We are heading off tommorow to Mankato, Minnesota, for the ITA Indoor National Championship. Thanks to Coach Jeff Northman, men's tennis coach for Whitman College, for creating this event over 12 years ago. The first ITA championship was held at Walla Walla, Washington, at Whitman college. Division III tennis owes Coach Northman a debt of gratitude for starting this wonderful event. The ITA indoors is the closet feel to the NCAA's we have. Jeff was unable to continue the event, and thankfully, Coach Steve Wilkerson, Gustavus Adophus (DIII legendary coach), was able to keep it going. Last year, Coach Todd Helbling, from Mary Washington, took it over(after Coach Wilkerson retired), and did an excellent job of hosting the event. The event requires a great deal of planning and financial commitment, so there is not a lot of schools who can host this event. Whitman, Gustavus, and Mary Washington, have been very gracious to take it on.
Coach Tommy Valentine(2nd year coach) at Gustavus Adophus, was kind of enough to host the event, considering the event was almost scratched for 2012. Tommy was a member of the Gustavus team we played in the NCAA semi's 10 years ago at Santa Cruz. Tommy has done a wonderful job filling in for the legendary Steve Wilkerson.
I was always look forward to this event because it's a great experience for our players, especially the freshman. Make sure to follow the results on our website, there should be live scoring. I will also try to post after the matches.
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