to get some people to state this season, that is our goal. Marquette has been unbelievably kind to me. There are some awesome teachers. The administration and teachers have really been supportive to me over the last year. The whole school is like family to me.”
Jon said he is glad he will be able to keep the Claywell name going on in the tennis world in college.
“I want to make my parents proud of me in college with how I play and how I do academically,” he said. “I am going to study something in the finance area.”
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