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Rauck named ITA National Rookie of the Year
May 19, 2006
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Chelsea Rauck |
GENEVA, N.Y.—William Smith first-year Chelsea Rauck (Columbus School for Girls/Bexley, Ohio) was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Women’s Division III National Rookie of the Year at the NCAA championship banquet tonight in Santa Cruz, Calif. She is the first Heron to earn this prestigious award.
Rauck played the entire season at No. 1 singles for the Herons, posting a 25-5 record. Ranked as high as fifth in the ITA Northeast region rankings, her 25 wins are the most by a William Smith student-athlete in a decade. Rauck won her first nine collegiate matches and also put together a 16-match winning streak.
Highly decorated, Rauck was voted the Liberty League Women’s Tennis Player and Rookie of the Year. Earlier this month at the annual Heron Awards Banquet, she received the Stephanie Christie ’82 Award as William Smith’s most outstanding first-year and the Mary Hosking Award as the tennis team’s MVP.
When she takes the court on May 20, Rauck will became the first Heron to participate in the NCAA singles tournament since Cindy Dash ’91. Rauck will face Trinity (Texas) University sophomore Laura Steinmetz in the first round of the 32-player draw. Tournament play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. PST.