Men's and Women's Tennis Earn ITA Team Recognition
8/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Aug. 7, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has announced its yearly All-Academic Team and Scholar Athletes lists. Awards are given to those teams and individuals who demonstrate academic excellence in the classroom. 2009 marks the fourth consecutive season the women have been named to the ITA All-Academic Team. The women also added four individuals to the Scholar Athletes list. For the men, this is their second award in as many years, and third honor overall, with the other coming in 2003. Five individuals were also honored by the ITA for the men.
Four women and five men received individual academic honors. Earning honors for the women were Marianne Eelens (Noord, Aruba), Dana Guentert (Lilburn, Ga.), Lindsey Lonergan (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Christine Milliken (Traverse City, Mich.). For the men's side, John Allare (Mason, Ohio), Alex Forger (Okemos, Mich.), Scott Rasmussen (Moraga, Calif.), Clark Richardson (Leawood, Kan.) and John Stratton (Monroeville, N.J.) all received recognition by the ITA.
In order to be named to the list, the student-athletes must have earned a 3.50 grade-point average in the current academic year, earned a varsity letter, and been enrolled at their present institution for at least two semesters.
Eligibility for the team award is based on a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or higher. The average team grade point average must include student-athletes who have competed in one or more varsity matches for the current academic year and whose names appear on the NCAA eligibility form.
As one of the team captains in her senior season, Eelens was unable to compete on the tennis court due to a wrist injury suffered the previous year. However, she was able to use her leadership ability by being one the Spartans vocal leaders throughout the season. This marks Eelens first honor by the ITA.
Milliken, who recently completed her junior year, had a solid 2008-09 season in which she tallied three doubles wins during the spring while seeing limited action in singles. Milliken is the lone returning Scholar-Athlete honoree for the women.
Rising junior Lonergan was a consistent member in the Spartans' doubles lineup last season. She contributed 17 doubles wins, along with six singles victories. Lonergan is a first-time recipient of the Scholar-Athlete award.
The lone freshman for the Spartans is Guentert, who tied for the team lead in singles wins with 10 during the spring. Guentert also added 8 singles wins throughout the year. This is Guentert's first ITA award.
The men's side of the list was led by three seniors - Allare, Forger and Rasmussen. Allare was second on the team this season with 20 singles wins. He also contributed on the doubles side tallying 17 victories. This was Allare's first honor from the ITA.
Forger finished his season with 33 total wins, 17 in doubles and 16 in singles. Forger consistently saw action in the top portion of the singles lineup. This was Forger's second individual honor.
Rasmussen capped off a stellar senior season by tallying 16 singles wins, along with 10 doubles victories. He contributed to the Spartans in the middle of the lineup, while also adding a perfect 2-0 record to his slate. Rasmussen has been honored by the ITA for the second time in his career.
Rising juniors Richardson and Stratton round out the men's portion of the ITA Scholar Athlete list. Both of which have received the award for the second time in their careers. Rirchardson finished his impressive sophomore season by adding 23 total wins to the Spartan lineup. Stratton was also a regular in the Spartan lineup in both singles and doubles action, tallying 25 total wins. Stratton saw most of his success in the doubles lineup by contributing 15 wins to his total.
Players Mentioned
