After winning the women’s doubles championship at the 2011 ITA National Small College Championships, Kerrie Cartwright and Audrey Leitz will be representing Tyler Junior College at the 2011 ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on November 3-6. The USTA– Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York, will host the championship.
The second qualifying matches against Oklahoma Christian‘s Harmone Brhane and Lucie Sipkova, was the final and quickest match of the day. Cartwright and Leitz were determined to attend the championship in New York.
“We had our mind set and focused on each win. We played our best,” said Cartwright, a freshman from Nassau, Bahamas.
Cartwright was defeated in the women’s singles final against Auburn-Montgomery’s Anna Veselinovic earlier that morning. The loss was motivation for Cartwright when it came time to compete for the doubles championship title.
“My motivation was to go to New York. Since I lost on singles, I went for it and made sure to play my best (during the doubles),” said Cartwright.
Cartwright’s partner, Audrey Leitz, a sophomore from Nimes, France, was awarded the “ITA Player to Watch” award during the 2010-11 season.
“The win was great. Our goal was to make it to New York,” said Leitz.
The championship marked Dash Connell’s first national win since being announced interim head coach last August.
“I feel lucky and proud. Earlier in the week, the girls hadn’t been playing some of their best matches. To have played their best match in the last match was a nice thing to say about them being able to take it one match at a time,” said Connell.
Cartwright and Leitz are both among the numerous international athletes competing in the NJCAA. Their victory wasn’t only acknowledged nationally but worldwide as well.
“I was so excited after the win. I called my parents and everyone back home. My town talked about me in the newspaper,” said Leitz.
Cartwright was also featured in Nassau’s newspaper.
After completing their time at TJC, Cartwright and Leitz both plan on attending Division I schools to continue their educations and tennis careers.
