2008 Woodie Awards
Gophers of the Week: Andrew Danos and David Sands
The ITA Southeast Regional Tournament finally brought to Goucher
Rachel Mirsky
Issue date: 10/13/04 Section: Sports and Wellness
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Spanning four days, from October 1-4, the Men's Tennis Team competed against a total of nineteen teams who are the most competitive teams in college tennis.
Goucher also set an amazing record this year. Both Andrew Danos and David Sands were only second to the All American tennis players in the competition in the doubles match.
The ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Southeast Regional Tournament, which began in 1958, sponsors a total of eight national championships and 150 collegiate tournaments. The Regional Championships are broken up into four regions in the country (North, South, East, and West). Each is then divided again; Maryland is considered part of the Southeast region.
Through the efforts of ITA, over 5,000 students participate in eighty ITA Regional Championships. In the 1970's, ITA included NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletes) and Junior College and Community Colleges.
This year, Goucher competed against such colleges as Mary Washington (ranked nationally at #8), Washington and Lee (#10), Swarthmore (#16) and Washington College (#18). Other teams, which competed in the tournament, included Carnegie Mellon and Salisbury State.
In this ITA Tournament, there were a total of ninety-six singles matches and thirty-two doubles matches.
Two of Goucher's players made it to the finals. Andrew Danos, a sophomore, was in the top 8 positions in the quarter finals of the singles. David Sands, also a sophomore, made it into the final 16 positions in the singles matches.
Other players, who scored well, included Brandon Harris, a freshman, (final 16 in the singles), Galen Wilson, a freshman, (won one round), Wynn Thane, a sophomore, (won one round) and Devin Visciano, a sophomore, (won two rounds).
Overall, this past weekend, Goucher won a total of seventeen matches, compared to only nine last year.
This win for the Men's tennis team is a momentous improvement from last year. Last year, the tennis team finished 14th in the ITA Tournament, but this year it looks like the team will finish in 10th place.
Goucher's placement at this point is uncertain because the ITA Tournament must be assessed officially by a ranking committee. The committee is composed of athletic coaches, who are considered full-time coaches, from various universities across the country.
The ranking committee is broken down into five main areas: the committee can judge Divisions I, II and III teams, NAIA and Junior Community Colleges.
Goucher is considered Division III because of the size of the campus. Divisions I, II and the NAIA provide scholarships to their athletes. Division III athletes do not receive any.
In December, the ranking committee under ITA will rank the winners of the single and double matches of the Southeast Regional Tournament. Following the ranking process, the selected teams will compete in Florida, at the National Small College Championship.
After this championship, a winner from each of the three divisions, the NAIA and Junior Community Colleges will compete in what as know as the Super Bowl of Tennis.
For both Andrew Danos and David Sands, who are second only to the All-American players, this is as close as they have ever come. They definitely have something to look forward to next year.