Chris O´Brien named interim men´s and women´s tennis coach
Chris O´Brien has been named the interim head coach of the men´s and women´s tennis programs at Connecticut College. "I´m excited to be at a place where there is such deep tradition," O´Brien said. "It´s great to work with both teams -- both have great leadership and depth." O´Brien spent the previous six years as the men´s and women´s tennis coach at Roger Williams University, where he serves as the director of study advocacy. Prior to coaching at Roger Williams, O´Brien was the head men´s tennis coach at the University of Rochester, his alma mater. "We are excited that Chris will coach our tennis program this spring," Fran Shields, the Katherine Wenk Christoffers ´45 Director of Athletics at Connecticut College, said. "We´re fortunate to have a collegiate coach with 12 years of experience working with our student-athletes." O´Brien has already begun working with both teams in preparation for the upcoming season. The women´s team will open the season with a home match against Skidmore March 14. Both teams will then travel to Orlando, Fla., where the men´s team will open with a March 16 match against Roger Williams. At Roger Williams, O´Brien led the women´s team to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2007 and 2008. The men´s team was also successful, reaching the second round of Nationals in 2009. O´Brien will continue to serve as the director of student advocacy at Roger Williams, managing the student advocacy office and directing the peer mentoring program for all incoming freshmen. O´Brien also serves as a matriculation advisor for the campus, teaches a first year seminar and probation class to freshmen and directs a leadership program for underrepresented students there. At the University of Rochester, O´Brien´s teams qualified for the NCAA Championship from 2001-2003. He also served as the men´s squash coach for three years and the women´s squash coach from 2002-2003. For sports-related media inquiries, please contact Will Tomasian, sports information director, at 860-439-2501; william.tomasian@conncoll.edu.
March 8, 2010
