May 31, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. – Catherine Newman has added another coveted award to her resume. The Vanderbilt senior women’s tennis player was named the national winner of the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship last week at the ITA Awards ceremony in Athens, Ga. Newman becomes the first Vanderbilt women’s tennis player to win the national award.
The Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship goes to a player who has exhibited outstanding sportsmanship and leadership as well as scholastic, extracurricular and tennis achievements. As the 2010 recipient, Newman will be honored in New York at the start of the U.S. Open at the end of August.
Two weeks prior, Newman was selected as the Ohio Valley Region’s recipient before beating out the other 12 national semifinalists to win the national Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.
In four years at Vanderbilt, Newman compiled one of the best careers in school history athletically and academically. Newman recently closed out her career at Vanderbilt with a 106-51 record in singles and 86-61 career mark in doubles. A native of Greensboro, N.C., Newman finished her senior campaign 27-15 in singles, including 8-3 in the Southeastern Conference while playing at the No. 1 spot in the lineup the entire year.
The national Arthur Ashe award is just one of many accolades that Newman has earned since the end of the regular season.
Newman was a first-team All-SEC selection by the league coaches, marking the fourth time in her career that she has garnered All-SEC honors. In addition, the conference named her the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year after posting an impressive 3.89 cumulative GPA while majoring in civil engineering. Following graduation, Newman garnered first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV honors, marking the third straight year that she has been named academic all-district by ESPN The Magazine and CoSIDA.
This coming September, Newman will attend graduate school at Stanford University and work towards a master’s degree in engineering.
Quotes
Catherine Newman
On what the award means
“The award means a lot. It’s great to know that coaches around the country thought so highly of me to nominate me for the award first, and then to elect me as the recipient.”
On getting to go to the U.S. Open
“I’m really looking forward to being able to go up to New York and attend Arthur Ashe Kid’s Day. My dad and I are planning on staying a bit after to watch some of the matches. I’ve only been up there once so getting to go again should be a great experience.”
Head Coach Geoff Macdonald
On Catherine Newman
“Catherine is a one of kind human being. Her character, integrity, leadership, superb academics and outstanding achievement on the tennis court the last four years made her an easy choice for this honor. She competed at an incredibly high level but in a spirit of excellent sportsmanship.”
“Everyone in the country that Catherine has played is impressed not only by what a good player she is but the way she carries herself off the court.”
