The Allegheny Mountain District board of directors is pleased to announce the winners of the district's 2008 Annual Awards.

The winners again represent a broad cross-section of the district and all share a common goal of contributing to the growth of tennis in Western Pennsylvania and the Panhandle of West Virginia.

The winners, who will be honored at a luncheon in April, are:

College Coach:
Matt Meredith, Slippery Rock University Women's Tennis, Slippery Rock, Pa.

High School Coach:
Courtney Vadnais, Shady Side Academy Girls' Tennis, Fox Chapel, Pa.

Community Tennis Association:
Earthen Vessels CTA, Pittsburgh (East Liberty).

Family:
Mark and Kim Kissell Family of Latrobe, Pa.

Industry:
Gamma Sports, Mark Vandewater, Representative

Non-profit Organization:
Pittsburgh Tennis League

Professional:
Bob Schmitt, Western Area YMCA, Coraopolis, Pa.

Tournament Director:
Dan Hackett, National Collegiate Clay Court Championships & $10,000 Men's Futures of Pittsburgh, Mt. Lebanon, Pa.

Volunteer:
Jose Mieres, Frick Park Clay Court Tennis Club, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Team captains and anyone interesting in forming a League Tennis team, at any level, for the USTA's summer season should attend either of two meetings in the Pittsburgh area this winter.

• Saturday, Jan. 31 at 10:00 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Wexford for all levels of Women's Adult and Women's Senior Leagues, as well as Men's 4.5 and 5.0 Adult and Senior Leagues and Men's Super Senior Leagues.

• Saturday, Feb. 14 at 11 a.m., tentatively set for the Fox Chapel Racquet Club, for 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 Adult Men and Senior Men.

Sally Baird, Middle States League Coordinator, and most of the AMD league coordinators will be in attendance at the Jan. 31 meeting to discuss the 2009 season and to answer all questions about the registration procedure, costs, rule changes and rating issues.  Nelson Winter will chair the Feb. 14 meeting.

Trinity Lutheran is located at 2500 Brandt School Road, Wexford, Pa. 15090.  It is a short distance from the Wexford/Route 910 exit of I-79.

The Fox Chapel Racquet Club is located at 355 Hunt Road in Fox Chapel (Pittsburgh 15238).

For more information feel free to contact any of the following league coordinators:

• Jim Block, (4.5 Men, Senior 4.5 Men, and Super Senior Men) 412-364-2062
• Claudia Christner (2.5 Women, 3.0 Women, 4.0 Women) 814-255-2080
• Rincy Ebbert (Super Senior Women and 4.5 Women) 412-487-4152
• Marilyn Miller  (Senior Women, all Levels and Mixed Doubles, all levels) 814-421-8386
• Janice Rielly (3.5 Women) 740-695-4994
• Nelson Winter (3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 Adult Men and Senior Men) 412-963-1521;

 

Tom Benic of Fox Chapel has been re-elected to a two-year term as president of the Allegheny Mountain District Board of Directors. New officers and 12 new board members were also elected by the out-going board at its Dec. 4 meeting.

Benic, a public relations consultant, has been a USTA volunteer for the past 10 years.  For much of that time he has been chair of the district's junior activities committee and editor of the district's website (www.amd.usta.com), e-newsletter and print publications.

Chris Compton, of Pittsburgh, a financial planner with UBS and a top district player, is the new Senior Vice President.

Jim Block, of McCandless, who served six years as president of the district board and chaired the USTA Middle States Section's Adult Competition Committee, continues as the district's Administrative Assistant and Secretary.

Colleen Geyer, of Shaler, a teacher and varsity tennis coach at Hampton High School for both the girls' and boys' teams, is a new Executive Vice President.

Hank Hughes, of McKeesport, Director of Tennis at the Mt. Lebanon Tennis Center, is also a new Executive Vice President.

Dan Hackett, a Mt. Lebanon CPA and tournament director for both the National Collegiate Clay Court Championships and the Men's Futures of Pittsburgh pro event, is the board's new treasurer.
Also elected to the board for the 2009-10 term are:

• Doug Brooks, Pittsburgh
• Barry Budd, McCandless
• Berry Campagna, Greensburg
• Keith Clawson, Monroeville
• John DeLaura, Canonsburg
• Sally Gibson, Saxonburg
• Nina Hughes, South Park
• Jane MacArtney, South Fayette
• Greg McDermott, Wheeling, W.Va.
• Jack Mennis, Hampton
• Jose Mieres, Pittsburgh
• Marilyn Miller, Johnstown
• Bob Ruzanic, McCandless
• Rochelle Seilhamer, Monroeville
• Dana Squelch, Pittsburgh
• Jen Yocca, Mt. Lebanon

Chris Mengel

Matt Slamecka of Butler edged doubles partner Evan Kowalski, also of Butler, for the No. 1 district ranking in Boys' 18 singles for the 2008 tournament season of the USTA's Allegheny Mountain District. Slamecka and Kowalski finished second in the Boys' 18 doubles rankings to Josh Ferraccio of Apollo and Chris Mengel of Fox Chapel.

In the Girls' 18 singles division, Molly O'Grady of Upper St. Clair finished first with Tiffany Meinert of Wilkins Twp. second.  In Girls' 18 doubles, the team of Sarah Baich and Claire Healy, both of Mt. Lebanon, earned the No. 1 ranking.

Other age division singles No. 1 ranked players were: Boys' 16: Nathan Walch, Scottdale; Boys' 14: David Mewkalo, Mt. Lebanon; Boys' 12: Peter Hazlett, Mt. Lebanon; Boys' 10: Christopher Gladden, Mc Donald; Girls' 16: Callie Frey, Mt. Lebanon; Girls' 14: Nina Barbano, Bethel Park; Girls' 12: Hannah Famili, Pittsburgh (Squirrel Hill);  Girls' 10: Madelyn Coulson, Fox Chapel.

Ranked No. 1 in Boys' 14 doubles was the Mt. Lebanon duo of Peter Hazlett and David Mewkalo, while the team of Alexa Miller of Cranberry Twp. and Megan Wasson of Fox Chapel was No. 1 in Girls' 14 doubles.

More than 800 juniors played in at least one of AMD's 32 USTA-sanctioned District Ranking tournament during 2008, with 219 girls and 173 boys achieving a district ranking.  A total of 5,027 singles matches and 308 doubles matches were played in junior district tournaments during the year.

The complete 2008 rankings and individual match results for all players in both singles and doubles are posted on the AMD website (www.amd.usta.com).

Six AMD juniors and one adult were awarded grants of $300 each under the district's 2008 Player Travel Grant Program. The grants are designed to partially reimburse players who distinguished themselves in national or international competition.

The award winners were:

• Adult: Thomas Sparta, Scott Township.
• Juniors: Logan Antill, 14, Butler;  Kylie Isaacs, 13, Franklin Park;  Joelle Kissell, 17, Latrobe; Sarah Shashura, 14, California; and Ronit Yurovsky, 14, Plum.
  

All of the players competed and had victories in higher-level tournaments during the past year.

Yurovsky, who finished second to Kissell in the WPIAL high school district singles championships in September, achieved the highest USTA national ranking of the group in 2008. Yurovsky, a freshman at Plum High School, was ranked 3rd nationally in Girls' 14 singles.

Sparta was ranked 14th nationally in Men's 45 doubles and 42nd nationally in singles. Isaacs, a 7th grader who turned 13 in October, was ranked as high as 38th nationally in USTA Girls' 12 singles during the year and finished the year 1st in the Middle States Section.