January 28, 2010

National champion tennis player to be inducted into Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame

Having helped lead Cowley College to the school’s first ever national championship, former tennis All-American, Tim Shanahan, will return to Arkansas City to be inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 6.

Shanahan, who came to Cowley from Sydney, Australia, was a member of the Tiger men’s tennis team, which won the school’s first national championship in 1989. He also teamed with Jason Grose to win the NJCAA doubles title in 1989.

Grose’s father, Larry, was the coach of the Tigers during Shanahan’s time at the school. Shanahan feels fortunate to have played for coach Grose, who was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008.

“He was very competitive and always brought out the best in you,” Shanahan said. “Coach did a great coaching job the year we won the national championship because we had guys from all over the place and he had to blend us together as a team.”

Considering the Tigers finished last in the conference the season before he arrived, winning a national championship was not on Shanahan’s mind when he made the decision to come to Cowley.

“Being from Australia I did not know what to expect, but by the end of the season we thought we had a shot,” Shanahan said.

As a sophomore at Cowley, Shanahan and the Tigers nearly captured a second straight national championship before settling for a third place finish.

“I loved every minute of my time at Cowley,” Shanahan said. “I made some good friends and some wonderful memories.”

During his final season at Cowley, Shanahan advanced to the semifinals in singles and teamed with fellow Australian, Mick Evans, to reach the finals in doubles at the national tournament. He along with his Tiger teammates helped put Cowley tennis on the map as Cowley would go on to win its second national championship the year after Shanahan graduated from the school.

Grose said Cowley would have been a good team without Shanahan, but with him, they were a great team.

“When I talked to Tom (Saia) about putting some of my players up for the (Tiger) Hall of Fame, I said the first to consider is Tim Shanahan because he is the one that got it all started,” Grose said. “He definitely was our No. 1 player. Besides his court savvy and knowledge of the game, he was a fierce competitor.”

Sometimes Shanahan would get off to a slow start in a match and drop the first set, but Grose knew if Shanahan could win the second set he would definitely win the third. In fact, if Shanahan rallied to win the second set Grose was so confident his player would win the third set that he would go over to his scorebook and put a “W” in the win column.

“To my knowledge I never had to change a “W’ to an “L”,” Grose said.

After Cowley, Shanahan went on to earn All-Conference honors while playing tennis at Oklahoma City University. Following graduation from OCU, Shanahan went on to become a highly successful women’s tennis coach at the school. He was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Coach of the Year/NAIA Region 6 Coach of the Year each year from 1994-2002. He was also named the ITA/Wilson NAIA Women’s National Coach of the Year in 1996 and 1999.

Shanahan credits coach Grose and his former coach at OCU, Colin Robinson, with helping him be a successful tennis coach.

“I learned from a couple of great coaches,” Shanahan said. “I love the game of tennis, so it was natural for me to go into coaching. It serves as an opportunity to give something back to the game of tennis.”

Shanahan has served as the head tennis professional at Green’s Country Club in Oklahoma City, OK since 2003. His job requires him to teach private and group lessons and also serve as the junior team tennis coordinator. He has had an opportunity to work with some of the top-100 junior tennis players in the United States.

“Instead of coaching one team I coach 30 to 40 teams of one individual,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan is looking forward to catching up with his former mentor as well as former teammates of his, who are planning on making it back for his induction.

“I can’t wait for that day,” Shanahan said. “It’s a great honor and I don’t think it has sunk in yet. It is definitely an elite class.”