Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame!

Coach Eric Rodgers will be inducted into the Iowa Tennis Hall of Fame on Sunday; near 1 PM at Vets in Cedar Rapids (during the Iowa Open Men's Final).  If you can't be there in person, please send him a congratulatory note/email/text.  25+ years of service to Coe College, and Tennis in the State of Iowa.....neither would be what it is today without him!

ITA All-Academic Teams

ITA All-Academic Teams announced!  The following Coe players were recognized:

Kaitlin Fosler '17
Tai Lucero '14
Amy Sebastian '16

http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Academic-Awards/2014_Women_s_Div__III_Academic_Awards.htm

Zack Decker '16
Mark Kroll '16
Justin Sauter '16
Daken Starkenburg '14

http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Academic-Awards/2014_Men_s_Div__III_Academic_Awards.htm

Coming Home

I know, I know, it's been a long time. I have been meaning to write something for the past 2 months, but never could find that final push to start writing. That "final push" now is probably due to the fact that I just got done working out in the Texas heat and am a little delirious. Also got turned into a buffet by mosquitoes last night, so we could be dealing with a brain addled by West Nile.

How Dallas spends it tax dollars

What have I been up to for the last few months your probably not wondering? Well, I traveled to Minneapolis, went to California with Noah, went back to Minneapolis, drove all my possessions back to Texas, went to San Antonio 3 different times, (which reminds me), got stuck in traffic on I-35 more times than I care to count, and conducted no less than 8 different interviews. Those of you who know how much I love social interactions with continually new groups of people can probably guess how much I enjoyed those.

No matter, after it was all over I was offered a job at a school district near Dallas. Coming this fall (and I can't believe I'm saying this) I will be teaching high school science and coaching tennis. Yes, that's right. I will be interacting with and teaching America's youth on a daily basis.

Yes I feel all warm and fuzzy about it too

The last few weeks have been spent looking for places to live which surprisingly will all involve a longer commute than my house across the street from Coe. Apartment hunting goes something like this: at the beginning of the day your excited to look for your new place and can't wait to see what everyone has to offer. By lunchtime you're feeling a bit numb as all the apartment floorplans start to merge into one big, crappy place in your head. And by the time you are done you don't care anymore. The only thing you are certain about is that if you accept one more "free" bottle of water from a leasing agent you will break the record urinal time Tom Hanks set in A League of Their Own

No crying in baseball or the bathroom

 Eventually I found a place to live in a neighborhood called Deep Ellum. When I told my friends this their immediate response was: Hipsterville!

Soooo Austin?

No not quite. Remember I'm living in a different Texas city with a skyline. My neighborhood's right by downtown Dallas so I'll be living right in the center of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. I'm excited too, trust me.

No matter what it will be quite a departure from my last 2 years in Iowa. But I will always be thankful for the people I met in Iowa, Cedar Rapids, and at Coe. I'll make sure to keep up with the teams and wish them the best. Now that I'm back people will often ask me what I think of the time I spent away. And the answer's simple: I wouldn't trade that for anything. College can and will be a very formative time but we all continue to grow after we graduate, and I am incredibly thankful to have been at a place where I could continue to grow so much these past few years. This is the end of this journey, but parts of the past 2 years will always be with me. I guess all that's left to say is...

So long, farewell, but not goodbye

Hall of Fame

The Kohawk Tennis Hall of Fame takes up an entire wall in the downstairs of the Clark Racquet Center. Photos of Conference Championship Teams and outstanding individual players adorn the cases. This Summer two more championship teams and another conference champion player will be added to the wall.

Tennis Camps

The June Tennis Camps wrapped up today with the traditional Closing Ceremonies....the water balloon fight!

Turf

New "Turf" going in on Clark Field. Coe always improving!

Coe College Tennis teams received final rankings from the ITA yesterday highlighted by the Men's appearance in the June National rankings for the first time since 2004. The Men were 35th. In addition Noah Sprinkel received the #33 Singles ranking.

Central region rankings were also released. The Coe Women were 15th as a Team and Tai Lucero was #20 in Singles. On the Men's side the Team was 8th, Noah Sprinkel was 6th and he teamed with Riley Galbraith for 9th in Doubles.

Complete listings can be found on the ITA website:  www.itatennis.com

Academic All-Conference

 

 

 Four members of the Kohawk Men's Tennis Team were named to the Iowa Conference All-Academic Spring squad. Coe won their 3rd consecutive IIAC title on May 3rd

Daken Starkenburg	COE	Sr.	Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny	Physics
Justin Sauter	COE	So.	O’Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West	Biology, Psychology & Neuroscience
Mark Kroll	COE	So.	Castle Rock, Colo./Castle View	Sociology and Business administration
Zack Decker	COE	So.	Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake	Political Science & Public Relations

Tai Lucero named to CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American Tea

Senior Tai Lucero was named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American team for the second-straight season.

 

Women's Tennis - Tue, Jun. 3, 2014 at 1:45 PM

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - For the second-straight year, senior Tai Lucero (Odessa, Texas/Permian) has been named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American team. Lucero is the eighth student-athlete in school history to earn the honor twice.
Lucero was also named to the third team last year, as she became the first women's tennis player in school history to earn the honor. It is just the 10th time a women's tennis player from the Iowa Conference has earned the honor. Lucero joined Luther swimmer Clare Slagel as the only two Iowa Conference selections on the at-large team.
Lucero is one of 10 tennis player selected to the 30-member at-large team. The at-large team is selected from athletes that participate in women's bowling, women's crew, men's and women's fencing, women's field hockey, men's and women's golf, men's and women's gymnastics, men's and women's ice hockey, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's rifle, men's and women's skiing, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's volleyball, men's and women's water polo and men's wrestling. 
Earlier this spring, Lucero was selected to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District First Team. To be eligible for the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District and All-American teams, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.3 GPA, be a sophomore or higher and have attended the school for at least a year. Nominees are voted on by Sports Information Directors across the region, based on their academic and athletic accomplishments. Lucero is a Biology major that finished her career with a 3.854 cumulative GPA.
Coe's all-time leader in career wins, Lucero finished her senior campaign with a 13-7 singles record and 18-9 doubles record. She was named the Iowa Conference MVP for the third time, as she helped the Kohawks to three-straight Iowa Conference Championships to end her career. 
Lucero becomes the 39th Kohawk to be named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District team. Coe has had 22 selections since joining the Iowa Conference, the third most in the league in that span.

That’s all she wrote.....

And with that Coach Brad Fenter "saddled" up his truck and returned to Texas. Brad completed two years here in the Great North contributing much. He leaves behind a much fitter team, a lot of Texas sayings, the skin on his fingers attached to the climbing wall, and a coffee shop in Ely that may go belly up without his patronage. And a lot of friends that will miss him. Kohawk Tennis wishes nothing but the best for Brad(and Becca). He may need our wishes as he plans to embark on a career of teaching General Science in the Texas Public School System. Where? To be determined, but I'd guess a location near an REI Store with a quick exit towards desolate trails to hike and bike, with a strong microbrewery and coffee shop en route. Thanks, Brad