WL's Tyler McCullough Earns Regional ITA Arthur Ashe Award
by Don Clegg, WL Sports Information
5/5/2010 1:58:19 AM
West Liberty's Tyler McCullough has been named a finalist for the ITA Division II Arthur Ashe Award.
SKILLMAN, NJ)---West Liberty University tennis standout Tyler McCullough has been selected as the winner of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region’s 2010 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award.
McCullough and the seven other regional winners constitute the eight finalists for the ITA’s NCAA Division II Arthur Ashe Award. Voting for the national award is now under way with the winner to be announced later this month.
Among the most prestigious honors presented in collegiate tennis, the ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Awards were founded in 1984 to recognize outstanding individuals in all divisions at the regional and national levels.
They are presented annually to male and female student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA and junior college institutions who have combined outstanding sportsmanship and leadership with scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements.
A junior from Wheeling (W.Va.) Park High School, McCullough has filled a key role on West Liberty teams which have earned regional rankings each of the past two seasons.
A steady performer at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles, McCullough helped the Hilltoppers to a No. 5 ranking in the final set of NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings this season as West Liberty advanced to the semifinals of the West Virginia Conference tournament before being eliminated by West Virginia Wesleyan, the No. 1 team in the region.
McCullough and his Hilltopper teammates are preparing for their second consecutive NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament appearance later this week. West Liberty will take on Bluefield State Thursday in an Atlantic Region sub-regional event at Kutztown (Pa.).
An outstanding student majoring in Accounting, Tyler is the son of Sam and Marian McCullough of Wheeling. Sam McCullough is the head men’s tennis coach at West Liberty.
Following is a list of this year’s ITA’s regional NCAA Division II Arthur Ashe Award recipients:
NCAA DIVISION II
2010 Arthur Ashe Jr. Regional Award Winners
East: Lorenzo Cava, Bentley (Mass.)
Atlantic: TYLER McCULLOUGH, WEST LIBERTY
Southeast: Miguel Lopez Zuniga, Limestone (S.C.)
South: Jonathan Hanna, Florida Tech
Midwest: Kyle Revall, Ferris State (Mich.)
Central: Rashad Khamis, Mesa State (Colo.)
South Central: John Mick Walter, St. Edward’s (Texas)
West: Rong Ma, BYU-Hawaii