LEITCHFIELD-- The Cougar tennis teams continued their long history of excellence last week when the boys captured the regional championship in Bowling Green.

With the win, the Cougars earned a trip to the state championships which will begin May 29 at the UK Boone/Downing Tennis Complex in Lexington.

The Cougar girls finished tied for the runner-up spot with Warren Central behind champion Metcalfe County. Glasgow's boys finished second to the Cougars with Bowling Green third.

The Cougar boys used overall depth to win the tournament. They did not get any of their players into the final round, but all of them reached as far as the quarterfinals and both doubles teams made it into the semifinal round.

The Cougars' top doubles team of Wes Whitmore and Garrett Bernard were seeded second coming in and made it to the semifinals before falling 3-6, 0-6 to J. B. Reynolds and Alex Watkins from Russellville.

Bryce Meredith and Tyler Cantway were seeded fourth, but found themselves up against the top-seeded and eventual regional winning team of Luke Flener and Robert Miller, of Glasgow.

In the singles, eighth-seeded Mikko Seppa won his first two matches before falling to Robert Hall, of Greenwood, 0-6, 0-6.

Robert Stegen came in with a fifth seed for the Cougars and also won his first two matches, but was defeated by second seed Chad True, who went on to win the regional title.

The girls' efforts were led by doubles team Kendra Childress and Abby Watkins, and by singles player Christie Bolton, all of whom reached the semifinal round before being eliminated.