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| Elliott Bandrowski & CJ Shoults |
The new tennis ranking list for the Midwest Section of the United States Tennis Association came out this week, and two local tennis players have made it into the top ten in their age division. Elliott Bandrowski is ranked number eight and CJ Shoults is ranked number five among all ten year olds in the Midwest.
“To have two top ten players from the same club is almost unheard of,” commented YMCA tennis pro Joseph Van Deinse, coach for both Bandrowski and Shoults. “Especially in a section as big and with as much talent as the Midwest.”
The Midwest Section includes all players from Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and parts of Kentucky, and is divided into 14 districts. Traverse City is part of the Northern Michigan District, and compared with Chicago, Southeastern Michigan, Central Indiana, and Ohio Valley, it is by far the smallest district by population.
James Van Deinse, co-coach at the local YMCA points out, “In the entire Midwest there is not one other district, let alone one other club like the Y, that has two top ten players in this division. It’s really an accomplishment.”
Bandrowski and Shoults recently returned from a sectional tournament in Indianapolis where Shoults had the added honor of defeating the current number one ranked player in the Midwest. The USTA operates rankings on a point system similar to that used by professionals on the ATP tour, where big wins at the sectional level mean a lot of points.
