Catching Up With...Bethany Players Who Played College Tennis
This year we have several players from the varsity team contemplating competitive tennis beyond high school. As I have been filling out recommendation forms for some of these guys, it got me thinking about the history of Bethany graduates who have played college tennis. So I thought I'd run us through a little history.
Daniel Lanctot, Bethany Graduate '98 - continued tennis career at Goshen College
- Daniel is the older brother of current Bethany assistant coach Andrew Lanctot. Lanctot family has a huge connection to Bethany tennis, as father Don Lanctot was the coach of the '99 and '00 squads that came the closest to Sectional victories and sister Rachel led the girl's team to their first Sectional win several years back. Daniel was actually my doubles partner in my junior year at Goshen, and we ran up quite a good record together. We were 8-2 after being teamed together midway into Daniel's senior season. This sweet picture is from that senior season. My favorite memory about playing with Daniel is his serve. He would foot fault by about two feet every time he served, and nobody ever called him on it. Weird?
Aaron Wieand, Bethany Graduate '00 - continued tennis career at Eastern Mennonite, then Goshen College
- Aaron Wieand was a four year number one singles player at Bethany, and went on to lead the tennis team at Eastern Mennonite...for one year. Then he decided to transfer back to the good old hometown of Goshen and help lead the Goshen team to several successful years. Aaron was a fun, laid back person with beautiful, technically efficient strokes. I spent two years on the Goshen team with him, and my senior season we actually finished second in the conference. That year he traded back and forth between one and two singles for the Maple Leafs.
Andrew Lanctot, Bethany Graduate '00 - continued tennis career at Goshen College- Maybe the biggest success story of all the Bethany grads to play college tennis, Andrew left the highly successful Bruin high school teams to join on at Goshen College and be a part of the Maple Leafs most successful teams. Andrew began playing #3 singles at Goshen, but by his senior season he had captured the #1 singles spot. He was also named twice to the All-Conference team while at Goshen. But his biggest achievement was being the assistant coach of this year's Sectional winning Bethany Christian team! Andrew's time at Goshen overlapped with mine, and I remember that he was the player that I had the most confidence in on the court. If there was ever going to be a match that went down to the wire, I always wanted it to be Andrew's match. I think his consistent improvement was a main reason we finished at second in the conference during my senior season.
Aaron Lehman, Bethany Graduate '00 - continued tennis career at Goshen College
- Aaron was a member of the very talented 2000 class at Bethany as well. He didn't immediately begin playing college tennis, but in his junior and senior years at Goshen he was on the squad. Aaron didn't get into the "varsity" action very much at the College, but he brought a lot of energy to practice. He had a really big first serve that was fun to try to return and played with an aggressiveness that is hard to emulate.
Andrew Kauffman, Bethany Graduate '00 - continued tennis career at Goshen College- I could not find a college picture of Andrew Kauffman, which is too bad. I think (and I may be wrong) that he only played one year at Goshen College. Much like Aaron, he had trouble breaking into the "varsity" lineup and played mostly exhibition matches. But his experience and knowledge were valuable as he became an assistant with the Bethany High School team for the 2006 season. He then also was the Bethany golf coach for two years, so many of the current team has seen him around. He was the first full time assistant coach that I had here at Bethany, and I appreciated that so much.
Tim Yoder, Bethany Graduate '03 - continued tennis career at Goshen College- Tim is the one player on this list that I never really crossed paths with. I was not at Goshen College when he was on the team, and I became the tennis coach at Bethany the year after he graduated. I know that he led the Bruin team as the number one player for two years, and then played number four singles for Goshen College for two years before playing at a lower spot for his senior season there. By all accounts Tim was a likable, fun-loving guy with a lot of natural talent. He is also a lefty, one of the few that has been involved in tennis for Bethany over the years. He is also the cousin of the next player on the list...
Colin Yoder, Bethany Graduate '04 - continued tennis career at Bluffton University- Colin was the first player to play #1 singles for me as a coach. He had beautiful strokes, well practiced, and had a successful season with a winning record during my first year as a coach. I encouraged him to pursue tennis in college, but his freshman year of college he decided to play soccer instead. Then during his sophomore year, he went out for the Bluffton tennis team. He played the #6 singles position, as well as #3 doubles. The team had a difficult time that season, only finishing 2-9. After a frustrating season, Colin decided that one year was enough and concentrated more on studies. Colin's sister Sarah is the girl's coach at Bethany now.
Evan Stahley, Bethany Graduate '05 - continued tennis career at Hesston College
- I didn't know that Evan had continued an interest in tennis in college until I jumped on the Hesston College website to see that he had been a manager for the team in his freshman year. Always good to see surprises that mean people are continuing their involvement with tennis.
Joel King, Bethany Graduate '06 - continued tennis career at Goshen College- One of the best players to ever compete on a Bruin tennis team has followed up his successful high school career with a successful first 3 years of a college career. Jumping into college tennis at #4 singles his freshman year, Joel has continually worked his way up the lineup to a spot at #2 singles this past season, and also won himself a spot on the All-Conference team for the 2008 year. Such a competitor, Joel was known for grinding down his opponents in high school and has done the same at college, pulling a number of upsets over seemingly more talented opponents. Joel has always been a master of the mental game, of overcoming the long-ness or tediousness of a match and staying mentally alert. I'm glad to have been able to get over to the college and match some of his matches, and it still reminds me of the days when he led our team. Read more about Joel on the Goshen website.
Michael Steury, Bethany Graduate '06 - continued tennis career at Hesston College, then at Hesston Collge- Michael didn't even start playing high school tennis until his sophomore season, but enjoyed two very successful seasons on the varsity his junior and senior years. After being a leader for the tennis team here at Bethany, he went on to Hesston and realized that he had plenty of tennis talent, enough to play for the Larks in his two years in Kansas. He then transferred for his last two years at Goshen College, where this year he split his time between exhibition positions and the bottom of the varsity lineup. You can check out all that the Goshen website has to say about him here.
Jordan Kauffman, Bethany Graduate '07 - continued tennis career at Goshen College- Jordan was a four year varsity contributor at Bethany. Blessed with excellent hands and a very good service game, Jordan excelled in the doubles positions, racking up 38 varsity wins in his career at Bethany. He played mostly exhibition at Goshen his freshman year, but this past season broke into the "varsity" lineup, partnering Sheldon Good at #3 doubles. Never lacking desire to practice, Jordan will certainly look to move higher next season. You can read more about Jordan here.
So that rounds out the list for now. I expect to be adding more people to this list next year. I'm really proud of the fact that graduates have enjoyed their experience with Bethany tennis so much that they've continued on to the next level. It's always been said that tennis is a lifetime sport, here's hoping that we'll have lots of players that even continue "tennis beyond college."
the andrew kauffman photo never ceases to amaze.
ReplyDeleteAaron Lehman perhaps bests my "hair like Jesus."
ReplyDeleteOf course, his looks a little dirty and we know Jesus would have never let his hair be dirty..
ReplyDelete