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WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Whitman College tennis coaches Heidi Tate and Jeff Northam have received a pair of post-season coaching awards.
Tate, who led the Whitman women's team to an 18-7 season, was named Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Region Coach of the Year. In her seventh season at Whitman, Tate directed the Missionaries to a 12-4 record in the Northwest Conference, good enough for a tie for second place in the final regular season standings. Three of Whitman's four losses in NWC play came by narrow 5-4 scores.
Hannah Swee, who has taken the coaching reigns of the women's team, nominated Tate for the ITA honor, noting that her playes have won the past four NWC Sportswoman of the Year awards, and that she is a two-time conference coach of the year.
"Heidi was a coach who expected only the best from her players as they balanced the rigorous academic demands Whitman places on its students," Swee says. Swee played four seasons under Tate and then served as an assistant coach the past two years.
Meanwhile, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at Whitman has singled out Northam for its annual Coach of the Year award. A former player at Whitman, Northam guided the men's squad to its best season in more than two decades. The Missionaries rolled through a 16-0 NWC regular season, rose to No. 12 in the NCAA Div. III national rankings, qualified for the national championship tournament, and finished with a 24-8 record.
Katharine Curles, a Whitman senior and SAAC co-chair, says the tennis team's strong season flowed from what she called Northam's "awesome coaching ability. However, what makes him stand apart is his love for tennis and his influence in bringing tennis to the Whitman community as a while. Jeff is incredibly giving to the community."
Northam, who played on three consecutive NWC title teams as an undergraduate, has now coached for 13 seasons at Whitman. He has been twice honored as NWC Coach of the Year, and his teams have twice won conference championships. He was named ITA West Region Coach of the Year in 2004.
Whitman's SAAC includes student-athlete representatives from each of the varsity sports.