Gator Men and Women Rack up Academic Awards

The Allegheny men’s and women’s tennis teams racked up the academic awards during the 2011-2012 season.  Both teams won the prestigious ITA All-Academic Team Award which is given each year to those teams who have an average team GPA of 3.2 or better for the entire year.  Additionally, four players earned the ITA Scholar Athlete Award which is given to those players who have earned at least a 3.5 GPA for the year.  Keith Meyer, Pat Cole (2 time winner), Alex Hurtuk, and Janna Dickerson (4 year winner) were all recipients of this award.

Allegheny's Pat Cole Named NCAC Men's Tennis Player of the Week

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Allegheny sophomore Patrick Cole was named the North Coast Athletic Conference men's tennis Player of the Week Monday afternoon, following a magnificent week in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The Gators played a grueling schedule over spring break, competing in four matches in five days. Cole stood up to the challenge in a huge way, going 4-0 in No. 1 singles play, defeating two top-25 regionally ranked opponents.

Pat made a statement during his first match of the week, dominating No. 22 Chris Kuna of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from start to finish. He easily defeated Kuna 6-1, 6-0 and set his sights on two more top-25 opponents.

Cole was scheduled to take on No. 24 Andrew Hwang of Carleton the next day; however, the Knights decided to give Hwang the day off. Patrick would defeat Paul Cooper 6-3, 6-0 in place of Hwang; however Hwang would not get away scot free. Cole and his number one doubles partner Kevin Kacer did get a shot to face the No. 15 doubles pairing of Hwang and Dan Vollman. While it was be the only win the pair earned all week, it was a big one, defeating the Carleton pair 8-6.

With his third match in three days approaching, Cole would focus his attention on his toughest opponent of the week, No. 10 Brian McCarthy of St. Thomas. McCarthy gave Cole his toughest singles match all week, but was no match as Patrick cruised to yet another victory 6-4, 6-1.

Patrick's 4-0 week improved him to 13-2 this season, with his only two losses coming to No. 5 Will Drougas. Cole and the rest of the Gators will be off until Tuesday, April 3 when they will travel to Westminster College for a showdown with the Titans.

Luteran Named USTA Allegheny Mountain District Coach of the Year

MEADVILLE, Pa. - Allegheny men's and women's tennis Head Coach Jared Luteran was named the 2011 USTA Allegheny Mountain District Collegiate Coach of the Year earlier this month. Luteran has been at the helm for Allegheny since the 2002-03 season, and was selected as NCAC Co-Coach of the year in 2007.

The USTA Allegheny Mountain District Collegiate Coach of the Year honor is given to one college coach in the Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, West Virginia area who exemplifies the spirit of tennis both on and off the court.

"It is great to have such a quality program in the district," said President of the USTA Allegheny Mountain District David Dilettuso.

Luteran and the Gators tennis squads have had muich success in recent years. Just last season, Luteran coached NCAC Newcomer of the Year Pat Cole to top 25 regional ranking, while seeing eight men and women named with All-NCAC honors, including a record five on the women's side. The women had their best season since 1998, finishing third in the conference, while ending the year with their first ITA Regional Ranking.

Off the court, Allegheny tennis has been helping with the youth of Meadville. In the spring, the Gators held a Campus Kids Day; offering a chance for the children in the area to watch an Allegheny Tennis match for free. In the fall, Luteran and the Gators held a free clinic for all kids in the Meadville community; as well as holding their Make a Difference day, where the entire team went to the Meadville Children's Center and helped re-paint the inside of the center.

"It is an honor to be recognized by the USTA for all the hard work our players have put in on and off the court," Said Luteran on recieveing the Coach of the Year honor. "I would like to thank the AMD Board of Directors for this special recognition."

Elyse Schmitt Returns from Germany with First Place Prize!

Elyse Schmitt recently attended the oikos Winter School for sustainable entrepreneurship in Berlin, Germany. In her travels, she met people from all around the world with business ideas contributing to sustainability. In her week, she attended leadership and business workshops as well as listened to lectures from entrepreneurs from around the world. The last few days consisted of business competitions in which the twenty-five students voted for six projects to be presented to a jury. Elyse was voted and competed against five others. The jury awarded her first place with a cash prize to invest in her community garden with aquaponics plan. She is continuing her research with her senior composition.

Four Gators Earn ITA Scholar Athlete Award

MEADVILLE, Pa. - Yesterday, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association released their list of 2011 Scholar Athletes. Allegheny Tennis was well represented as Lauren Kristofco ('10), senior Janna Dickerson, junior Amy Ochsenreiter, and sophomore Patrick Cole all earned the rights to be named ITA Scholar Athletes. "It is an impressive achievement to make the ITA Scholar Athlete list while competing in a varsity sport with two seasons at a school as academically rigorous as Allegheny College," said head coach Jared Luteran. In order to earn such distinction, an athlete must letter in his or her sport, have a grade point average of at least 3.50, and must have been enrolled in their present school for at least two semesters. To view the complete list of men's ITA Scholar Athletes, click here.To view the complete list of women's ITA Scholar Athletes, click here.