The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

KERRIE Cartwright said she was thrilled to have been one of the recipients of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s 2012 Arthur Ashe Jr National Leadership and Sportsmanship Awards along with the 2012 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team at the ITA Awards Luncheon hosted by the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

The presentation took place in the President’s Suite Dining Room as part of Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day activities (August 25) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY.

Jon Vegosen, chairman of the board and president of the USTA, David A Benjamin, ITA executive director, and David Dinkins, former mayor of New York City and a member of the USTA board of directors, were on hand to present the awards.

Cartwright was among a list of honourees that included Simon Bardell, Gienna Gonnella, Caroline Newman, Tyler McCullough, Kara Murphy, Will Petrie, Cze-Ja Tam, David Spennare and Ryan Thacher along with All-Star Team members Beatrice Capra, Kaitlyn Christian, Gabrielle Clark, Annie Hwang, Eric Quigley, Menford Owusu, Dillon Pottish, Georgi Rumenov and Sabrina Santamaria.

“It was really good. It was a great experience,” said Cartwright, who was accompanied by her mother Kim O’Kelley. “It was really great. I was really nervous and hoping that I wouldn’t fall and embarrass myself. I was just really happy and proud and honoured to be there in that atmosphere with all these great people around me that have accomplished so much.”

The ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship Award takes into account a player’s tennis accomplishments, scholastic achievements and extracurricular endeavours.

Just as Arthur Ashe was a great player and humanitarian, this award (which dates to 1984) recognises players who excelled on and off the court during their college careers.

Sportsmanship, leadership and character are also important criteria.

The 29th ITA Collegiate All-Star Team includes the nation’s top-ranked men’s and women’s players from the year-end Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and NJCAA levels, as well as winners of the 2011 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships and 2012 NCAA Division I Championships.

Cartwright, who represented Tyler Junior College, finished 2012 as the No. 1 singles player in the Campbell/ITA NJCAA Rankings. She completed a triple crown last May, leading the Apaches to the NJCAA national championship while also capturing national titles in singles and doubles play.

“I’m just happy with the way my season went,” she said. “For me to be given this award was just a nice way to end it.”

The 20-year-old received the ITA Rookie of the Year Award in 2012 and claimed the Junior College singles title at the 2011 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. She now intends to continue her training at Tyler as she prepares for her graduation in December and then her initial appearance at Florida State in January.