AUGUST 24, 1978
Sports
PAGE THREE
A Touch of Class In K. C. Scholarship For Tracey
By RUSSELL RAWLINGS
Although its only 5:30 in the
morning. Atlantic Christian’s
tennis team is up and on the
move. For sure they are moving
slowly, but they are nevertheless
moving. It’s only Tuesday
morning, and the week will be a
long one, but great things are on
the horizon for the players and
coach Tom Parham.
It starts slowly, Morris wins,
as expected. Staub wins, as
expected. Aldridge wins a tough
match after a first round bye, as
expected. Roger Ossmin wins,
as expected. Cruise and Niaz
lose to tough first round op
ponents, as expected.
What was to follow was
anything but expected.
Tennis players use the term
“treeing” for a player who goes
far beyond previous per
formance records to reach a new
high in achievement. That’s the
technical explanation. To state it
simply, when someone “trees”
they are playing out of their
minds.
Brian Staub treed.
His lead was followed by some
solid play in singles from
Ossmin and Morris. Then the
doubles game came into play.
Ossmin-Aldridge should have
been seeded and set out to prove
it. Morris and Staub were un
derrated to a great degree, and
four wins later everyone knew it.
It’s two days later, Wednesday
evening around 8:45. By this
time the NAIA Tennis Tour
nament has usually been
decided. This time around that
was not the case. It was all tied.
East Texas State had 22 points,
as expected. Atlantic Christian
also had 22 points, which no one
expected.
The rest is pretty much
history. East Texas flexed its
powerful tennis muscles, which
had been strengthened by a full
slate of scholarship players.
Atlantic Christian stayed right
in there to fight it out, and before
the week was over Atlantic
Christian College had by far its
greatest athletic ac
complishment of all time.
The fact that Parham’s teams
had been to the national finals
nine years in a row was in itself
the greatest thing to ever happen
to AC athletics. But this time
there was a new twist. The
Bulldogs hadn’t only made it to
the national tournament and
made a good showing, they were
now number two in the country
The whole country. Number two.
We’re flying back now, its
around noon Saturday. It is
difficult to think that it has all
happened so fast. A week ago
Atlantic Christian was just
another team that had built a
solid tennis program through the
years but never had been able to
break through and play with the
big boys, head-to-head.
Now AC is number two, and
not so very far away from being
number one. A scholarship here,
another performance like
Staub’s, and who knows, the
Bulldogs could just be calling
themselves the best in the
country. It sounds like a little too
much, but its right there if
Atlantic Christian wants it.
Parham has more than proven
himself with his efforts in the
past. Now if someone will just
give him half of what the other
schools have, number two could
be number one. They weren’t all
that far from being number one
this year.
We’re sitting in the Atlanta
airport. Atlantic Coast football
coaches Bo Rien, Mike McGee
and Dick Crum just happen to be
waiting for the same flight, and
Praham walks over to strike up
a conversation. I sit back and
size up the situation, thinking
about the four coaches.
Everyone knows who coaches
State, Duke and Carolina. I know
who has coached the number two
team in the country. Thus I don’t
feel overly impressed to be
riding on the same plane with
these three coaches. They’re
just on the plane. I'm sitting with
the number two in the country.
Who’s there to impress.
There is also this family in
Kansas City which enters into
the picture. It’s sad that only the
team and a few other people in
Wilson have ever met Mr. and
Mrs. Bob Mullet, and their son
Mark. The three of them are
there every year to make th6
team feel at home, even when
some of the players are 12,000
miles away from home.
There are more thanks to be
handed out along the way, but
for the most part it is the effort
of Parham and his players, and
it didn’t just happen in a week. It
started when the snow was
swept off the courts in January
and it will continue throughout
the summer, even though the
1978 season is officially over.
They're in South Carolina, North
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland,
Sweden, and who knows where
getting ready for 1979.
Parham will also be ready for
1979, and the years that follow.
Even with better players it will
be tough to better the effort of
the past week, but the chance
will be there for it to happen, and
that is about all that Parham is
asking for.
By better players I simply
mean the new man here or there
that can break it open in KC. As
for better people, Parham
couldn’t take all the scholarships
in the world and improve on Tom
Morris, Roger Ossmin, Jay
Aldridge, Brian Staub, Asad
Niaz and Billy Cruise. By the
very same token, AC couldn t
take all the money in ther world
and improve on Parham.
We are proud to welcome
Tracey Eubank to Atlantic
Christian College. Tracey is a
freshman from Virginia Beach,
Virginia, and the reason she is
special is because she is the first
girl to ever receive a tennis
scholarship from Atlantic
Christian. She has been awarded
a $700 scholarship for the 1978-79
tennis season.
Tracey has only been playing
tennis for four or five years, but
in that short time, she has had an
impressive string of victories.
Her high school. First Colonial,
won the Virginia State Tour
nament held in Lynchburg in
May, 1978, Tracy was ranked
number two for First Colonial
during that victory.
Just last week, Tracey was
playing in the Women's Open
Tournament held at Virginia
lieach, and she advanced to the
semifinals before being
eliminated. Other tennis vic
tories for Tracey include several
Country Club tournaments and
placing first in the District
Tournament in doubles.
SeeSC'HOL.\KSHll> Page 10
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