Yellow Jersey for the week

For the first time this year there was a tie for the yellow jersey. So sharing the jersey for the week will be junior Chris Bailey and freshman Jeffrey Tolman. Congratulations to both!

Team leader for the week!

For the first time this year the wearer of the yellow jersey goes to a freshman..congratulations to Sam Sadeghi! Sam has been working hard on his game and has shown rapid improvement. All of his teammates recognized his dedication to the team, his hard work, and continued solid play. Nice work Sam!

Matt Solomon -- Yellow Jersey

Yellow jersey for the week goes to senior Matt Solomon. Those that nominated Matt spoke about his positive energy on the court over the weekend. Chris Bailey noted that Matt is in the tough position of playing #1 singles and sees the best players from every team in the conference. David Deming said about Matt that "he leads by example" on the court and in conditioning.

Congratulations to Matt Solomon!

Yellow Jersey -- Jasper Follows

The Yellow Jersey has changed hands! The team gave the leader jersey to senior Jasper Follows. Jasper is a senior from Vancouver, BC who is currently in the process of applying to Canadian DDS schools. Last year he had an unblemished record of 18-0 and is off to a strong start this year. In our first matches of the year he and partner Jake Cappel defeated the #3 doubles team from UC Santa Cruz (#1 team in NCAA III) and LCSC (a nationally ranked NAIA program).

The members of the team that nominated Jasper all spoke of how well he competed during last weekend's inter-team matches. We all appreciate Jasper's hard work on/off the court and his infectious smile!

Well earned!

Yellow Jersey Winner - Christoph Fuchs

The leader of the second stage of our journey is Christoph Fuchs. Christoph is a senior from LaCenter, WA who transferred to Whitman after his freshman year at U of Portland. Academically Christoph is one of the top students in his class and last year was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

For the past couple years Christoph has been a mainstay in our doubles line-up and this weekend he had the opportunity to play #4 against LCSC and UCSC. The guys that nominated Christoph all noted his tenacity on court. In both his singles matches this weekend he lost the 1st set 2-6. However he was able to make some changes to his game plan and won in three sets against LCSC and lost in a tight second tiebreaker against UCSC. Others also noted the extra time he spends in the weight room and on court. Well earned! Another teammate noted how positive he was on the court and how much he supported those playing around him.

Christoph flying out to Baylor this weekend to interview for Medical school. If you see him on campus make sure to wish him well!

Leader for the week

As a team we talk a lot about leadership and developing positive characteristics. One of our team rituals is at the beginning of each week select our "stage" leader All members of the team vote for a player who was the leader (or inspired them) the previous week. Its a pretty wide open question: players look at contributions to the team, citizenship, academics, and effort (among other things).

The leader of the week gets the yellow practice jersey. For our team this jersey is similar to being a stage leader at the Tour de France (ala the yellow jersey). They were, in fact, the leader of one stage in our amazing journey. I can think of no higher honor than having your peer group recognize you inspired them. In practice the "stage leader" wears the jersey with honor and pride.

The leader for our first stage was sophomore Conor Holton-Burke. Conor is a sophomore from Boulder, CO. Everyone that nominated Conor noted his effort in practice and the extra mile he goes to improve his game and help those around him. Besides being a workhorse on the court Conor is an amazing student. I've had players win the prestigious NCAA postgraduate scholarship, a Watson fellowship, a Fulbright, and the Trudeau scholarship. Although Conor is only a sophomore I would have to say he is the best student I've seen at Whitman. This is quite an accomplishment considering our team GPA has been over a 3.2 the past 10 years and the past six semesters over a 3.4!

Congratulations to Conor Holton-Burke.