The Oglethorpe men’s tennis team celebrated their Senior Day on April 17 by clinching a share of the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) regular season championship on Oglethorpe’s Downing Howell Courts, defeating Centre in a clean sweep, 9-0. This marks the first conference championship of any type for the Oglethorpe tennis program and means that the Stormy Petrels finish the regular season with a 13-5 overall record and a 6-1 mark in conference play. The Petrels share the SAA regular season title with Sewanee and Birmingham-Southern, with all three finishing 6-1 in conference play.

“I could not be prouder of this team for their performance this weekend,” said Oglethorpe head coach Peter Howell. “…Winning the tennis program’s first-ever conference championship of any type is a special moment, made all the better by the fact that it happened on Senior Day. We’re looking forward to competing for the SAA Tournament championship in a couple weeks!”

Coach Howell has received numerous honors from the local and regional tennis community at-large. He is a member of the U.S. Professional Tennis Association-Southern Division Hall of Fame, Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame, and Georgia Professional Tennis Hall of Fame. He also recently received a lifetime achievement award from the Georgia chapter of the U.S. Tennis Association and was inducted into the Oglethorpe Athletics Hall of Fame.

Just days later, the Oglethorpe men’s golf team clinched the SAA Men’s Golf Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn. on Sunday, April 24, cruising to their 12th overall conference title. Freshman Kyle Shealy ’19 secured the school’s 11th individual conference title, completing the three-day event at 7-under 209, putting him just two strokes ahead of freshman teammate Patrick Mills ’19, who finished second. Shealy and Mills also shared the SAA Newcomer of the Year award and both were named to the All-SAA First Team. The Petrels had four golfers in all earn top 10 finishes. Senior David Kleckner ’16 and freshman Jacob Arnett ’19 finished in a three-way tie for seventh and both earned spots on All-SAA teams. Kleckner took All-SAA First Team honors and Arnett earned a spot on the All-SAA Second Team.

In more good news, Oglethorpe head coach Jim Owen earned SAA Coach of the Year honors for the fourth consecutive year. It was his 14th overall conference coach of the year award.

Three Oglethorpe men’s golfers were also named Division III semifinalists for the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Senior David Kleckner and freshmen Patrick Mills and Kyle Shealy will look to snag the award that Oglethorpe alumnus Anthony Maccaglia ’15 won in 2015. The three join a list of 30 Division III golfers in all under consideration for the award that will be presented. Finalists will be announced on May 10 and the winner on June 2.

Read the full stories at gopetrels.com.
Adapted by Renee Vary.