Starting his fourth season as the head women’s tennis coach at Towson Universiy, Peter Walten has high hopes for this year.
For the last two years, he served in the dual role of head coach of the Tiger men’s and women’s tennis programs. Since the men’s program was discontinued, he has returned to his role as the head women’s coach.
For two years, he served as the head coach of the men’s tennis team, succeeding Dr. Tom Meinhardt, who served as the men’s tennis coach for 26 seasons before his retirement. In fact, Coach Walten played for Dr. Meinhardt from 1977 to 1980.
The Tiger men’s team posted a 7-11 record last year after posting a 6-16 record two years ago.
Four years ago, he succeeded Jacquelyn Bunting as the head coach of the Tiger women’s team and promptly led Towson to its first winning season in three years.
With just seven players on the roster, he guided the Tiger women’s team through its first season of Colonial Athletic Association play. During the season, the Tigers beat a pair of CAA opponents, beating George Mason and Drexel.
In the CAA Tournament in Richmond, the Tigers beat Hofstra in the first round, 4-1. However, Towson dropped a 6-0 verdict to CAA power Virginia Commonwealth in the quarter-finals.
Two years ago, the Tiger women’s team had a 7-12 record and won its first round match against Hofstra in the CAA Tournament.
Last year, the Tigers posted an 8-12 record and reached the quarter-finals of the CAA Tournament.
A native of Towson and a Towson High School graduate, Walten was a four-year performer for the Tigers from 1977 to 1980. He graduated from the University with a B.S. degree in Sports Management.
As a senior, he served as the team captain for Coach Tom Meinhardt, helping the Tigers post a 15-4 record. As the Tigers’ number three singles player, he had a 12-3 record. As part of the number three doubles team, he was 12-1 during the 1980 season. In his junior year, he was the team’s Most Valuable Player, winning 14 of 21 matches at number three singles. A member of Towson’s Mason-Dixon Conference championship team as a freshman, Walten compiled a 41-26 singles record during his college career.
In 1985, he served as the Tigers’ interim head coach for men’s tennis while Coach Meinhardt was on a sabattical leave.
An insurance broker in the Towson area for the last twenty years, he resides in Southern Pennsylvania near the Mason-Dixon Line. He has been actively involved as a tennis promoter and instructor in his community. A member of the Professional Tennis Registry, he has provided free tennis lessons in his hometown for several years and has been a volunteer instructor for USA Tennis Free for All and USA Team Tennis.
He has also served as a board member of Tennis For Kids, Inc., a non-profit organization in York County, providing free tennis instruction for children between the ages of eight and 16.
For two years prior to coming to Towson, he was the head boys’ tennis coach at Susquehannock High School in York County. His team set records for wins in each season. He was the Co-Founder and continues as a Director of the Mason-Dixon Tennis Association community tennis ladder which promotes competition for men, women and children and also served on the Hopewell Area Recreation and Parks board.
An active member of the Stewartstown Baptist Church, he teaches Sunday School to young couples and college age men and women.
Coach Walten and his wife, Nancy, reside in Stewartstown with their three children.
