For Immediate Release
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT RELEASE –4.20.03
Contact: Christina Cracolici
Phone: (781) 283-2003
E-mail: ccracoli@wellesley.edu
WELLESLEY’S FRANEK INDUCTED TO RHODE ISLAND SCHOLAR-ATHLETE
HALL OF FAME
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Christine Franek, Head
Coach of the Wellesley College Tennis team has been inducted into
the Rhode Island Scholar-Athlete Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony
will take place on May 15, 2004.
Franek, an East Greenwich, Rhode Island native, played her intercollegiate
tennis at Brown earning her bachelor’s degree from the Ivy
League school in international relations in 1992. She received her
master’s degree in education from Harvard University in 1997.
Prior to Brown, Franek played her prep tennis at The Lincoln
School where she was the Rhode Island State Individual Singles Champion
in 1986.
While at Brown, Franek was a member of the 1991 Ivy League Championship
team, serving as team captain her senior year. She received
the Outstanding Senior Athlete Award and the Nancy B. Parker award
which is giving to the player who contributed the most to Brown
women’s tennis.
Franek has been at the helm of Wellesley tennis since the 2001-2002
season and has compiled a 35-20 career mark and a 17-7 record in
the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference
(NEWMAC). During her three seasons as head coach, Franek has
led Wellesley to an NCAA Qualifying bid in 2002, an NEWMAC Championship
in 2001 and a Seven Sisters Championship in 2002.
Since 2001, eight of Franek’s student-athletes have earned
NEWMAC All-Conference honors, including three members of her Class
of 2007 recruits: Alex Barrows (Tucson, Ariz.), Hana Freymiller
(Anchorage, Alaska) and Emily McDonald (Williamsville, N.Y.).
Four of her players have earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association
(ITA) Scholar-Athlete honors as well, including 2003 alumnae Elizabeth
Okasako and junior Esther Handy (Olympia, Wash.).
Actively involved in the tennis community, Franek will be serving
as a panelist for the April 30th Independent Educational Consultants
Association’s National Conference workshop entitled “Kids
and Coaches: Athletic Recruitment and the Admission Process.”
Franek will be specifically addressing the topic of balancing athletic
and academic commitments in Division III athletics.
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