When asked for a fun fact about himself, senior Krish Khanna doesn’t hesitate: “Tennis was my first love.”

He was 6 years old, standing on the sidelines of the tennis court before his first competition, when the sharp snap of a ball slicing through the air caught his attention. On the court next to him, two college students were smashing forehands with brutal force while elegantly gliding across the court. That moment, Krish said, sparked his devotion to the sport.

Now a varsity tennis-co captain and state champion, standout student and coding club president, Krish has built his high school experience both on the court and in the classroom around that same spark of passion.

Mentorship is a central part of Krish’s life. He joined the varsity boys tennis team as a ninth grader in 2021 and has since become one of the team’s co-captains.

“I’m trying to lead by example, always exhibit good sportsmanship and represent the school in the best way possible,” Krish said. “Ultimately, that’s the most important thing about athletics: learning these virtues like hard work, preparation and discipline.”

Krish vividly remembers both the excitement and nervousness that came with being one of the team’s youngest members, and he now acts as a mentor to younger teammates.
“He is someone you can always ask if you need help or if you don’t know how to do something,” said fellow tennis teammate Arjun Sawhney. “He really represents the quality of leadership well but also friendship.”
He attributes most of his success to his own mentor, computer science teacher Marty Billingsley, a former U-High student athlete and current track coach who has helped Krish learn to balance student life with athletics.

One of Ms. Billingsley’s fondest memory of Krish is from his ninth grade year, when he took the initiative to explain a complex coding problem to his classmates during her absence.

“I thought that was really great,” said Ms. Billingsley, “It sort of shows what kind of a thinker he is and how helpful he is to other people.”

Last month, Krish was proudly selected to the IHSA Academic All-State team for golf and tennis, becoming the third student-athlete in Laboratory Schools history to be named a member of the first team. As a leader, he emphasizes building a strong sense of connectedness among his tennis teammates to set a positive tone for the team.

“Tennis is interesting because it’s an individual sport, and that’s something I loved about it growing up,” Krish said, “But, now, joining the team gave it a community feel, and the team is like my home now.”

As a chess enthusiast, a passionate coder and a member of the ArtsFest committee, Krish says he stays grounded through one key principle: finding joy in what he does.

“I was lucky enough to find things that I truly love doing, whether it be golf or tennis or math or computer science or something like ArtsFest,” Krish said. “Because of that, even though I have to put in a lot of hours, it doesn’t feel like work most of the time. I think that’s how you can strike a balance between achieving at a very high level in both athletics and academics.”

Now finishing his senior year, Krish continues to approach each of his commitments with the same energy and purpose that initially drew him to the game. What started as a love for tennis has become a broader philosophy: show up fully, give back to the community and find fulfillment in the process.

This story was originally published on U-High Midway on April 30, 2025.