In this day in age of cost reductions, which has caused tennis to be eliminated as a varsity sport on several college campuses, we at CTO would like to give props to a school that is ADDING the sport in the Fall of 2014 - Welcome aboard Lawrence Tech. We wish Coach Behmlander that best in building the programs on both the Men's and Women's side.
Lawrence Technological University (LTU) in Southfield, MI, and their new head coach, Stephen Behmlander, are very pleased to announce the addition of Men’s and Women’s Varsity Tennis, beginning in the fall of 2014. LTU is one of nation’s best schools for engineering, architecture, science and applied technology. Coaches and players are encouraged to visit the LTU Athletics website at
ltuathletics.com. A recruiting form can be found there for prospective players. LTU is a proud member of the NAIA and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).
Below is what the school put out a few weeks ago about the addition of tennis and golf:
Beginning in 2014, golf and tennis will be added to the list of varsity sports played at Lawrence Technological University. The Lawrence Tech Athletic Department welcomes Steve Behmlander as the men's and women's head tennis coach and Josh Heiple as the men's and women's head golf coach.
Both coaches will make LTU history as the first women's coach for their sport. There were men's golf and tennis teams many years ago but no women's teams at LTU. The last Blue Devils' varsity golf team played in 1977. Lawrence Tech has not fielded a men's varsity tennis team since 1936.
Behmlander is a U.S. Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) certified tennis professional. He began his coaching career at Dearborn Divine Child High School as a varsity assistant in 2005 and was named head tennis coach in 2006. That year his team qualified for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) State Tournament for the first time in school history. Since 2007, Behmlander has led both Dearborn Divine Child and Dearborn High School boys' and girls' varsity programs to the MHSAA Tournament finals.
Behmlander's honors include Catholic League Coach of the Year from 2007-2009 and Regional High School Coach of the Year for the past five years. He is a member of the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association's Century Club, which commemorates compiling more than 100 dual-match victories.
Along with coaching, Behmlander is the executive director of the Dearborn Community Tennis Association as well as a staff member of Baseline Tennis, Inc. and the Dearborn Racquet & Health Club.
Heiple joins the Lawrence Tech staff after three and a half years as the men's and women's golf coach at Ashford University in Clinton, IA. Under his leadership, the men's golf program went from the bottom ten percent of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to one of the top 25 teams in various NAIA golf polls. In the fall of 2013, the Ashford women's team set every school record for scoring.
Heiple's teams routinely carried top 15 GPAs in NAIA golf. He also organized and ran elite tournaments such as the Kohler Collegiate Classic at the famed Straits Course at Whistling Straits and the MyPuttGolf.com Invitational. In addition, Heiple was selected to serve on the NAIA Women's National Championship Committee in 2013.
Tennis will begin this spring. The golf teams will tee off in the fall. The new teams will join other LTU varsity teams as members of the NAIA and the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).
